Signs & Symptoms of Being Drugged

Getting drugged is when somebody has you ingest drugs without your knowledge. Delivery can be as blatant as an attacker forcibly injecting you with a syringe but it's usually more subtle than that. It's crucial to recognise when you've been drugged because you'll be much easier to take advantage of, possibly leading to sexual assault.

Getting drugged with date rape drugs like Rohypnol, or roofies, may occur while you're out drinking. If you begin feeling drunker than you know you should be for your level of alcohol consumption, you may have been drugged. You know your tolerance level to alcohol, so if you've only had two beers but already feel completely inebriated, you may have been drugged. The symptoms of such drugs include nausea, confusion, sleepiness and loss of memory, all similar symptoms to alcohol itself.

Some drugs have symptoms similar to how you'd feel if you were sick and feverish, perhaps with a bad case of food poisoning. For example, WomensHealth.gov warns that date rape drug GHB causes tremors, sweating and vomiting. You may have problems seeing, breathing and thinking straight. Symptoms of such drugs are often hard to pinpoint though, since GHB also can leave you feeling relaxed and drowsy.

One of the easiest ways to determine whether you've been drugged is to note how you're viewing and interacting with the world around you. Ketamine, another drug used in sexual assault, may distort sounds and sight like a hallucinogenic drug. Similarly, you may feel like you're disconnected from reality and are off in a dreamlike state, or going through an out-of-body experience. Keeping track of the time may be difficult, as time and your very identity can become lost to you while high on Ketamine.

After being drugged, you may wake up or "come-to" feeling extremely hung over. You may find you're still disoriented as the drugs wear off. If you've been assaulted, you may feel like you've had sex but have no recollection of the previous night. Examine your body for markings and your clothing for tears or anything odd, like your clothes not being on all the way or correctly. If you feel like you've been drugged, call 911 and get to the hospital without bathing, cleaning yourself, douching, using the rest room, eating or changing clothes. Contact the police and tell them everything you remember in full detail. Have the hospital check you over with a rape kit and take a urinary drug test to see what you've taken.

More important than knowing how to tell if you've already been drugged is knowing how to help prevent it in the first place. Never accept anything from people you don't know. Even if somebody you know offers you a drink, go with them to get it and keep your eye on it the entire time to ensure nobody slips anything into it. Never leave your drink unattended. If you have to go to the bathroom, take it with you or finish the drink before you go. Even having a friend watch it for you is risky; you never know if they'll get distracted and they may even be the one drugging you.