Cozumel Goers Beware

[WaterCrazzy]

Just got back from a Royal Caribbean cruise aboard the Enchantment of the Seas (Awsome ship). While in Cozumel my mother, brother (age 14), and I (21 as of the first day of the cruise:) ) went to the beach, Playa Mia Beach Break Excursion...

We were there for about 45 - 90 minutes, my brother and I had been out swimming and climbing the giant iceberg. I came into shore and was talking with my mom, walked to the outdoor shower and rinsed off. In the 5-10 minute walk my mother had lain down and become deeply sick! When I got back she was not making sense and was talking very funny. Shes a nurse and she started telling me she thought someone had put something in her drink because she was feeling horrible and that she just needed to lay down for alittle bit. Then it got worse and if any of you have ever seen a diabetic when they really need their medicine, this is what she was compariable too.

After maybe 10 minutes of consideration I decided I really needed to get her back to the ship, however my brother was out on the iceburg still and at this point I didn't actually know if my moms drink had had something put in it. So i didn't want to leave her. Thank you to everyone on the beach that day, you were all SO very helpful! After getting my brother in the manager had already been brought over by a few people and a doctor (spanish speaking of course) was checking her out.

Now I cut to when I was finally carrying her onto the ship telling her to keep her eyes open and not stop talking to me...

She spent 5 hours in the hospital onboard ($750) and did not even come close to being her normal self until 8 the next morning, I know because I pulled an all-nighter checking on her ever 15-30 minutes. When i finally crawled in bed (@ 8 am) i finally felt she was going to be ok.

After talking to the doctor, (her blood sugar level had been extreamly low) he said that his best theory is that someone mixed her drink wrong (entirely to much alcohol)...

she had two drinks:

penacolta (which i had a sip of, it wasn't this drink)

rum & coke <<<<

 

This is just a reminder, that even on vacation we all need to be extreamly careful with what we drink and eat. Even when the place is checked out by your cruise company...

 

THANK YOU everyone that helped out that day and offered support and help. Everyone on the ship was extreamly helpful and it's nice to know that fellow travelers will help out in a time of desperate need...

~Ryan~

[WaterCrazzy]

I've been thinking about this and in all honestly we were actually there for about 2 hours. Time is all crazy when something like this happens but we left the ship at 11:30-12 and so that means we were there probably about 1? at the latest and we were back on the ship at alil after 4. (taxi driver was doing 120km/hr on the way back to the ship)

 

so sipping on two drinks in the course of two hours should definitly not do something like this to you...

[12Cruise]

Gosh, that sounds frightening. Is your mother a diabetic? You would think that the sugar in the drinks would have raised her blood sugar, not dropped it. Had she eaten that morning? I hope all is well with her now.

[lindalu62]

As a nurse, I have never heard of alcohol lowering your blood sugar to that degree. I would make sure she is checked out by a MD at home, it is highly unusual for blood sugar to drop that low unless she was diabetic, took insulin, and then didn't eat.

[hdawson]

What would be the motive of someone putting something in her drink?

[lindalu62]

I agree...something else is going on here!

[cozgal]

I wonder if it was a combination of dehydration, sun and the low blood sugar, did she get alot of sun the day before, drink enough water?The heat and sun can really mess up a person's system if they are not accustomed to either ...I am sorry that she had this experience and I am sure you were all relieved when she did recover.

I hope she follows up at home. My Dad had cut his foot rather badly in Cancun last year and when he was treated, they asked him if he was diabetic...followed up when he came home found that he indeed was.

[Hebejeebe]

I hope your Mom goes to her family doctor to get checked out. The "too much alcohol in the drink" doesn't sound plausible.

[Lightsluvr]

...and why is this a warning "Cozumel goers Beware" ?

 

Sunstroke usually occurs after exposure to high temperatures, for example from working in an extremely hot environment, especially one to which you are unused; exercising too strenuously, particularly in summer.... Humid weather also renders the cooling mechanism of sweating less effective. Overdressing, overeating and drinking too much alcohol can be contributing factors.

LL

[HarleyGirl]

Did anyone consider jellyfish? I've been seeing something about some really bad ones on TV recently--they are very tiny and pretty much impossible to see and make you really really sick. I hope she's better now!

[WaterCrazzy]

I was wrong, they did not do a drug test to see if her drink had something in it. However i have been talking to alot of people and have found out that this isn't the first time this has happened. A friend was there with his friends and one of them got sick and was choppered to a medical ship nearby. Where at point they did many tests and found a chemical that had been put in her drink that most drug tests would not have caught...

 

this says cozumel goers beware, because this happened on cozumel. However i think it pertains to everywhere! ESPECIALLY when you are travelling alone.

 

my family is major boaters and so we do drink alot of water especially while out in the sun. my mothers also a nurse and no she isn't diabetic.

 

also the next morning she did not have a "hang over" nor did she throw up once...which is definitly the signs of drinking to much alcohol.

 

my guess is that she had something put in her drink and the doctor just didn't tell me

[CRUZ-AHOLIC]

I am so sorry this happened to your mother. She suffered a difficult medical condition, far away from home. And I'm sure the tension was tremendous on you and your family as well.

 

I do want to state, though, that it does not seem very likely for a scenario of this type to occur. Mind you, I'm not saying it didn't happen as you said, but events..as described..simply don't 'jive' with your suggested warning.

 

Aside from the medical aspect, you will find it the rare bartender indeed who can be found guilty of dispensing too MUCH alcohol in a drink; usually it's the other way around :-)

 

Just reading your post, I am inclined to believe that your mother suffered either heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Please read the following symptoms of each:

 

Heat exhaustion - dehydration

Dehydration usually develops gradually, and is caused by loss of salt and water from the body through excessive sweating. It is more common in persons who are unaccustomed to working or exercising in a hot, humid environment, and in those who are unwell, especially those with diarrhoea and vomiting.

 

As the dehydration develops, there may be;

 

Headache, dizziness and confusion

Loss of appetite and nausea

Sweating with pale, clammy skin

Cramps in the limbs and abdominals

Rapid, weakening pulse and breathing

 

Heatstroke

This condition often occurs suddenly and can cause unconsciousness in minutes. There may be a warning period when the casualty feels uneasy and unwell. Heatstroke is caused by failure of the "thermostat" in the brain due either to prolonged exposure to the very hot surroundings or illness involving a very high fever (such as malaria). The body rapidly becomes dangerously overheated.

 

As heatstroke develops, there may be:

 

Headache, dizziness and discomfort

Restlessness and confusion

Hot, flushed and dry skin

A rapid deterioration in the level of response

A full bounding pulse

Body temperature above 40 C (104 F)

 

The low blood sugar could easily be explained if your mother hadn't eaten anything in the hours prior to her being tested by the doctor.

 

If your mother is a nurse, please ask her if she feels this is what happened. Her initial assessment of her condition, made at the time she was suffering it, would not be a good indicator, since confusion is one symptom. She may now look back and say, 'Heat exhaustion/heatstroke seems the more reasonable explanation'.

 

It would be inappropriate to 'warn' people of Cozumel if the warning was based on incorrect information.

 

Cindy

[Texas_Diver]

Alcohol raises blood sugar. It doesn't lower it.

 

I'm glad your mom is ok.

 

D.

[WaterCrazzy]

better to be safe than sorry

 

it's better to warn people than look back a month or two later when someone goes missing and say "i should have told someone"

 

in my honest opinion (and hers to) we believe something was put in her drink.

It won't stop me from returning to cozumel!!! This experience has just shown me to be very careful

[hdawson]

WaterCrazy. Pardon me but I ask again. What motive do you suspect? It also seems you are suspicious of the Dr as not being forthcoming?

[lindalu62]

As far as someone drugging your Mom, I could see it if your Mom was a "hottie" in a night club and some guy was trying to get to her, if you know what I mean (this happens a lot, date rape, etc), but doesn't really make sense on a beach, involving a Mom and her kids, in daylight??? Why would someone buy a drug to put in your Mom's drink?? I just can't imagine anyone really getting a thrill out of watching some Mom pass out in the sand??? I'm sure it's possible, but doesn't seem very likely. Also, did the ship MD draw your Mom's blood and do a drug screening?? Seems like that would be appropriate if they really thought she was suffering from some kind of a drug reaction, they need to know what they are dealing with in order to treat effectively.

[WaterCrazzy]

my mom went to the doctors today, described the entire situation and everything that happened. The doctor said she was DEFINITLY drugged. Heat stroke, dehydration, and too much alcohol are all completely out of the question since none of these would produce everything she experienced and the her symtoms...

 

who knows why they would drug her, however they never did see that my brother and i were with her, we went straight to the water when we got to the beach and she was alone on the beach for over an hour. It's easy to steal money, or for someone to just be forgotton about on the beach...

 

definitly scary

[WaterCrazzy]

the drug is called "Robinul"

 

the onset of this drug can be seen in an individual within ten minutes and can lead to a coma

[WaterCrazzy]

or Rohypnol...

 

sorry she left me a message on my answering machine and it is hard to make out

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=5971173&posted=1#post5971173

[lindalu62]

Have yall contacted the beach club to let them know about this?? Would seem to be the prudent thing to do if they have some employee drugging people!

[El Coz - Antonio]

As far as someone drugging your Mom, I could see it if your Mom was a "hottie" in a night club and some guy was trying to get to her, if you know what I mean (this happens a lot, date rape, etc), but doesn't really make sense on a beach, involving a Mom and her kids, in daylight??? Why would someone buy a drug to put in your Mom's drink?? I just can't imagine anyone really getting a thrill out of watching some Mom pass out in the sand??? I'm sure it's possible, but doesn't seem very likely. Also, did the ship MD draw your Mom's blood and do a drug screening?? Seems like that would be appropriate if they really thought she was suffering from some kind of a drug reaction, they need to know what they are dealing with in order to treat effectively.

 

This is exactly my thoughts, why was her blood not tested. I am sorry that for whatever reason you had an experience like that, but I have to say that it is HIGHLY improbable that someone drugged your mom:

 

1.- as was so eloquently put, for what purpose? kidnapping?? sexual abuse?? I'm sorry but Cozumel is NOT Aruba, and this kind of thing just does not happen in Cozumel, not at night clubs to hotties, and not to moms on the beach

 

2.- what could anyone gain from doing this at such a busy public location, full of people all around, in broad daylight, at one of the main cruise beach stops??

 

3.- it would be more probable that something in the drinks made her sick, spoiled fruit, maybe bacteria from tap water used to wash the glasses...

 

4.- if she had stayed up late the night before, maybe had some drinks, or been sick lately and combine that with an empty stomach, the heat, drinks, drammamine or other medicine (was she taking other medicine?), she could have a sudden drop of blood pressure, electrolytes etc.

 

5.- she could have gotten food poisoning from what she ate that morning, and it hit her on the beach...

 

6.- there are many possibilities, and without an immediate blood work right after the incident I believe it would be impossible to pin it on something specific, or factually declare that she was poisoned intentionally...

 

This kind of thing does not happen in Cozumel.....

[Host CJSKIDS]

my mom went to the doctors today, described the entire situation and everything that happened. The doctor said she was DEFINITLY drugged. Heat stroke, dehydration, and too much alcohol are all completely out of the question since none of these would produce everything she experienced and the her symtoms...

 

who knows why they would drug her, however they never did see that my brother and i were with her, we went straight to the water when we got to the beach and she was alone on the beach for over an hour. It's easy to steal money, or for someone to just be forgotton about on the beach...

 

definitly scary

 

Your mom's doctor could not state they she was drugged without a doubt, sorry. They may have stated that it sounds like she was drugged, but he or she would never commit that this was difinite as they no tests were run on her afterwards and therefore there is no proof.

A combination of the other 3 combined with God know what else, bad water, etc. may have produced these symptons or your mom was indeed drugged. It's unfortunate that there is no way to tell for sure and she wasn't diagnosed by a doctor with blood tests immediately following the incident. You also stated that blood sugar level was extremely low, is this a side effect of what you stated was placed in her drink or something else I wonder.

Either way, it's scary and I'm glad that you're mom is fine and that nothing tragic happened to her.

[EileenN]

Is it possible that your Mom is on an existing medication that would react to too much sunlight? Many of my meds state that on the label. The labels also state not to mix with alchohol. Perhaps that was the culprit. Hope she continues to do better.

[CRUZ-AHOLIC]

the drug is called "Robinul"

 

the onset of this drug can be seen in an individual within ten minutes and can lead to a coma

 

 

Robinul is used for treating peptic ulcers and Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Was your mother taking this medication? What is especially noteworthy is one of the cautions to be used when taking Robinul:

 

"In the presence of a high environmental temperature, heat prostration (fever and heat stroke due to decreased sweating) can occur with use of Robinul."

 

As concerns Rohypnol, to be detected at all urine testing must be done no later than 72 hours post incident, and then submitted to specific lab testing.

 

Cindy

[WaterCrazzy]

this was no dehydration or food poisoning, and i think if people just push this out of their minds and say "things like this just don't happen in cozumel" that they are just not using their brains. This can happen anywhere: small towns, big towns, beaches...people have been abducted in broad day light around people. And no, although the doctor can not say for 100% sure, since this does not match any other symtoms, she's not on any other medication nor is she a diabetic he was very positive with his conclusion and he's not the only one. She works at a hospital. He said without medical attention she would have just fallen asleep and stayed on the beach until everyone left. I'm sure at some point it would have been very easy to walk by and grab her purse no matter how many people were around her...

 

i also believe i got the name wrong, i think it's Rohypnol...which like i said the onset of this drug starts effecting the person within 10 minutes.