I was drugged in Costa Maya - Majahual - BEWARE!!

[LABCHICK]

Mommabean I am so sorry this happened to you. Glad you are on the mend. I always try to be aware of my surroundings. With you posting what has happened to you, I will be extra careful in every port.

Keep us all informed on how you are feeling.

 

Judi :)

[Catnip]

Long story short, ALWAYS be careful, don't accept drinks from strangers, don't automatically trust people you just met, don't leave drinks unattended

 

I think that's a lesson we all need to be reminded of, especially when we are on vacation.

[ILoveScotland]

Mommabean, I for one am glad you started the thread. People - both men and women - need to be warned about the situation. You said early on a crew member later told you that there has been similar situations when ships were in port - I think you said crew member, maybe it was somebody at the hospital.

For me the bottom line is that you are known on CC and are credible. And I am glad you and your sister are improving.

Yes, these things happen to people in other places, but you and your sister were in a small port in Mexico, so that's why your specific warning is about that place and bar.

[Finbar127]

Mommabean - first let me say that I hope you recover, physically and mentally, from your ordeal as soon as possible.

What I would like to know is exactly which establishment in Mahajual you bought the drinks? I understand that your memory of that day is foggy, but perhaps the other people who were with you that day remember.

From your OP it sounds like your drinks were brought to you by a waiter or bartender. Any establishment that has employees who engage in conduct like this should be identified on these boards and blacklisted for the safety of other travelers.

[CruiseJunkie911]

WOW Things sure got a little ugly from the last time I read this thread. Makes me not want to ever post...NOT! Grow up people and take in the info. and do what you want with it. Believe her or not. It's your choice, but leave the lady alone. I can't believe people think your making it up.

I for one will take this info. and use it to be better informed about what just might happen to me. Sometimes when I think I'm being sooooo careful I'm really not. :o I like to be reminded of the dangers out in this world. Thank you so much Mommabean for sharing this with us. MANY of us are indeed greatful.

 

I'm so glad you checked out ok with your doctor. I pray you will continue to improve each day.

[wolfcathorse]

She said she was at Cat's Meow, I was there last year and never had a pushy waiter, we didn't even tip him. And if Barbara knew what her employees were doing, she'd have the federales on them in no time. Maybe someone should email her and give her the link to this thread. With Majahaul growing so fast, apparantly the bad has come along with the good.

[Sandytoes]

My guess is that the OP either got a bad batch of the tequila (remember the song Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off ) or someone slipped this drug in their drinks. See story in link below. Sounds eerily familiar to OP's story.

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/23644

 

Thanks for posting this site....Great Information

SCOPOLAMINE comes in a

patch for motion sickness.....

Symptoms of overdose may include disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, and confusion....:rolleyes:

[kingsgirl]

Thanks for posting this site....Great Information

SCOPOLAMINE comes in a

patch for motion sickness.....

Symptoms of overdose may include disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, and confusion....:rolleyes:

 

We're taking scopolamine patches for the cruise.

[kalamari]

I said there was a gal on another board who had a similar situation to you and alleged she was raped and it was on a carnival ship. I didn't say you were raped.

 

I may have misunderstood something you said. I also said pretty clearly I was trying to fill in some blank spaces and that I wasn't being unsympathetic to your situation.

 

I am just trying to understand what happened and if you felt there was anything you could have done differently in terms of prevention. I'm not faulting you or anybody.

 

Whatever happened to you may have nothing to do with what you drank, who you were with, or anything. I wasn't there so I have no way of knowing what happened.

 

 

 

No one has said anything about being raped, I don't know where you got that idea. And we just stated the drinks we had. I had 3 bottled beers we opened, and two Margaritas made by two different bars. I drink more than that almost every weekend, and we started late in the day so it wasn't the sun. I'm not making any allegations, just stating facts.

[sonomaphil]

The thing I don't get about all this is the OP didn't go to a doctor, on board or otherwise until days later but came her to tell everyone about it. That makes NO sense at all. Seems fishy.

[Iamthesea]

Thanks for posting this site....Great Information

SCOPOLAMINE comes in a

patch for motion sickness.....

Symptoms of overdose may include disorientation, memory disturbances, dizziness, restlessness, hallucinations, and confusion....:rolleyes:

I knew I had heard of that name somewhere! I have heard bad things about the patch. To the person that is taking them on your cruise, ask your doctor if you can cut the patch in half.

 

I have heard of people having eye problems with the patch, like very large pupils, blurry vision, etc. but never any disorientation or memory problems.

 

Mama and sis, were you taking the patch?

[katiel53]

Gina,

I too have read your posts and enjoyed them. I am sorry you had this happen to you. I give you a lot of credit for posting about it. If it had happened to me, I wouldn't have had the courage you do. I'm glad you went to the doctor today and hopefully, you will get some closure from the test results.

 

Don't pay any attention to those who are just here to antagonize or give you a hard time. They don't deserve the time of day. I hope soon you are back to your normal fun self--I see that part is coming back.

 

 

Katie

[mommabean]

I knew I had heard of that name somewhere! I have heard bad things about the patch. To the person that is taking them on your cruise, ask your doctor if you can cut the patch in half.

 

I have heard of people having eye problems with the patch, like very large pupils, blurry vision, etc. but never any disorientation or memory problems.

 

Mama and sis, were you taking the patch?

 

No, we were not using a patch. I did not know that scopolamine was in the patch either. But this is weird. I told my sister the next day that I felt like I had been given scopolamine. I am very familiar with the drug because it was still in wide spread use in obstetrics when I was in nursing school and while I was an ob/gyn nurse in a hospital. It was given to women during labor - before they were knocked out for the birth. That way, they could stay awake for most of the labor without being anesthetized, but they never remembered the pain. In fact they remembered very little, if any, of the childbirth process.

 

I didn't remember telling this to my sister until I read the word scopolamine here. It's like being anesthetized while being awake. I have no idea if it's being used for anything commonly anymore - oh well, I guess the patch as we've just be told according to those who use it. I thought it was fazed out of childbirth by the 80s.

[mountaingurl]

For those who don't remember or didn't read...my sister and I aren't the only ones who went to Majahual and believe they were drugged. One was even a man who only had only 2 drinks.

 

Apparently being tested for the 3 main date rape drugs isn't as easy as everyone seems to think. I went to the doctor and to the testing center that gets does the immediate response urine test. The doctor has taken blood and urine to be sent out but doesn't think it's likely to be positive after so long. In fact, blood tests must be done much quicker than urine. And the outside limit for urine is really 72 hours.

 

The testing center did the 10 panel test and everything came up negative. BUT....the only date rape drug it can detect is Ecstasy. The main 3 drugs he said are difficult to get tested for because many labs won't do the specialized test due to the fact that they don't want to get dragged into court to back up their results. People tend to use the results for lawsuits which are expensive and time consuming for the companies. This is what the owner/operator of the drug testing company told me. He did call Quest Labs and ask them about doing a hair test. They say they have a specialized test for date rape drugs which costs $250 which can be done about 2 weeks later.

 

I was at my doctor's office first and I did hear him tell the lab tech to have the samples tested for date rape drugs. After speaking with the other guy at the other place who told me initially that the immediate result test also tested for date rape drugs, I can't help but wonder if that means they are going to test for Ecstasy at the doctor's office, too. Or maybe my doctor's office really will have it tested for roohypnol, GHB, and the other one - a veterinary drug.

 

For those who wonder how I could walk and shop if the drug is supposed to put you to sleep - I don't believe all the date rape drugs put you to sleep. I don't believe all people respond to all drugs the same way which is also true of prescription drugs - which is why one medication works for some but not others. Also, women who are date raped tend to believe they were asleep due to the lack of memory. THAT is the main result of being drugged. If you don't remember a huge block of time and your awareness returns and you are in a bed, the assumption would be that you were asleep since there's no memory of being awake.

 

I may as well have been asleep while shopping for how little of it I remember. I have only snapshot memories of the entire time. I don't remember my sister being with me most of the time but she was.

 

No, Jorge did not steal my money. I had it when I left him because I got the massage after leaving the Cat's Meow. It was not the woman who did the massage because I got my bag and paid her from my still existant money. Althought I was feeling more than drunk after only one drink by the time the massage was over and I didn't drink for the entire hour during the massage.

 

I am not a shopoholic - sober or drinking. This was out of character for me. I did not want or need the one size fits all muu muu sized dress I bought. Or the jewelry. At least I had a pretty bracelet to give away to the nice little daughter of our roll call. She was still wearing it when I saw her at the airport which made me happy and cheered me up a bit.

 

For those who want to think I went on a drunken buying spree after 2 drinks, that is your choice. If you want to risk buying a mixed drink that is made in a foreign country out of your sight - where rohypnol is legal - that is your choice. If you don't want to believe me, that is also your choice. For those who continue to ask why I didn't get drug tested on the ship - read the thread and find out. By the way the man at the testing center today told me that it is also extremely unlikely that the ship can test for the 3 main date rape drugs. They are only likely to do testing for drugs of abuse since the crew is subject to that type of testing at any time.

 

I know some of you will continue to say that if it were a date rape drug I would have felt better then next day. I'm not as young as I used to be and not everyone recovers as quickly. If it were only alcohol, don't you think that also would have been out of my system by the next day? I've been drunk and hungover before. When hungover I threw up and had a horrible headache - nothing that a glass of water, 2 aspirins, and a carbonated beverage couldn't take care of. This was nothing close to drunkeness or a hangover from beginning to end.

 

Oh, and the doctor said I am fine, vital signs are good, and that I will snap out of it soon since I'm getting more back to normal each day.

 

Placid Lady - guess what? He has a new wife - the 3rd one - an authentic Italian. And his first baby - a little girl who is 4 months old. I saw pictures. CUTE!!

 

I had a feeling that would happen at the testing center. That is why I thought it best to have the testing done at the hospital lab where they would have access to more equipment, tests, and lab containers. What one can do in office is very limited. Often the specialized stuff requires different collection techniques and tubes. I did drug screening forever, was BAT certified and DOT certified. I knew entirely too much about drugs LOL! I never knew there were so many people employed who actually performed well on drugs at work. Again, I am sorry this happened to you and I am sorry that they were not able to find what made this occur. I will keep my eyes open when at this port, and thanks for your warning. No foo-foos in port for me.

[mommabean]

My guess is that the OP either got a bad batch of the tequila (remember the song Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off :D ) or someone slipped this drug in their drinks. See story in link below. Sounds eerily familiar to OP's story.:eek:

http://poorbuthappy.com/colombia/node/23644

 

Oh my. I am just now reading this article. This does sound like it. My first instincts the next day may have been right. But truely, I didn't believe there was any way for someone to drug someone else with scopolamine. I wasn't aware it was even used anymore. This is what I told my sister the morning before we arrived in Cozumel - it seemed like scopolamine - and then it went out of my head never to return again until I saw it mentioned here.

 

I have no idea if that is even a drug that is tested for in urine tests since it's not a drug of abuse or even a common date rape drug in this country.

[lulybellsea]

Mommabean, I've read enough of your posts to know you are absolutely honest and creditable. We're done a lot of traveling but after reading this, I realize we're pretty darn naive. Thanks for the warning. While 99% of the folks are honest and lawabiding, there is always that small minority that we need to watch out for. And, you have very bravely reminded us of that fact. I'm glad you got back to the ship safely and that you are recovering. By the way, what does it mean to "triangle?" (I haven't read all of the postings.)

[time4agetaway]

I am so sorry this happened to you! I certainly hope you are ok! Thank goodness you were not raped!

 

I hope you get some clear answers from the doctor.

[Happy ks]

The thing I don't get about all this is the OP didn't go to a doctor, on board or otherwise until days later but came her to tell everyone about it. That makes NO sense at all. Seems fishy.

 

 

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. Hindsight is always 20/20 and we all say what we would have done, but we weren't there, it didn't happen to us and she has stated she wasn't even coherent enough at first. She was having a hard time with memory and was not making great decisions at the time.

 

I've learned the hard way to not pass judgement on a situation that I was not in, nor have I had experience with in the past. We can armchair quarterback all we want, but until it happens to you or someone you're with, you need to reconsider making snap judgements.

 

I'm sure you will appreciate this consideration of others if something awful ever happens to you.

[ihatethecold]

Oh my. I am just now reading this article. This does sound like it. My first instincts the next day may have been right. But truely, I didn't believe there was any way for someone to drug someone else with scopolamine. I wasn't aware it was even used anymore. This is what I told my sister the morning before we arrived in Cozumel - it seemed like scopolamine - and then it went out of my head never to return again until I saw it mentioned here.

 

I have no idea if that is even a drug that is tested for in urine tests since it's not a drug of abuse or even a common date rape drug in this country.

 

So sorry and I know how you feel. I read every bit of information on every drug after my experience and each one sounded like what I was slipped. I'll never know but I hope you have better luck with your testing.

And also as mentioned date rape drugs do not make you fall asleep as a matter of fact they can make you become sexually aggressive. And you can and will be sick at least one day after if not longer. It's really upsetting to see people comment negatively when someone is sharing a personal horror story and trying to help others.

[vator90]

I've held my tongue as long as I can. I have been reading this ladies posts on several threads for some time now, and never have I ever been witness to her posting something that was untrue or fabricated. For all you jackyls out there who can't wait to jump on the weak, get a life! This lady is being courageous about what happened to her on a trip and people want to down play it or rebutt it for what ever reason. So instead of being skeptical,why not try a bit of sympathy for her, and take from this what she is offering, a simple warning that beared repeating. I truely hope it all works out for the Op and be forever happy it was just money they took.

[mommabean]

Mommabean, I've read enough of your posts to know you are absolutely honest and creditable. We're done a lot of traveling but after reading this, I realize we're pretty darn naive. Thanks for the warning. While 99% of the folks are honest and lawabiding, there is always that small minority that we need to watch out for. And, you have very bravely reminded us of that fact. I'm glad you got back to the ship safely and that you are recovering. By the way, what does it mean to "triangle?" (I haven't read all of the postings.)

In the upper right hand corner of every post is a red outlined triangle. Hit on that triangle within the post when you want to report that a particular post violates the forum posting rules.

[sbc83]

Rohypnol can only be detected in the urine up to 72 hours after taking it. I dare say you are too late.

 

PS: rohypnol is a legal drug in Mexico.

 

 

Rohypnol (FLUNITRAZEPAM) isn´t legal in Mexico, has been considered a major felony to even carry 1 pill of rohypnol (considered an illegal narcotic), since the year 2000. The use of Flunitrazepam is only limited to people in hospitals. I´m not saying it is impossible to get your hands on a bunch of rohypnol pills in Mexico, but it isn´t legal.

[Host Mike]

Mommabean I am glad you came through all this OK.

It seems like the topic has swayed all over the place.

Since it has been well covered, I will close it at this point.

 

Mike