Aussie woman ‘unable to control’ limbs after suspected drink spiking

A woman has revealed how a night out at a Queensland club with mates turned into a nightmare that left her “unable to control” her arms or legs.

A young woman has recounted her horrific experience being hospitalised and “unable to control” her limbs after a night out with her friends in Queensland.

What was mean to be a fun night for Cairns woman Caitie Howarth and her friends turned into a nightmare after she says her drink was spiked at a nightclub.

The 20-year-old hit the town on the night of November 26, but, despite only having four alcoholic drinks throughout the whole night, she only has glimpses of memories from the evening.

The young woman told news.com.au she “felt normal” after having her first drink at a club at about 8pm, before moving onto the second venue where she had two more beverages.

However, Ms Howarth said things started to “get a little bit hazy” after the group moved onto another club and she had her fourth drink and final drink of the evening.

The next thing she remembers is “waking up” at a different club.

Caitie Howarth shared her horrific experience after a suspected drink spiking at a Cairns club. Picture: Caitie Howarth/Supplied

“I have a little flash of memory of being on the dancefloor with my friends but I was stumbling and then blacked out,” she said.

“I came back into consciousness outside and went into a panic because I had no idea where I was or what had happened and I was surrounded by my friends and paramedics telling me to calm down.”

Knowing that she hadn’t had very much to drink, Ms Howarth’s friends had become increasingly concerned about her behaviour.

They made the decision to inform a security guard that something was “off” and an ambulance was called.

“I had never felt that way before and I’ve never used drugs in my life. I’ve had my fair share of nights of getting ‘wasted’ but this was nothing like it,” Ms Howarth said.

“My four drinks wasn’t enough to make me black out. My senses were all off. I couldn’t control my arms or legs and I was hyperventilating.”

The young woman was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, with one of her friends accompanying her.

Have you had a drink spiking experience? [e-mail]

Ms Howarth pictured in an ambulance after the incident at the club. Picture: Caitie Howarth/Supplied

The young woman said her memory from the night is patchy. Picture: Caitie Howarth/Supplied

Ms Howarth said she doesn’t remember this trip, but was later informed by her friend that she had claimed at the time she wanted to leave and was taken home before medical tests could be carried out.

She suffered the effects of her night out for three days afterwards, which Ms Howarth pointed to as another indication one of her drinks had been spiked.

All day on Sunday she was dipping in and out of consciousness.

On Monday, Ms Howarth worked a three-hour shift, during which she said she experienced a number of disturbing side-effects.

“I couldn’t relax, I felt like I could feel the blood moving in my veins. Anytime I stopped moving my body would twitch or tic,” she said.

She said these strange side-effects became even worse at night when she was trying to sleep.

“I would catch myself breathing heavily out of nowhere and would have to sit and try to calm myself down as it felt like my heart was beating out of my chest,” Ms Howarth said.

On Tuesday, three days after her night out, everything turned on its head.

Ms Howarth slept for 13 hours and said she went into “zombie mode”.

The woman suffered effects from the night for days afterwards. Picture: Caitie Howarth/Supplied

She was taken to the emergency department of a Cairns hospital. Picture: Caitie Howarth/Supplied

At work she found it difficult to speak properly to others, having to take great care to think of the words she wanted to say when answering a question.

“It was hard. I only really came back to normal on Wednesday,” she said.

As Ms Howarth had visited a number of venues on the Saturday night, she said it was difficult to know exactly where the spiking may have occurred.

She did report it to the venue where she thought it may have occurred, as well as speaking with the police.

Ms Howarth said she never thought this was something that would happen to her, adding she has always been wary about going out in Cairns anyway due to anxiety.

She told news.com.au she would never go without a group of friends and would always either buy her own drinks or watch them being poured.

After this experience, Ms Howarth said she is even worried about going out to dinner and having a drink with her meal.

“My advice to anyone is to not think you’re safe just because you’re with a group of friends. I thought I was but unfortunately it still happened,” she said.

“Cover your drinks with a coaster or buy stubbies so you can walk around with your thumb over the top.”

She begged other Aussies to watch out for their friends on a night out.

“I couldn’t imagine what might’ve happened to me that night if my friends weren’t there to help,” she said.