Simone had her drink spiked at a bottomless brunch. Now she struggles to walk.

Simone White was out with friends at a bottomless brunch when she began to feel strange.

The 43-year-old from Bristol, England, put it down to having several drinks in a short period before collapsing and being rushed to hospital.

A week on from the incident and Simone still cannot walk or speak properly. 

"I don't want anyone to go through what I have gone through," she said in a Facebook video earlier this week.

"There are really long-term damaging effects to being spiked. I was so complacent. Who on earth would want to spike a 43-year-old?

"There needs to be more awareness of the potential."

Simone has shared a video about her experience, watch it below. Post continues after video.

Simone realised something was wrong when she stepped out of the restaurant for fresh air. She tried to find her eldest son, 18, who was at a nearby bar but collapsed. 

"I was very agitated," she said of what she can recall.

"I had no control of my body at all. I was having episodes of consciousness and unconsciousness. When I was conscious I was gurning, throwing things, going rigid and scratching and clawing."

Bypassers found Simone on Facebook and called her partner, George, who took her to emergency.  

"I got there in about 15 minutes. I found her in a very aggravated state," George told BBC.

Doctors ran some tests and told Simone to stay in hospital overnight, where she suffered repeated seizures. 

Despite being told the effects of the drug would wear off, the mum-of-three is still unable to talk properly. 

Following a CT scan, a neurologist believes Simone has a functional neurological disorder (FND).

"It's something usually triggered by a stressful event," she said.

The self-employed cleaner is currently unable to work and doctors have told her not to drive. She is awaiting test results.

"I loved a night out," Simone said. "Now it's made me feel unsafe."

Drink spiking remains an ongoing issue here in Australia. In New South Wales reports of drink spiking hit a five-year high in 2022.

According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, police recorded 219 cases of drink or food spiking in the state that year, up from 154 cases in 2021. 

Drink spiking occurs when drugs are slipped into someone's drink without their knowledge. Despite what many people might believe, the most common drug used is alcohol. 

This could look like "adding alcohol to a non-alcoholic drink or adding extra alcohol to an already alcoholic drink", Dr Nicole Lee, a professor at the National Drug Research Institute previously told Mamamia. 

"Most drink spiking is actually friends pranking each other. They might add an extra shot of alcohol to see their mates get drunk quicker. In a smaller number of cases drink spiking is intended to harm someone, like for sexual assault or theft."

Other drugs used in drink spiking include depressants or sedatives like ketamine, Rohypnol, and gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid (GHB). 

"These drugs are colourless and don't have a strong taste or odour, so are easily concealed," says Lee.

"They make you feel relaxed at lower doses but at higher doses make you feel very sleepy and can sometimes cause unconsciousness, blackouts, and loss of memory. Sometimes people find it hard to move or speak."

Read more: Mamamia Investigates: Drink spiking is still a huge problem. We spoke to 50 people about what happened to them.

As for measuring the spread and scale of drink spiking in Australia, the data remains limited. 

"We don't really know because most of it goes unreported… A research study a few years ago estimated a few thousand cases a year across Australia," says Lee. 

As for the signs of drink spiking to look out for, "if you are feeling more drunk than you think you should be compared to how much you think you’ve had to drink, or if you feel sick or very lightheaded, it’s possible you’ve ingested something extra."

Other symptoms of drink spiking may include mental confusion and memory loss, speech difficulties, nausea and vomiting, breathing problems, muscle spasms or seizures, loss of consciousness and an unusually long hangover.

Feature image: Facebook.