Afraid I got bitten by a rabid bat during my sleep

[LunarCoffee]

Hi, I'm 13 and male. I live in Ontario, Canada, and am new to this forum.

Anyway, recently, I've been worrying excessively about having being bitten by a rabid bat during my sleep. I have these weird non-itchy bumps near my armpit that my brain's convinced me are bat bite marks. I've attached an image of them along with the post. The bumps were redder the day before. In case the image quality isn't great, the bumps are around 1 mm in diameter, reddish, and with a tiny darker bit in the center, which makes me think they're bug bites of some sort.

The house I live in is relatively new, and I don't think we have bats, but we've never had it checked as far as I know. I went and slammed on a whole bunch of the upstairs walls many times today, and I heard nothing when putting my ear up to the wall.

So, basically an irrational fear. What makes it worse is that today, my throat has been getting itchy and I can also feel some enlarged lymph nodes, which my brain thinks are the beginnings to rabies. Also adding to that is a feeling that I've been making more saliva than usual, as well as a feeling that I'm holding my jaw lower than normal, both of which are symptoms of rabies that my brain is probably causing.

Also, I've been wondering how common it is for bats to infest a home, what the bumps actually are, as well as how to ease the worrying (besides not googling anything related). I don't have a past history with anxiety or that sort.

Note: my parents say I don't need to go to a doctor (probably right), so I can't really do that.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Looks like you've got some skin irritation or rash. Sweat rashes can look like that.

Maybe it's an allergy issue? Antihistamine might help.

[Scass]

It doesn’t look like any sort of a bite. Your parents are right that you don’t need to see a doctor. Maybe if it gets worse (which I’m sure it won’t) then they will take you.
Perhaps the other things you are feeling are the beginning of a cold or allergies.

You seem like a sensible enough 13 year old, where does the bat fear come from?


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[LunarCoffee]

The bat fear comes from the fact that bats are the most common rabies carriers by far, and cause basically all the rabies deaths in Canada. I've tried to reason with myself that that's because every other carrier has been able to be vaccinated, and that there were only 4 cases, 3 from Canadian bats in the last 20 years, but I guess only time will calm my mind. I've actually had HA for the past few months, with various diseases, though I've always been able to reason with myself, so it never really impacted my life for more than two days. All the cases of me becoming worried again are from me googling things that I shouldn't be.

[Fishmanpa]

All the cases of me becoming worried again are from me googling things that I shouldn't be.

I'm increasingly convinced that technology and especially Dr. Google are a threat to physical and mental health in today's youth and society as a whole

Positive thoughts

[LunarCoffee]

I'm increasingly convinced that technology and especially Dr. Google are a threat to physical and mental health in today's youth and society as a whole

Me too, actually. Not only just Dr. Google and their close relative Dr. WebMD, but social media platforms as well. Don't get me wrong, they're still useful and nice to have, but they can also make us think things aren't normal, when in fact they are. In the old times, you'd wake up one day, feel like crap, and think "course I feel like crap right now...," then continue with your work. Nowadays, everyone's posting the best parts of their days, so when you're not having a good day, it can feel really abnormal.

[LunarCoffee]

I also got some non-itchy bumps overnight a few nights ago. They were kinda like pimples (they might have been, I'm not sure actually). I subconsciously picked at them and they formed scabs of sorts. I actually had another one like this a few months prior.

Unfortunately, the bumps were around a centimeter apart, so now whenever I think of them I think "bat bite," which probably wouldn't have looked like this after picking at it.

Also, for me, sometimes, the anxiety will consume me for a few minutes, but most times I can distract myself and do other things, though with a heavy feeling chest (shortness of breath? not sure what it is).

The thing is, I'll be doing my thing, then my brain will be like "oh, hey! I haven't worried about stuff for a-- wait...," and I'll proceed to think about rabies, cancer, prion disease, and all that stuff for a good few minutes before I'm able to calm down. Anyone know how to not have this happen (or limit it)?

[Fishmanpa]

Anyone know how to not have this happen (or limit it)?

Do your parents know you're on an anxiety website talking to strangers about your fears? Have you spoken to them about this? I would talk to your parents and ask for real life professional help. This is no way for a child to be suffering.

Positive thoughts

[LunarCoffee]

Do your parents know you're on an anxiety website talking to strangers about your fears? Have you spoken to them about this? I would talk to your parents and ask for real life professional help. This is no way for a child to be suffering.

I have talked to my parents, but it's not really suffering. When I read other people's posts, their situations are much worse than mine. My HA is kinda like this:

Day 1: discover disease and worry for most of the rest of the day. Can still focus enough to do work and play games, but it's still in the back of my head. Issues falling asleep possible, but not always. I will probably talk to myself and try to convince myself I'm fine.

Days 2 and 3: feel better, but still have a unsettled feeling. I will generally be able to get carried away doing something a few times, but it'll always be interrupted by my brain reminding me I haven't worried, which causes me to worry. Generally no big sleep issues. If a new symptom of any sort appears in these days, I may revert to day 1 for a few minutes/hours (like yesterday, where I thought I was making too much saliva and felt like I was holding my jaw lower and reverted for half an hour or so), but I will return to being not like that after.

Days 4-7: I can distract myself and do daily things without much issue. Every hour or so, I'll get the same "realizing I'm not worrying" thoughts, but they are shorter and I can dismiss them a lot easier. I've never gotten past a week without looking something else up, even though I've said I would never do it again. If I didn't, then I'd probably have the realizations some more, but decrease over time until I'm pretty much normal.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, but anxiety can be Mild, Moderate or Severe. If a medical professional determines your anxiety to be above normal, no matter which category, it's a disorder (providing no normal trigger for such isolated temporary emotions) and therefore needs to be addressed.

There is always someone worse. But do you want to spend time worrying like this when you could just be living without giving a care about such subjects? You should be having fun, learning, growing physically/emotionally/intellectually without all this on your shoulders.

Your age may actually be relevant to these things you are seeing on your skin. Going through puberty a big impact on your skin (something any teenager knows and loathes). Your hormones are ramping up which means more sweating. Skin irritations are common.

I've had similar many times in my life and it's usually in hotter weather. Like raised clear pus bubbles that crust over. They can be popped and crust again. They can be itchy or not.

I suspect it's something like this. It's certainly not a puncture wound from what I can see. And your parents say it's nothing.

You sound like a clever, intelligent young person. You know it's irrational & why. It's just that the subconscious doesn't change so easily and things persist. Look towards therapy techniques for help in dealing with this. And if you are having periods of stress, whether it's school or peer pressure or anything else, this is often a catalyst therefore learning to relax more and having strategies aimed at reducing stressful elements in your life will help.