Scared i have tetanus! plz help

[scarrface16]

hi guys so recently (about 9-10 days ago) i was scratched by a rusty cheese grater. if didnt bleed and i read that if it doesnt bleed theres more chance of being infected with tetanus. so me being the crazy person i am got a needle and opened it like you would a splinter(so it would bleed)and i washed it out and put hydrogen peroxide. so im not too worry about that anymore since its been 10 days. however i live in canada and its very cold :P but my knuckles get all dry and bloody because of the cold. this doesnt bother me however, to moisturize my knuckles, i used this nivea cream with bamboo shoot extract in it... MISTAKE :( 20 minutes later i remembered that bamboo grows in the soil and the soil is where the tetanus spores survive. i washed it off immediately and used hydrogen peroxide on the little parts that were prone to bleeding but now im sooooo scared im going to get tetanus because of this stupid cream :'( im 17 years old and my mom doesnt think i was vaccinated against tetanus as my famiy doesnt believe in vaccines. i kind of want to get a tetanus shot so i dont have to worry about this anymore, but im terrified of the side effects (not the needle itself) because i read that this guy got tetanus 7 days after being vaccinated. id prefer not to get unless i absolutely HAVE to im really scared about this tetanus thing. ive had alot of health anxiety(heart problems, brain tumor, MS, alot of cancers aortic aneurysms, stroke) but this is probably the worst ive felt. i literally feel sick to my stomach, i cant eat, sleep (its 4 am as i write this) and i just feel so helpless about this :( please if anyone has anything that can help/reassure me it would be greatly appreaciated. im going to talk to someone this coming monday(for my anxiety) i hope this helps. i feel so scared and i just want this to end so i can live a normal life :(

[scarrface16]

:weep:

[LunaLiuna]

Hello I'm not sure if this helps but I stood on a rusty nail in the garden a couple of months ago, I never got my vaccination as I don't believe in them and I'm fine!

It didn't stop me from panicking though, chances are your going to be alright. There's not much anyone on here could say except if you really do feel like something isn't right with the cut then go to a doctor, if you've cleaned it thoroughly I wouldn't worry, but like I said don't hold back :)

And Nivea cream would definitely not have tetanus in it!

Oh and I think you would know if you had it because you would have lockjaw or convulsions by now, as it comes on within a couple of days.

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

First off, congratulations concerning the decision to seek help to treat your anxiety! At 17 years of age it is time to nip this in the bud pronto so that you can have a beautiful life ahead without this illness stealing the joy from your otherwise healthy life!

When you see your GP on Monday please be sure to put special focus on the fact that your anxiety manifests as health anxiety. Then talk about the situation you are specifically concerned with right now- tetanus. You can also discuss the pros and cons of vaccines.

I am not a medical doctor, but I also don't struggle with HA, so I believe I am able to see this a little more clearly than you may be at the moment.....I don't believe the scratch is anything to be concerned with to begin with.....and the Nivea cream situation is absolutely NOT OF ANY concern. Quit messing with your poor hands and let them heal as the body is created to do. It doesn't need your help other than just gently keeping the wounds clean and dry.

Write all your fears and worries down, so that after your doc appointment on Monday when you get the all clear you can go back to read and re-read how you were ok even though this case was the "worst you've ever felt." This will help you stay rational with that old HA trickster starts taunting you with new fears.

You are going to whip this anxiety and be on here coaching others in the future!

[scarrface16]

thanks for the kind words guys :)

[scarrface16]

if i may ask how do u know that the nivea cream is not anything to be worried about?

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

This is going to sound harsh, and I DO NOT MEAN FOR IT TO COME ACROSS THAT WAY, I promise....., but common sense is what comes to mind.

I don't struggle with HA, so these type of thoughts don't really cross my mind, and being able to see with a clearer view because of that- rational thinking says that a commercially marketed product and the testing of that product would never allow it to include something that contained an ingredient that could spread tetanus.

You just hang on until Monday, so you can get to work on your anxiety disorder. Maybe print this thread out so that your doctor can get a full idea of how you are truly suffering from HA.

Grab on to your rational thoughts and hang on tight to them-- relief is coming! (And, when you see your doctor--- Trust him/her. They know what they're doing.)

[scarrface16]

dont worry even if it was harsh thats the best way it makes me realize how irrational im being :) but yeah thatts what i thought at first then idk what happened my brain just started overreacting. thanks so much for your insight. hopefully one day ill be completely over this anxiety thing and ill be able to help people on this forum who suffer too

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

I have no doubt!

There is an online, free CBT course available here too.....it has been highly helpful for many.

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/articles/therapy/ (This is explains CBT.)

---------- Post added at 16:52 ---------- Previous post was at 16:51 ----------

And, here is the thread link for the free course:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91696

[scarrface16]

thanks Toomuchtolivefor very helpful :) if anyone else has any experiences or advice please share, still a little anxious... :(

[MartMart22]

Wow I had this exact same phase over Christmas got really stressed out about it I cut myself on a rusty tap hadnt been vaccinated for 15 years and after a couple of weeks I even had symptoms neck pain trouble swallowing etc. The way I convinced myself it was nothing to worry about is simple, I did a lot of research on tetanus while I was worried about it and read people's experiences with it and the main thing you need to know is people with tetanus are having crazy muscle spasms almost to the point where their back could break your jaw would lock completely so it would be hard to breathe and one thing to remember with any disease is that if we can find time to write these posts and walk to the shops etc then 98 percent of the time you're gonna be fine :)

Hope this helped stay strong and make sure you remember you're fine :D