Rabies Fear Again, Please Help :(

[a true gooner]

I posted back in August about an encounter with a Bat that I thought bit me on the back while I ran underneath it.

Right yesterday night I was walking my Nan to work (she's disabled and has a walking stick) and I felt something sharp go directly into my leg, then saw a Bat fly by past my leg, when I got in I took a look and saw a mark which was bleeding so I'm definitely certain I have been bitten.

I cleaned it anyway and phoned 111 (UK people will know what that is) and they told me to get to hospital within 4 hours which I did.

When I got there they said the suppliers who deal with the vaccine ain't there till tomorrow so I went home couldn't sleep because I have all this on my mind again.

Today I went back and was seen almost instantly (although I saw someone different) they said to me that since I had the full course of Rabies Vaccine last time (Immunoglobulin, 5 Doses of Rabies Vaccine) they said it'll cover you for 6 Months even if you're bitten again.

Is this true guys? Because I've read and been told almost everywhere that if you've been exposed again you need 2 more Rabies Vaccines.

The person who ordered them for me last time was the guy who I saw last night, he wasn't there today.

I'm worried that the guy today did something different than the guy last night was going to do if the people he needed to contact where there, like look at the wrong website or talk to the wrong people.

All this is starting again, I know it's rare but rare doesn't mean impossible.

[ServerError]

Are you suggesting that the guy you saw today is less qualified than the one you saw the last time? Are you suggesting he's blasé about his career and liberty and doesn't much care if you die of rabies or not?

I don't get it. You're asking a bunch of completely unqualified anxiety sufferers about something on which you don't trust medical staff. Can you see how irrational that is?

[a true gooner]

I don't know what to honestly think anymore tbh, like I've suffered with HA for 2 years now and every time I see someone about something I think I have and it gets proved I don't have it (which has happened a lot) it feels like they don't believe me anymore and just say to themselves "it's just another HA Episode" which is scary because I don't know if something is wrong with me or not, I just think the worst of things which is what happens with HA.

Thing I'm worried about is what if I do have it and they just assumed it was my HA but it isn't, or what if that happens down the line sometime? It's like the boy who cried wolf although I can't help but think the way I do.

That's why it feels like I'm losing trust in some of the people I see because they think it's just another HA Episode, but what if it isn't?

I honestly have no idea what to do, I've been fine since I started my vaccine on 22nd August and finished it on 21st September but since last night it's all come back again.

[ServerError]

Your feelings are dictating how you react to situations and how you interpret them. There's nothing to be ashamed of in that. We pretty much all do it.

However, in terms of the reality of the situation, your feelings are completely irrelevant. By that, I mean the way you feel has no bearing on the reality. You feel as if you can't trust people or as if you're being dismissed as just another hypochondriac. However, these feelings are symptoms of your anxiety disorder and are not accurate sources of information on how to react.

Medical professionals deal with your presenting symptoms. Yes, that means your anxiety will factor into their thinking. But it doesn't mean that they will dismiss you if you present with symptoms of something other than anxiety. (Okay, some may point out times it's happened to them. Doctors are human and they make mistakes, just like we do. The point is, it's rare and very unlikely to happen to you). They treat you for what you have. They don't see serious illness and then dismiss it as anxiety because they're having a bad day. They don't get fooled by anxiety. It's true that anxiety can present with so many diverse physical symptoms, but telling it apart from actual serious illnesses is bread-and-butter for a medical professional.

The reason nothing is being done about your rabies "scare" is because there is nothing to suggest treatment for a potential rabies infection is required. That's all there is to it. Feelings and worries are irrelevant, because there is nothing there.

There is, however, an absolute smörgåsbord of anxiety symptoms, and that is what needs to be treated. It's currently the only disorder you are sympotmatic of, and is therefore the only issue any medical professional can focus on.

[a true gooner]

I'm just worried about the mark on my leg because as I said it was bleeding when I got in and I felt a sharp pain while I was out.

I didn't mean the guy I saw today looked at the wrong website, I guess he looked at a different one (Public Health England was the one) But the guy I saw in August which was the same one I saw last night looked at emc which are the suppliers.

Since Rabies is so rare in this country I'm worried that some information may be inaccurate since it rarely even happens.

I've had people say to me rabies doesn't exist in this country and some that say it does although rare, which is worrying me even more because I know it exists here but some people believe it doesn't which may prevent me or anyone else from being treated on the rare occasion.

Like if I lived in another country where it's common or in the US (although only like 3 get it a year even though that's still more than us) they'd probably be able to give me better information.

I'm just worried and don't know for sure that it does protect you for 6 Months or do you need another 2 straight after a possible exposure? I don't know if our information is the same as other countries information on rabies.

If it's the same that'll put my mind at ease, because since it rarely happens here the information might not be 100% which isn't really the doctors fault it's just that it's so rare here that it's almost non existent.

[ServerError]

The facts about rabies don't change depending on where you are. The same is true about the disease in the UK or the USA.

It is basically eradicated in the UK, with the exception of a few bats. The last rabies infection that originated in the UK was in 1922. Since then, all infections in the UK have been of people bitten abroad by dogs.

It's precisely because the disease is so well understood that we've been able to almost entirely eradicate it here. The US is absolutely enormous and has vast areas of wilderness which makes it harder to get rid of it there, but it's still incredibly rare.

You're worrying about an impossibility and creating scenarios in your mind specifically to maintain your worry.

[a true gooner]

I know it's extremely rare but what about the people that do get bit and get it?

I know it's rare like being struck by lightning but it happens if you're just that unlucky.

I just want to know I'm 100% alright because I can't keep on like this, it's ruining my life.

Maybe I am being stupid and I'm worrying over nothing which is the most likely thing but the 1-2% that I might not I'm worried about.

I have some linked stories here from news articles that shows it does happen although rare but they freak me out and make me think "well what if I'm one of them"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2509375.stm

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1357572/rabies-bat-fort-william-bite-john-widdows/

[ServerError]

The Scottish Sun article is a bat handler. There are hundreds of thousands of bat handlers worldwide who never get rabies. He was extremely unlucky. It wasn't some random bat. He was constantly around them, vastly increasingly his chances.

As with so many anxiety sufferers, you want 100% certainty, but that's very rare in the world. I can't even promise you won't get sporadic fatal insomnia, but that's only ever happened to about nine people in recorded history. Nobody has died of rabies in the UK from an infection acquired in this country since 1902! I can't promise you you won't get rabies, but I'd puta hell of a lot of money on it.

However, you've had medical attention and been told you're fine. That's as close to 100% certainty as you're ever going to get. There is nobody else to go to after the doctors. Nobody here knows better than they do.

At this point, you're torturing yourself with irrational thought. I've been there, too. I pretty much ruined my life for a period. But none of this worry changes anything. You don't have rabies. End of story.

[Fishmanpa]

Having read your first thread, you didn't indicate you had the vaccine treatment. You said you went to the doctor/hospital several times, saw several medical professionals that dismissed your fear. Did something happen that actually warranted the treatment? Do you know that one bag of IVG (Immunoglobulin) is around 30K? My wife had three bags of that as part of her treatment for encephalitis and they spent that on a fantasy and reassurance?

I'm sorry, I just cannot believe you were legitimately bitten by a bat nor do I believe that you've had so many "bat encounters". Heck, I live in the country, mountains, caves etc. I've seen bats flying around occasionally but I've never heard of anyone that has had so many close call bat encounters in the span of a few months. You've been blown off for months about this fear but still managed to get the vaccine so you're protected in that one in a few million chance. But now it's just starting all over again and you need help to stop it. IMO, real life professional help is warranted.

Positive thoughts

[a true gooner]

What worries me is the other one who was bitten randomly while he was in his car, like when does something like that ever happen?

Another thing I've lived where I live all my life and I haven't had any fears of bats before the first time on my first post where one flew towards me and I ducked underneath it.

Before that I was fine, now I get scared to go outside when it gets dark because I'm afraid a bat will swoop down and get me.

Even the Doctors said "you can't keep on living like this, you're 21 you shouldn't be worrying your life away like this"
but at the end of the day I can't help it, I've tried seeing someone about my Anxiety last time I had this fear but it just got worse until I had the vaccine, although I don't think I can have that now.

The best thing I could possibly hope for is a blood test to check if I still have antibodies from the vaccine.

[ServerError]

I've said all I'm going to say on the actual fear. If you're going to worry about the statistically possible but almost entirely guaranteed not to happen scenario of a rabid bat biting you in the United Kingdom, you may as well worry about far more likely things like being hit by a car or killed by strong winds or being electrocuted (these are just examples, there are many more).

You absolutely can help this. I'm not saying we can all just switch our anxiety off and move on and have that be the end of it. I do know how anxiety feels. But the ability to rationalise and challenge your thoughts and fears - and to make this into a new cognitive behaviour - is within you. It's within all of us and you should take heart from this, if nothing else.

The blood test won't help. You'll just worry they did something wrong and then want another one to back it up. It's the kind of reassurance that doesn't last and can even help to make things worse in the longer term.

[a true gooner]

Basically on the 21st September I was out in garden just vaping and I felt something go into my leg and straight after saw a bat fly past my leg, went inside and I had a little pin sized mark (basically the same as last night)
I told the Doctor who was the same one I saw last night.

I told him what happened and that I don't want to gamble my life away even though it's like a 1-2% of getting it.

And he phoned up the suppliers and had it delivered to my local GP Surgery the next day.

I know it's a rare thing to happen but sometimes you just can't tell especially if it's really dark which it is around my area.

I have a big field at the back of my garden and loads of tree's near the railway where the bats like to roost, I just didn't want to deal with this anymore and he seemed concerned which is why it was delivered.

But yeah I do need some help, I can't keep on thinking like this anymore but last time I had help it didn't do anything because my mind was so far gone with that and personal problems that it didn't help me.

---------- Post added at 21:49 ---------- Previous post was at 21:39 ----------

Yeah I guess you're right it is rare, especially all the bat encounters I've had. It's stupid to think all them bat encounters involved them biting me.

The Doctor said you could go for a walk and get hit by a bus or struck by lightning (although you could also get bit by a bat I suppose) and he said to just get on with your life and get some help.

I just want these fears to go away but I can't stop thinking if I'm gonna be one of them people.

In real life I don't have anyone I can talk to about my problems,
my friends just think I'm speaking some sort of foreign language and just don't understand what I'm talking about or going through.

It's hard because I wish I knew people in real life who suffer from HA so I've got somebody who understands me.

---------- Post added at 23:19 ---------- Previous post was at 21:49 ----------

I've just asked my nan about the incident because I didn't want her to know I'm going through all this again but it's gotten to much to bottle it up.

She said she didn't see a bat near me and bats aren't really active in November.

I don't understand because I'm certain I saw a bat fly past my leg.

Maybe she didn't see it or I was just seeing things, but that doesn't explain the pain and the mark on my leg.

I think next time I go out at night I'll have to check my body for any marks so I know they were there before I go out because all this is gonna start up again.

I already suffer from mild OCD checking my body all the time but obviously I was fine until last night.

[ServerError]

I don't understand because I'm certain I saw a bat fly past my leg.

How certain can you be about that in the dark? Also, to bite you, it would have to land on you and then sink its teeth into you. If a bat got close enough to bite you, and slowed down enough to get a bite in, you'd not doubt it.


I think next time I go out at night I'll have to check my body for any marks so I know they were there before I go out because all this is gonna start up again.

If you go down that route, you are creating the seeds of a long-term condition that you may never recover from. That's how blunt I have to be about this. It's absolutely key that you do not allow this fear to change your behaviour. You must teach yourself that there is nothing to fear, and some kind of treatment is going to be essential.


I already suffer from mild OCD checking my body all the time but obviously I was fine until last night.

You weren't fine, really. You just weren't symptomatic until last night is what you really mean. Somebody who is fine does not react to possibly having been passed by a bat in this way. As I said, you really do need to seek some treatment for this. I doubt anyone on here can say anything to change things for you right now.

[a true gooner]

This HA stuff started 2 years ago when I was working with my uncle at a recycling plant, 3-4 months after starting there, one day on the conveyor belt where I was sorting out the pvc, wood, metal's etc. I felt something sharp go into my arm but didn't see because I was too busy doing the job and didn't think much of it at the time.

When I got home I was absolutely fine until a few hours later for some reason something hit me like a ton of bricks and I kept asking myself "what if a needle went in my arm?"

A few days I started getting symptoms of HIV and that's how this all began, I thought I had a needle stick injury and that I contracted HIV.

For weeks I was going through horror as I was getting literally all the symptoms of HIV on the NHS Choices website.

My doctor booked me in 2 blood tests, one within a few days and one 4 weeks later to 100% confirm whether I had it or not.

Turns out both were negative but what it did start was my HA and ever since then it's been all sorts of life threatening illnesses that I convinced myself I have.

Every illnesses I get my doctors get more annoyed (which is understandable) which is one of the reason why I've been iffy in trusting them because I think that they think it's just another HA episode which is making my Anxiety worse because I think they ain't too fussed about the problem I'm going to see them about.

[Ellient]

You're ruining your own life worrying about something so extremely rare. I wouldn't even call it rare I'd call it near to impossible.

Do you worry every time you go out in a car? The things we all do daily are more threat to us than rabies is.

You say I could be one of the unlucky ones, we all could. I could go out and get struck by lightening but the chances are so low I wouldn't even think about it, what's the point?

Hope you can find someone to help with your anxiety soon as this must be an annoyance for you to sit and worry about this.



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[ServerError]

Every illnesses I get my doctors get more annoyed (which is understandable) which is one of the reason why I've been iffy in trusting them because I think that they think it's just another HA episode which is making my Anxiety worse because I think they ain't too fussed about the problem I'm going to see them about.

Anxiety is a diagnosable and treatable condition. (Okay, technically, anxiety is an umbrella term for numerous disorders, but you see my point). Doctors will only see it as "just another health anxiety episode" if that is how it presents. I admit that some doctors will seem rattier than others about it. Some see it as an irritant. Some struggle to relate to the patient. Some are lovely about it and believe in trying to reassure you.

The one thing they all have in common is a prestigious career that pays well and that they'd like to maintain. It is not in their interest to fob you off or put things down to anxiety that are actually more serious. A GP can't always be sure, which is why you'll sometimes get a test or a specialist appointment here and there, but you can bet that a GP that doesn't seek more testing is confident of what the problem is.

The real issue is the inaccessibility of help. It needs to be readily available, and it isn't, which means suffering people keep going back to the doctor. It becomes a cycle. But the point is, no doctor, no matter their apparent attitude, has any interest in misdiagnosing something serious - especially not through negligence.

If anxiety is your diagnosis - your only diagnosis - then that is what your issue is.

[Chris 614]

A rabid bat would not be coordinated enough to bite you and fly away. Sick bats are usually on the ground and unable to fly. People get bit when they pick them up. The chances of you getting bit once is rare enough. Twice though? And both times by a rabid bat? I did a lot of research on bats when one flew into my house. I spoke with two bat experts, a field biologist in our county, a vet, and several medical professionals. A bat bite is extremely painful. Two of the above experts had been bitten by bats and they said that it felt like ten hypodermic needles poking them at once. You really need to listen to the doctor. If they thought you were in any danger they would have done something.