Terrified I have Tetanus!!

[tan235]

Hi All,
So I stood on a thumb tack about 5 days ago - it was slightly rusty, it was inside and it broke skin but didn't really bleed. Anyway I made it bleed to get out any rust and today I've woken up with a really bad headahce and I just feel awful. ( I do have my period though) - but now i'm terrified about tetanus.
I went to my Dr and he said I'll give you a booster just in case, I HATE vaccines with a passion - my last one was 25 years ago!
I rang my other two friends who are Dr's and they both just said ' you're fine, don't worry about a booster, it didn't bleed and a very low risk break in the skin.' - so anyway here I am 5 days later, living in hell in my head because i think I have tetanus - anyone been here??

So hard having anxiety as you get scared from side effects of vaccines, and then as the disease is so rare I figure my friend Dr's know what they are talking about but now every muscle twitch, every ache in my neck, every sore throat, etc is tetanus and apparently incubation is 1 day to 14 and I"m only on day 5!!!!!!!!

HELP ME please guys ......... what do you think?

[Fishmanpa]

What would I tell you? :winks:

Positive thoughts

[jules321]

I think you should get a booster and am surprised your doctor friends said you didn't need one. I had a run-in with rusty metal a month ago, and two doctors (because I didn't want to believe the first one - stupid HA) told me to get a booster. My last tetanus was 9 years ago. So I got the booster. Tetanus is so low these days because people vaccinate for it. I think you should get a booster regardless of this incident.

[tan235]

Was the rusty nail outside? I think after 5 days the booster wont do anything, so no point getting a booster and then worrying about side effects from the booster and then worrying about the tetanus! I can't manage that ...

---------- Post added at 22:53 ---------- Previous post was at 21:30 ----------

@fishmapa .... i know what you would tell me and you're probably right. The reason both my Dr friends told me not to get a shot is they know my anxiety and I guess they weighed up the risk, I showed my friend the nail and the wound and she just giggled and said there is no way you cn get tetanus from that - the drawing pin WAS rusty though, so god knows where it came from - the wound has since healed and my other friend whose a Dr said if it's healed that fast then it wont have tetanus, as tetanus wounds are normally dirty. Still I sit here in panic, my eye twitch is back, my arms are twitching, I have a headache i Just feel AWFUL!!!

---------- Post added 07-09-18 at 00:02 ---------- Previous post was 06-09-18 at 22:53 ----------

I just looked over statistics for tetanus in NZ - only 1 person got it in 2009, however 10 had it in 2010 but as a rule between 2000 and 2010 only 11 people got it - that's pretty rare right? Am I going crazy?
Anyone else like to chime in on my anxiety band wagon?

[MagpieWitch]

You can only get tetanus from deep wounds. I know that on the internet it usually says rust but that's kind of like a lost in translation thing. Yes those bacteria do live in rust! But they have to be in a deep wound without oxygen. That's one of the key components of getting tetanus.

It is very commonly given when you are impaled on a nail (like goes deep and draws blood), bitten by an animal (cause the teeth go deep and draw blood) and in the past a lot of people in wars got tetanus from bullet wounds (goes deep and draws blood and also has little oxygen)

Now it's uncommon because most of us are vaccinated and because with every such injury we are given a booster. I cut myself on a rusty nail few years back and didn't get a booster and it's good. My father cut himself on a very rusty nail in our bathroom few years back and didn't get a booster. It has to be a deep wound where oxygen wont reach.

You don't have tetanus. And frankly it's also a treatable disease nowadays. But also again it has to be a deep deep wound or cut. Nothing on the surface even if it bleeds a little qualifies.

But yeah maybe you should get a booster. Tetanus vaccine is safe. It can't give you tetanus. It can hurt however and sometimes develops a fever simply because the body is training to fight. The vaccine cannot infect you because it's dead. It just causes some local pain that can be pretty nasty but nothing too bad.

[Fishmanpa]

@fishmapa .... i know what you would tell me and you're probably right. The reason both my Dr friends told me not to get a shot is they know my anxiety and I guess they weighed up the risk, I showed my friend the nail and the wound and she just giggled and said there is no way you cn get tetanus from that - the drawing pin WAS rusty though, so god knows where it came from - the wound has since healed and my other friend whose a Dr said if it's healed that fast then it wont have tetanus, as tetanus wounds are normally dirty. Still I sit here in panic, my eye twitch is back, my arms are twitching, I have a headache i Just feel AWFUL!!!

So you know :winks: And you also know it's your anxiety messing with you.

Positive thoughts

[tan235]

Thank you for that ..... makes me feel better, I feel terrible, headache, exhausted, dizzy probably anxiety.....

[tan235]

Guys, just need some thoughts, I feel literally sick to my stomach, I'm sure my jaw is clenching, I have muscle twitching everywhere, everything hurts, is this because I've literally spent the last 6 days googling tetanus every second I get? It's been 6 days since I accidentally stood on a thumb tack that was rusty and I've felt sick ever since then - I didn't get a booster, apparently incubation is 10 - 14 days so I've still got a week to go before I'm in the clear... OMG i hate health anxiety so much. I didn't get hte booster as I'm terrified of vaccine complications ... and of course tetanus has it's own complications so I can't win either way. I'm exhausted.

[pulisa]

Yes it's because you've been googling excessively and obsessively about tetanus and you focus on a worst case scenario diagnosis for every symptom you have.