Think Im dying of the Rabies ( Have symptoms. )

Hey guys,

So about two weeks ago my EX asked me to bring stuff down from her attic, I did so, and hung out up there cleaning up for her for a bit.
I did not see a bat, or felt a bat, there is no indication of a bat... But I just cant shake the feeling that I might have been bit by a bat.

Either that, or a few months ago I pet our neighbors skittish dog and she " kissed " me on the hands, I didnt have a cut or open sore, but Ive read the rabies can enter you like that.

I also used to live in the woods up until 8 months ago, God only knows if a bat bit me in my sleep at that time.
I feel like ive had numerous chances for exposure.

But no bites/scratches as far as I can remember or tell.

Yet now Im having most of the symptoms, feeling anxious, out of it, sore throat, muscle aches, etc.

Im panicking.

This is ridiculous, completely.

You're stressed, which can easily cause the sensations you describe.

Repeat after me: Bats are not ninjas.

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Originally Posted by BlueIris

This is ridiculous, completely.

You're stressed, which can easily cause the sensations you describe.

Repeat after me: Bats are not ninjas.

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Deep down I know how absurd this might all sound, but what if I was bit without my knowledge sometime in the last ten years?

I read that one case had an 25 year incubation period, we had a bat flapping about outside 2 years ago, what if he was able to get to me?

Or what if that dog who licked me just happened to have it?

It's nerve racking.

Bats don't just leap on people without them knowing and then sneak away - there would be pain, bite marks and you would be VERY aware that you'd been bitten from seeing the bat attached to your body for starters and the evidence afterwards. So,

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without my knowledge

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is just not possible! If I were you I would read some of the many many threads about people fearing bat bites and rabies on this forum - it is a VERY common fear and the replies people have had from members should give you lots to think about.

Thank you guys.

I'm driving my family nuts with this fear, nobody recalls me complaining of any kind of animal exposure or bite, but I just feel like I'm missing something.

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Originally Posted by Jadex9

Thank you guys.

I'm driving my family nuts with this fear, nobody recalls me complaining of any kind of animal exposure or bite, but I just feel like I'm missing something.

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I do NOT think you've been exposed...

but...

I actually think it would be good for you to get to a point of accepting that, yes, there is a chance you missed something and those are just the breaks. I know, for myself, part of the emotional turmoil is internalizing my sense of failure, that if I get a disease it's because I am a failure, I failed, etc etc etc.

If you accept that, yes, shit happens and there are no guarantees but that you have done what is medically indicated, then you can release yourself from the panic and fear. You have taken all the steps to take care of yourself. You described your interaction with an animal (in this case, flying over head, kissing your hand, and completely imagined in the attic), and you followed medical protocol which, in situations like that, is: THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT OR DO.

Stop talking about it, stop going to doctors about it, stop asking family members for what they remember. Accept that risk is never zero, and all people live with that circumstance every single day.

Getting to a place of acceptance is what gets me through HA. And, I do get what you're going through. I have a bat story that would probably make your hair stand on end and I had to put acceptance into action, and it did release me from the fear state I was like paralyzed in after the exposure I and my family had. We have no choice but to accept that we are part of nature, we interface with it, and sometimes it takes us out, and that is just the way it is. I stopped obsessing and could live with the medical decision made (one family member got the shots, the rest of us did not even though there was a small chance of exposure) after I truly got to a point of accepting my place in nature.

Ok... Let me put this another way. Do you believe "Star Wars" actually happened? :shades:

Positive thoughts

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Originally Posted by Fishmanpa

Ok... Let me put this another way. Do you believe "Star Wars" actually happened? :shades:

Positive thoughts

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Why, of course it did! Don't ask silly questions, Fish :lac:

Status: May the Force...

You're still worried after the ER doc told you to get a life?

Read venusbluejeans Avatar:whistles:

NervUS wrote some words above that are so valuable....

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Accept that risk is never zero, and all people live with that circumstance every single day.

Getting to a place of acceptance is what gets me through HA. And, I do get what you're going through. I have a bat story that would probably make your hair stand on end and I had to put acceptance into action, and it did release me from the fear state I was like paralyzed in after the exposure I and my family had. We have no choice but to accept that we are part of nature, we interface with it, and sometimes it takes us out, and that is just the way it is.

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I want to repeat them because it is something that has liberated this poster from extreme anxiety about a lack of control over perceived risk. Living is a risky business, to each and every one of us, just as it is to the butterflies, birds, dolphins, fish and possums - its part of being alive. The possums don't sit there stressing about 'what ifs' they get on with being alive :o

Thank you all for your kind words! I know this is part of my health anxiety problem, and I know how absurd and ridiculous it can all be, im just thankful that there are others out there who share this burden with me and can keep my mind from wobbling out of control.

I hate to say it but welcome to the rabies club.... my scares started in..... 2010 😑 except for when I studied abroad in London... cause well... lucky brits don’t have rabies there...

I’ve had multiple scratches that looked like bat bites- 3 times cat scratches from stray cats that started the scare... etc etc... ninja bat
Strikes me about every 3-5 months if you ask my fans on here :/ not trying to be sarcastic- just being real.

It’s really hard to do this but you need to access your logical brain.. not the what if....

Yes, we’ve seen many attacks from Ghost Bat and InvisiBat on here. Their “bites” cause high anxiety, but nothing fatal, fortunately.

Yup... I recently noticed a huge bruise with a scratch with what looked like 2 sets of 4 dots “bat fangs” side by side.... have no clue where that came from.... but of course it was a bat...I even managed to have it be itchy and numb for a few days ...

Rabies is such a perfect HA disease. It is very rare, 100% fatal without post exposure vaccination, and can have symptoms that are common to anxiety symptoms (tingling, numbness, etc.). I used to fear it. What got me over my irrational rabies fear was pure statistics. There were zero human rabies cases in the U.S. in 2016. In 2017 there were only two. One of those cases was from a dog bite in India and then the person came back to the United States. It is so exceedingly rare that just about any other disease discussed on this message board is hundreds of times more likely to be your affliction than rabies. Trust me, you are not that one or two in 300,000,000 who got rabies.

Oh and the 100% fatal stat isn't really true anymore. Two patients survived when doctors used something called the Milwaukee Protocol.

Source: https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/fu...ma.253.12.1555