Squirrel Bite on Finger

Hello! This is weird considering this comes immediately after another squirrel+rabies post, but I feel the need to post this as it differs in nature to the other post today.

About 7 weeks back I was feeding a squirrel (stupid I know) and it bit me on the finger, rather deep and drew blood. Afterwards I washed the finger with a bunch of antibacterial gel, went to the A&E to get a tetanus jab and a week course of antibiotics.

I have been intermittently really quite anxious about the possibility of rabies. It's like my mind is split, logically I know that is basically impossible. I live in the UK, rabies has not been in the UK for almost a century, the only people who've died of rabies here did so after catching it abroad, and even if rabies were here rodents rarely live long enough after being infected to transmit it.

But there's this bit of me that comes up every now and then and goes 'what if'. I can't quite explain it but it keeps getting into my head, and my reasoning can't simply dispel it. I've even thought of seeing if a can pay for the rabies vaccine to eliminate these thoughts, but I know, rationally, that would not only be a waste of money, but also a waste of NHS time that could be used on someone that actually requires attention.

I'm hoping to use this forum just to express these irrational thoughts, and get some affirmation that these thoughts are indeed irrational and that I shouldn't waste the time of any NHS staff with these concerns. I'd like to use this as a place I can go back to and re-read, so that I can ease these worries.

Thanks in advance for using your time to aid this Misguided Doddle.

Quote:

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The UK has been rabies-free since the beginning of the 20th century, with the exception of a rabies-like virus in a species of wild bat called Daubenton's bats. ... There has only been 1 recorded case of someone catching rabies from a bat in the UK

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That is all......

No way to catch rabies in a country where rabies doesn’t exist.

As others have said rabies was eradicated in Britain decades ago so it is literally impossible for you to contract it.

From the OP's post it's pretty obvious they understand the logical facts behind this and what they are after is help with the anxiety side.

Getting shots for this is just compulsion, avoidance of tackling the real issue, and aimed at reducing anxiety. But you know it will only reinforce the importance of the issue and if you are on here asking about this then there is a very good chance your anxiety goes beyond this one event/theme anyway hence it won't treat the real problem.

Work on reducing your negative responses to these thoughts. Try to shift your response to that of observation & acceptance. Try to see it as just the subconscious thinking it's trying to protect you and any bizarre scenarios it may choose to think up are simply a result of this and it suggesting options to you. Consciously you make the decisions and that's why it's referring it to you because it doesn't know what to do.

It's hard to change thinking like this but it is achievable and it does work. Mindfulness did this for me.

Look outside of this and see how your mind can blurt out weird stuff al the time. But notice how you don't apply importance to those thoughts hence they just pass through without any reaction and they don't keep haunting you. If you can do it for those, you can do it for these.

You're right that it's not like the anxiety appeared just after the squirrel bite; it has been with me for while. I think that just gave the anxiety something to latch onto, so when I feel that anxiety I almost try and post-rationalise it and attribute it to something, like the distinctly irrational possibility of rabies.

Mindfulness is a good suggestion. I've dabbled in it before, and have felt better during the dabbling. But it's something I have to work on and maintain if I'm to see any long lasting benefits from it. It can just be hard experiencing anxiety that you don't really know the source of that appears at weird times.

Thanks for both the affirmation of the irrationality of the situation and the suggestions!

Squirrels don't eat dead animals so pretty much the only way for them to get rabies is to get bit by a larger animal which the squirrel likely not survive. I would say it is impossible but I myself am jabbed up about a bite from a pet bunny which may even be less of a risk. Of course there is always that theoretical possibility of it being bit by a bat or something but it is very very unlikely.

I got bit by a squirrel at least once. It just got to my toe and bit it. I didn't think much of it back then, hey those blessed times when I didn't have HA.

At 7 weeks you are mostly out of the woods anyway.

So I'm still alive and pretty sure I don't have rabies! Was alright for a while health anxiety wise but now of course I'm getting anxiety that I may have multiple sclerosis! So that's fun. Essentially I have the symptom of my right leg dragging a bit and getting tingles and such in that leg and on other parts of the body. I just feel so exhausted with all this anxiety and don't know how to make it stop coming up every few months. I feel like I probably should go to the doctor if I'm still feeling like this in a weeks time, but I don't know how to deal with the stress and anxiety now! I don't know if I'm just typing my thoughts up in an effort to soothe myself, but if anyone has any advice/reassurance/words of wisdom it would be greatly appreciated