Rabies Fear Again, Please Help :(

[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.