Massive Rabies Scare

[trustypinecone]

Okay so about 2 and a half years ago, I got scratched by a dumpster cat on my arm at work. The pound couldn't find the cat and told me to get rabies treatment. So I went ahead and got the post-rabies treatment.

I can't remember how many rounds I had in total, but I know my final shot I got at least 3 weeks late.

About 4 months ago my anxiety and worrying sky rocketed (I've always been a worry wart). Sometimes I don't recognize where I am. I had one major hallucination. My finace said my pupils were dilated (was a very rare side effect of an SSRI I was on). I also have these weird moments where I panic and I get scared of my own conscienceness (I dont recoginze who I am and stuff, usually lasts a few seconds).

Then I looked up the symptoms of Rabies and now I can't stop worrying. I'm beyond scared I have the virus.

Now I have no appetite, I have many minor hallucinations, my mouth feels like its creating an excessive amount of saliva, I feel like I'm going to have a seizure any minute, I have so many muscle twitches throughout the day, I have chills going down my neck, and I feel like I'm coming down with the flu. And now I can't sleep very well.

All symptoms of Rabies and no matter how much I try I can't calm myself down. I almost drove up the hospital last night because I was so scared.

Even if the cat had Rabies (which I know is extremely rare), would I still be okay if I got my last shot late? Could that be why the symptoms are happening 2.5 years later?

[NervUs]

You said you had a major hallucination 4 months ago?

If you were hallucinating because of rabies, that means you would have been at the latest stage of the disease, rabies in the brain, and you would have died within days without treatment.

There is a thing called hysterical rabies. It is a well documented phenomenon, basically people who had been attacked by a dog or wild animal exhibiting all the symptoms of rabies in the pre-vaccine era. At that time, they knew their fate was sealed and had nothing to do but wait to see if they would get it or not. For a while docs didn't think rabies was fatal b/c so many people recovered from "rabies." Fact is, it was hysterical rabies and their fear producing symptoms.

Even getting the last shot late would afford you protection. It really depends on your particular body, but I read some case studies after my daughter got the shot. Studies show that some people studied have full protection, as measured by titers, by the second shot. The fourth shot is probably a CYA kind of thing, just to be absolutely sure that people who don't have strong enough antibody production at first are eventually protected.

I know this is a hard fear to go through, but you have so many things in your favor that this is not rabies: the cat was probably not sick; you weren't bitten (scratches are less likely to transmit), you are 2.5 years into it (only 1% or less of cases show up 6 months after exposure); and you got the RPEP, even if the last one was off schedule.

I hope your symptoms start to ease up soon. HA is a cruel mistress!

[Fishmanpa]

Then I looked up the symptoms of Rabies and now I can't stop worrying.

Dr. Google strikes again!

Positive thoughts

[trustypinecone]

You said you had a major hallucination 4 months ago?

If you were hallucinating because of rabies, that means you would have been at the latest stage of the disease, rabies in the brain, and you would have died within days without treatment.

Sorry the first hallucination was actually a week ago. Guess I just got to wait out few more days huh

[NervUs]

I guess, technically, you have a few more days to wait.

I would still say a week ago without any major progression (as in you are not hooked up to machines in a hospital by now) is a really good sign.

[trustypinecone]

I guess, technically, you have a few more days to wait.

I would still say a week ago without any major progression (as in you are not hooked up to machines in a hospital by now) is a really good sign.

Thanks for your help. I've calmed down a bit. Now that I think about it, it was more of an illusion than a hallucination. (I thought I saw a bridge on a road that has no bridge, but immediately knew it wasn't there) And I remember a few times when I was younger I've thought I've seen things that turned out to be something else.

[NervUs]

Thanks for your help. I've calmed down a bit. Now that I think about it, it was more of an illusion than a hallucination. (I thought I saw a bridge on a road that has no bridge, but immediately knew it wasn't there) And I remember a few times when I was younger I've thought I've seen things that turned out to be something else.

I do that daily

[MyNameIsTerry]

About 4 months ago my anxiety and worrying sky rocketed (I've always been a worry wart). Sometimes I don't recognize where I am. I had one major hallucination. My finace said my pupils were dilated (was a very rare side effect of an SSRI I was on).

I also have these weird moments where I panic and I get scared of my own conscienceness (I dont recoginze who I am and stuff, usually lasts a few seconds).

This could be DP/DR which is common in anxiety/panic and often seen at higher levels of them.

Now I have no appetite, I have many minor hallucinations, my mouth feels like its creating an excessive amount of saliva, I feel like I'm going to have a seizure any minute, I have so many muscle twitches throughout the day, I have chills going down my neck, and I feel like I'm coming down with the flu. And now I can't sleep very well.

No appetitie can easily be anxiety.

Excess saliva is reported in threads on here all the time.

Worries about having a seizure are seen on here but how can you really know this?

Coming down with the flu feeling can easily be due to your mental health. People who work too hard start to exhibit symptoms like this as do people like us who's bodies are working overtime due to all the adrenaline.

The hallucinations come back to when do you have them and are they truly hallucinations? Hallucinations can be experienced in normal sleep onset/waking stages, hence are normal and a symptom of nothing yet can be increased by anxiety although they are aren't caused by it since they are normal functions of the mind. There are also other possibilities for hallucinations even if you have them during the day in a full woke state e.g. bereavement can cause them.

Sleep disturbance is a classic symptom of mental health issues.

Muscle twitches are a common anxiety symptom. Some of us on here have mentioned we get them when our periods of anxiety are higher. And most people worrying about this tend to start worrying about something like ALS/MND, which funnily enough can also include that saliva symptom in their threads. Since none of these people ever had ALS/MND that only further shows how these two symptoms can come together in anxiety.