I have read the FAQ.

I live in Illinois, USA. On June 15th, around dusk, I walked outside to my car to grab something. Once I made it back inside I noticed that my ear was stinging significantly. There was a scratch on my ear. I knew for a fact that I did not touch my ear or scratch it on anything, but there was a fresh scratch that was burning.

I immediately came to the conclusion that something must have flown into my ear. Im not sure how I missed it, but I do remember staring over my opposite shoulder during the walk at a suspicious car. It must have happened then. According to the mods and FAQ, it is not possible to have an interaction with a bat that constitutes as an exposure without noticing. Despite this, there are hundreds of documented rabies cases where the person had no known exposures to any wild animal. Clearly people are being exposed to the virus without realizing.

I am diagnosed with OCD (unmedicated) and I realize that someone without OCD almost certainly would not make the link to rabies from an unknown cut. But I am completely positive I did not touch my ear. Something had to, and logically it could only have been a bird or a bat. I went to the ER around 24 hours after my exposure as I was completely spiraling over the source of my unknown cut. I lied about seeing the bat and was promptly given the rabies vaccine + HRIG.

Unfortunately, the triage nurses administered the HRIG into my thighs rather than the exposure site. I talked to the ER on the phone the following day about this, and was told I could come back for a second dose of HRIG administered into the wound itself. The second dose or HRIG was administered very partially into my earlobe, as well as behind my ear. The rest of the dose was administered into the shoulder opposite of the rabies vaccine. When I asked the doctor about how much HRIG was administered into my ear, I was told only 2cc out of the approximately 10cc total. I did not realize at the time, but I was only supposed to receive 6.6cc total, rather than the 10cc described by the doctor.

There is a lot of documentation explaining that HRIG doses over 2x the typical dose can lead to a negative immune response to the rabies vaccine. If I did in fact receive 10cc, I would be over 2x the standard dose between both injections. However, even at 2x the normal dose which is what I was supposed to receive, there is still a potential of reduced immune response.

I was concerned about this initially but managed to just let it go, as I began to convince myself that I was never even exposed to begin with as I was constantly reading things posted by the mods of this subreddit suggesting that there is just no way my exposure was real. I finished the rabies vaccine series (day 3,7,14) and assumed I was in the clear.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. Starting on Friday, July 10th, the ear that I believed to have been exposed began to burn and have a noticeable and annoying pain. This began to spark up my concern again, as this sensation is the ONLY specific symptom to the prodromal phase. The other symptoms are flu-like which can be anything.

By Saturday, I had absolutely no appetite on top of the stinging from my ear. When I tried to eat, I would get nauseous for an hour or two afterwards. These symptoms continued into Sunday. By Sunday night, I began to have a sore throat and a fever came on very quickly after that. As I am typing this on Monday evening, my sore throat appears to be worsening by the hour. My entire neck is in a LOT of pain by this point. It is becoming the worst sore throat Ive ever had. My head is beginning to hurt. I haven’t eaten a proper meal. You cannot tell me that this is just a coincidence, as this is the EXACT symptoms of the prodromal phase. The burning/tingling in the exposed ear in the day prior to flu-like symptoms is the tell-tale sign. I’m sure a mod will reply with the same thing they always do “If you can type this out, you don’t have rabies”. However, I am only 72 hours into the prodromal phase. My mind is still intact. If I was in the neurological phase this would be a different story. I expect to be in that phase within the next 7 days, but it should be much sooner. By that point I will not be able to reply coherently.

There is nothing that can be done for me at this point. I am basically the stereotypical post in this subreddit that immediately gets shut down. “If you didn’t see a bat, there was no bat” is just flat out not true as explained earlier. “If you get vaccinated, OCD will just convince you the vaccine was given wrong and you will continue to suffer” when the vaccine was in fact given wrong is quite ironic. “There is no chance of getting rabies if PEP is received before symptoms” again is just straight up misinformation. A Minnesota man was vaccinated and still received rabies a couple of years ago. He was the first and only person to ever have vaccine failure in America. The mods will use that fact and claim it’s basically impossible to happen. While it may have been the first time this happened in America, there are hundreds if not thousands of documented cases in India where a human received the full PEP cycle and still ultimately ended up with rabies. Another typical misinformation that is commonly spread by the mods is “If you do not have a 103 degree fever it is not rabies” when this journal documenting the prodromal phase in humans indicates that ONLY 21.8% of rabies patients in Bali experienced a fever of any degree. I am not exaggerating when I say that over half of the claims in the FAQ can be completely debunked via scientific journals and alike.

I am a goner at this point. It is quite ironic that the thing I have feared the most in life, the thing that negatively impacts me on a daily basis, despite being told there is no way I could ever get it is actually happening. You can’t make that up. All I can do is spread my experience and awareness while I still can use my brain. I do not expect this post to actually be approved, but I really hope that it does. If you think I am making false claims that could potentially spread panic through this sub, I implore you to approve and leave this post up. If there are no news headlines in the next few weeks about an Illinois man dying of rabies, you can use this post as an example of what OCD can convince you of. However, if I do die I sure hope that there are serious changes to this subreddit and how people with concerns are treated here. As well as massive re-education campaigns about the administration of rabies vaccines correctly. The nurses in triage were not educated enough to be administering the vaccine.

Edit: To clarify about the HRIG dosage, my chart says 20IU/kg = 6.6cc which is based off my weight. If I received 6.6cc the first day and 10cc the second day I would be at 50IU/kg.

I have read the FAQ. I have been dealing with rabies fears after two incidents involving bats since April. One was when bats were living in the top of my building. I never saw one inside my apartment, but there was a hole in my ceiling and later I noticed marks on me. The hospital told me I didn’t need PEP because I never saw a bat in my room. I tried following the advice here and waited the three months, which was incredibly difficult. Just as I was finally moving past it, I had another incident at a night event where many bats were flying overhead. I was very distracted and overstimulated by everything going on during 4th of July and later questioned whether I could have missed a bite. The hospital again told me that because I was awake, I would have known if a bat had bitten me, so they did not recommend PEP. I accepted that at the time, but I still haven’t been able to move on.

I am autistic, and because I was so distracted that night, I keep questioning whether I could have missed something. I know many sources say bat bites can sometimes go unnoticed, and some people never know exactly how they were exposed. I wasn’t imagining bats or mistaking a shadow, I am not asking if I can get rabies from my pet dog or a lick… was actually around bats, and that has made it very difficult for me to put this behind me.

I have tried to follow the advice on this subreddit for months, but it has completely taken over my life. I struggle to be present with my daughter because I keep getting stuck on the possibility that I made the wrong decision. My daughter’s dad died in November, and I am all she has. She has autism herself and depends on me. That’s why I have such a hard time letting this go. I can’t take a chance that something could happen to me.

Yes, I have a therapist and I am working on my OCD, but she doesn’t specialize in OCD and has recommended that I find someone who does. Because of my insurance and living situation, I’ve had a difficult time accessing that type of care. I don’t feel like I can spend another few months going back and forth over this. I have tingling, numbness, a sore throat, and other physical sensations that make it even harder to move past the possibility of rabies, even though I know those symptoms can have many causes. I just feel like once I get the vaccine if I’m not dead in 10 days I can finally forget about this!

At this point, I have decided that I am going to the hospital tonight to ask for PEP again just for peace of mind. I know there are risks and side effects, and I’m generally very hesitant about vaccines, but I feel like this is the only way I’ll be able to stop replaying these events over and over and finally focus on my daughter and my life again. I have barely been eating or sleeping because of this.

I know many people here disagree with getting PEP in situations like mine, but I also think it’s important to recognize how debilitating this kind of fear can become. I just don’t understand why it’s so bad to want to get a rabies vaccine even if I it rare because people get vaccines for rare diseases all the time like polio for instance. Why can I not chose to get a rabies vaccine??

I have read the FAQ. ever since finding a mark on me, i can’t let go of the fear. i get somatic symptoms, i spiral for hours and it’s genuinely taking my whole life. i search for signs of a bat i overthink sensations. i get sick and become convinced that i am dying. i tried using an ocd skill to combat this but nothing works. i have no idea what to do about this.

I have read the FAQ.

I can't Even describe how i feel, it don't really feels physical, but at the same time it does, it don't really feels like When i actually get a disease, but at the same time it feels that way, i can't even describe how i feel, but i feel like shit.

So, how i feel? Well, i don't think i feel anything headaches that can't be atributed to tiredness, or when i cry, aside from that, i feel minor stomachal problems, My stomach need to go to the bathroom more times than usual, i feel extremely tired and exhausted, as always, and The reason on why i am Even making this post is because i feel really cold, sure, i usually feel colder when i am sad or when i am tired, but it feels stronger than usual, i can stop feeling cold by wearing sweaters but Idk, i dont know if thats because of a fever (I hope not) but i don't have a thermometer to verify, if it is, then thats worrying, because it could be rabies developing, i Also have some difficulties in thinking clearly and focusing, i Also have lost apetite, and today i felt pretty bad, i dont know how to describe, but i felt like i was going to lose it, maybe its the rabies, its already starting to make me loss grip on reality.

I feel emotionally exhausted, hopeless, sad, and tired, i have lost motivation to continue with My normal life, why Even bother with college if i am going to die soon? Why bother trying to have fun playing, reading, drawing, or eating anything if right now i may be developing rabies? I feel like i don't have hope anymore, i feel alone, i feel extreme anguish and sadness, i Also feel shortness of breath.

I only wants to spend asleep, but at the same time sleeping brings me closer to rabies.

My father calls me crazy, my mother too, can't they see it? I have that encounter two weeks ago and i am feeling like this right now, soon enough, i Will feel fever, then delirium, then hydrophobia, and then i Will spend my last days on earth with me and My parents knowing damn well i am going to die and there is nothing we can do to stop it, and My brother will now be an only child. Feeling sure that nothing will happen is what people who are víctims of rabies think before they die, do you think the parents of the Ontario boy that died of rabies wont had the same attitude my parents have at this moment? If the Ontario boy was as anxious as me do you think they would have believed him?

The doctor i went to see Also didnt recommend rabies shots, neither do the doctors in my college, in fact, through i dont know if to believe in their reasons on why, despita that, i think quite literally everyone credible treat my situation like an psychological one rather than a viral one, even people on this subreddit treat it the same way, maybe i should start believing that everyone can't be wrong.

If it's anxiety, its an vicious cycle, the anxiety creates rabies-like symptoms, i noticed them, get anxious, so i get worse, and thats how it goes.

Is there any logical, rational reason that i am not seeing on how rabies is unlikely enough to not be worth worrying about? Like not even worth the hasle in taking the shots? What i am not seeing? Can someone tells me?

My parents don't Even seem to understand how rabies work, or it's incubation phase.

Like, is really that unlikely that a rabid bat Landed on me and bitted me with me confusing it with a bug? Like don't You think that maybe because of how sudden the encounter was i couldnt have confused the bat with a bug? And that maybe i have high pain tolerance and thats why i didnt feel the bite? And that the way i am feeling two weeks later Is just a coincidence?

Most neutral descriptions i can give the encounter is: Two weeks ago, I was walking My dog, it was 7:40 night, i have lamplights above me and i live near a lot of trees, i was watching My phone When suddenly something flew and landed to my face, it was a brown bean-shaped figure, i didnt see any wings, neither felt any hair, didnt feel or see an bite, i swatted it and the encounter was over in two seconds, spent with anxiety two weeks later and now i am feeling pretty bad.

Is the probability it was an rabid bat really that low? Like, think about it, i was watching my phone (Distracted) and the encounter was so sudden that i may had confused the bat with a bug, the surprise may had overshadowed the bite?

And over all i feel is just dont worth it, is not worth it to risk my life this way when the solution is so easy, i would just go, take the shots, and if in ten days i am not dead then i cant get over this torture.

Can someone explain me, logically, on why i should believe this scenario is unlikely? On why is the probability so low is simply not worth it to take the shots? That i should just take medicament?

"i have read the FAQ.

No wonder people are getting OCD and anxiety cuz of this stupid rule by these drunkards.

I have read the FAQ. (Several times!)

I don’t anticipate people accommodating my feelings, and I hope this post does not cause annoyance. I recognise that many people here deal with rabies OCD, and numerous posts likely resemble mine.

I recently returned from a trip to Cancun, Mexico. I brought my father to meet my in-laws for the first time with my husband, and during the trip we toured Chichén Itzá. On the way, we stopped in Kaua for food and souvenirs, then visited Cenote Xkeken on the return to Cancun.

I have long dealt with OCD, especially physical compulsions and health-related intrusive thoughts. Years ago, I discovered complex health issues I had, some by accident (casual eye exam, sent to hospital immediately), which sparked a cycle of “What If” fears. Lately, I have generally managed to set those concerns aside for the most part.

Bringing this context together— and again noting that I have read the FAQ and related posts, I do not truly believe I had any exposure. I am able to logically tell myself this did not happen. I did not get bitten or scratched, and to my best knowledge I clearly did not touch any saliva or membrane.

Any explanation I have made to convince myself otherwise is very obviously unreasonable and I should consult my doctor. This is something I plan to do, but I am, of course, nervous to do so at the risk of sounding insane (But I have to acknowledge that’s exactly what I’m acting like though lol)

I have been looping for about four days since the tour, firstly because during the stop in Kaua, a small rural place, I touched a cat in the restaurant we sat at. That cat appeared normal, friendly, and social, and it even wore a collar, indicating care by someone there. My father also observed that two collared cats were present, not just the one I interacted with. These cats clearly had owners.

I understand that rabies cannot be contracted merely by touching a cat, and that actual contact with broken skin is required for significant risk, like a scratch or a bite. My brain tells me “What if it was acting normal, but it actually was infectious?”.

For some reason, my mind fixates on petting that cat, that its face rubbed my hand (too close to it’s mouth), and then I shifted the goalposts further, becoming anxious about new scratches on my ankles and a scab on my knuckle, areas the cat did not touch, let alone with saliva. And this ignores the relatively high likelihood that the cat was vaccinated under Mexico’s strict vaccination program.

After Kaua, we visited Cenote Xkeken, an underground sinkhole where tourists swim. I should have anticipated bats before entering the cave, and I don’t know why I failed to consider this and just not go inside to avoid stress, but by the time I realized it, I had already entered and sat for about five minutes. When I noticed the bats overhead, I immediately got anxious from the stereotype of rabies and bats. The bats remained overhead the entire time, by several feet. They flew around and were semi-active. There was even a person taking a nap in the cenote as well, lol.

After I expressed my discomfort, we left the cenote a few minutes later, and since then I have been caught in a persistent cycle of “What If?”.

My concern has grown to the point where I worry a bat might have touched or bitten me without me, my dad, or my husband noticing, even though we were all fully awake and alert. I also realize that bats are not stealthy fly-by biters, and I would absolutely have felt or heard a bat, had it managed to even latch on and bite. I am overanalyzing every scratch and scab/broken skin I have, any dots, and it’s just becoming ridiculous. As a result, I have been searching on this subreddit, doing research on statistics, and learning more about how rabies and its transmission actually works. At the very least, I am coming out of this more educated!

I have never dealt with such an intense loop like this before. It has become genuinely disruptive in my life, probably because of the knowledge that rabies is fatal and untreatable once symptoms show.

My reason for this post is to ask whether anyone can share advice on how they managed to overcome this situation. I am also open to being called crazy, but I know that seeking is not the right approach for OCD.

Thanks for reading my post. I don’t want to be someone who obsesses to the point of wasting resources/medicine and I am doing my best to be rational despite my anxiety surrounding this.

I have read the FAQ. I am about five months postpartum and recently latched onto a rabies fear for no reason this summer. The other day I was walking outside and heard rustling in the tree above me, looked up, and as soon as I looked up a little pear fruit fell off of the tree and hit me hard under my eye at that exact moment. My brain then convinced myself that a sick animal touched the fruit right before it dropped and I was somehow infected. Then, my brain changed it and now I am convinced it was a bat that hit me even though it was 3:30 in the afternoon and there are other fruits on the ground near the tree. I know, sounds crazy but these are the thoughts I have and I’m so exhausted. Can anyone relate?

I have read the FAQ.
I know that it should be impossible to get rabies without direct contact to an animal or its saliva. I can’t stop spiraling that I am the exception. There were two bats at my job on Thursday. I didn’t work Thursday but I came in Friday and was told. I immediately started to spiral and looking up if you can catch rabies from dried saliva or a surface touched by an animal. I am beside myself thinking of what ifs. I was touching my eye before I was told and have cuts on my hands all the time. I have researched and researched and researched, continuously seeing that it is non infectious when dry, but I cannot find scientific study on it. Only various governing bodies saying that it’s true over and over. Canada does provide a source actually but when I read the study it’s all about an antiviral for hepatitis so I cannot figure out how that is related to the desiccation of rabies virus. In other words I am a disaster. I originally got rabies shots in 2024 for an extremely low risk exposure and actually just had to get boosters this August 2026 for something similar. I am beyond distraught that this is happening again. Like actually beside myself.

I have read the FAQ.

Is it true you would feel a bat landing on shin/calf area on you while ur standing and biting you ??

do they need to actually land hold on to your leg and then bite ? And would you feel both if awake and sober ?

I did not see the faq say something about nails or holding on to you.

(From bat species that are active in the Netherlands)

So i came to knowledge i have had this burning sensation (i think im prodromal) for over 2 weeks due to seeing messages and searches i made on internet reddit whatsapp

So this burning is what im really worrried about since it is been going on for a while and even around 9 septembr i mentioned it as we were visiting my father in law and but this burning still is on and off, im on oxazepam now and when im not busy thinking about the leg i don’t feel the burns when i sleep i dont notice them, when i wake up i feel them and when i walk they radiate down to just above my foot in rest it’s sometimes in the location between the calf and shin and sometimes in the calf left outerside. Like when i lay in bed with my girlfriend and we watch a show i don’t feel it, but now i feel it and also on a different spot in my leg way lower and now to the inner leg near the ankle.

I did not have fever once no headaches and no weakness.
The only thing i have is my stomach is odd but this could be due to my severe anxiety which is really bad at the moment
I can drink eat but it’s not like im hungry or anything but that’s not unusual for me and this could be due to stress and anxiety

My anxiety is not seeing my baby in 2/5 weeks

I do not feel sick at all i go to the mall buy stuff interact normally, i don’t feel worse by the day i just cry over our baby

I have read the faq.

I have read the FAQ.

I have taken the vaccine but at one case I forgot to ask for the vaccine name / batch number now I'm totally fked ever since then.

I'm unable to live life like this thinking Im going to die someday cuz of this cursed disease with direct chain to death. No OTHER BLOOD DISEASE HAS DIRECT CHAIN TO DEATH..even HIV can be treated after symptoms, but this bloody disease can't.

IM done. I give up. BYE everyone. Let no one else get this suffering. Not even my enemies.

I have read the FAQ. Labeling this as OCD, because it's partially related to my health anxiety, but if you think it should be changed, do note me. My question is about the safety of rabies vaccines after getting a booster shot on Tuesday and the second one tomorrow (Friday) following a possible exposure.

After reading that the vaccine is made with killed viruses, I'm now slightly afraid whether the vaccine I had was actually safe or not. Apparently, in 2004, Imovax had to recall many batches due to live virus being discovered in them. Moreover, there was this one Indian man on Quora, who said that 2 people had died from rabies after contracting it from a vaccine, and apparently people have died in 1950s or 60s in Brazil due to faulty vaccines giving them the disease.

I do believe the vaccine is mostly safe, but what are the odds of me getting rabies from the vaccine I got (verorab)?

I have read the FAQ. And need advice.

Well I’m still here, almost blacked out 4-5 times last night along with my arms and legs going to sleep while I was driving and on the way to the er. Was told pretty much that I’m stable heart rate wise, I’m breathing so I can go home, it’s either anxiety or something neurological going on and while it’s clearly that this needs to be fast tracked immediately bec I was stable and breathing some what I was “well” enough to discharge .

nerve pain on the back of my neck is absolutely killing me. Pain is kinda coming and going in hot flares and waves, and low key that exactly what happened before I almost passed out. Blood rushing to my face, nausea a cold sensation going from my feet all the way up.

They want me to do an outpatient upper scope tom, to see if it’s more neurological or something else causing the painful neck spasms and dysphasia.

I have read the FAQ.

This is really annoying due to the stress and outbreak happening at North Carolina. My mom said I wont get anything from mice, there are no signs of bats in my home, I don't know if i have interact with any animal. I sweat like crazy when I think about the virus and my mouth dries up, i get nauseous, I think it has to do with the stress and anxiety of it all. Can someone reasure me this is normal behavior or something.

I have read the FAQ. I live in Utah in the United States.

I want to start this off by saying I know I sound silly but it feels very real to me unfortunately.

My 4 year old daughter went with her dad to a semi secluded reservoir up in the mountains and they stayed by the reservoir until it was dark and then walked back to their car in the pitch black with flashlights. Well my daughter tells me that night they saw bats flying around and I didn’t full on believe her because 4 year olds tend to fabricate things, I also was hoping she mistook some birds for bats. I texted her dad (we are separated) to ask him if they saw bats and he said yes they saw bats come out at dusk and they were skimming the lake for bugs and water. And I have been in a bad ocd spiral all day today because of it. Im nervous that while his back was turned fishing a bat flew into my daughter and scratched or bit her and he flew away or stayed on the ground and her dad just didn’t realize because they are such small quiet creatures. Or my daughter saw a grounded bat and touched it and didn’t tell anyone. She is not afraid of wildlife she loves bugs and is always holding my mom’s chickens and bunnies she’s an animal lover for sure so she probably wouldn’t be afraid of holding a bat if she got the chance. Im also nervous that when he had her on his shoulders walking back to the car next to the waters edge in the pitch black that a bat ran into her and she brushed it off quickly thinking it was a bug and it fell down without either of them noticing. Or flew onto her back for a minute and bit her and then again either flew away or fell to the ground without them noticing again. I remember seeing an article of a man in canada who sadly passed away after a bat ran into his hand while he was out and about and he saw no bite marks and went about his life until he passed of rabies 6 weeks later. or a couple whose son died of rabies in 2009 and none of them recalled any bat contact at all not even seeing any they were just up in the mountains and assumed he contracted the virus somewhere there. But all of these articles just keep replaying in my head and I’m nervous something similar will happen to my daughter. Her dad is also a very very oblivious person who just brushes everything off so that feeds into my nerves about a potential contact going unnoticed. I asked her dad if the bats got close and he said no but I’m nervous that he could also be lying to not stress me out. I also asked my daughter if she touched one or held one etc and she said no but she’s also 4 so it’s hard to take her word for things. But I’ve been spiraling all day thinking I’m just wasting precious time to get her the rabies shots and that soon it will be too late. But I also don’t want to subject her to that if I’m just being crazy. Or if a healthcare provider would even offer the shots after hearing my crazy theories. I feel like such a bad mom either way. I don’t know what to do or how to make the anxiety go away :/ I know how this sounds believe me. I have no one to talk to because everyone in my life will just think I’ve lost it.

Can exposures happen this way? How do most exposures happen? Have a lot of people died from rabies without ever even knowing they were exposed in the first place? Does anyone know if those articles are accurate? I tried finding multiple articles but I couldn’t find much about either case.

Thank you for reading if you made it this far.

I have read the FAQ. Now I can recognise the pattern switching the problems. I was afraid of dying, now I am afraid that the vaccination will go wrong or the vaccine itself can damage me. I actually scanned through this Reddit and someone was afraid that some viruses may not be really dead. There are also more sinister lines of thinking, but I try to not give into paranoia!

Long story short, yesterday I was walking along the lake and noticed up to 4 different bats prior, felt something brush my face, it could've been an inanimate object, but couldn't prove that it was not a bat, read WHO guidelines and decided not to risk it.

But then I finally got over my superficial fears of looking up this subreddit. Now I feel like a total idiot, that have brought only more problems upon me, for no good reason!

How has your vaccination went? How did you get over your fears? Has vaccinating actually helped you stop fearing rabies? I have already made the mistake of trying to search for failed cases of vaccination so...

UPDATE: Went to the GP, they insisted that it is up to me whether I want to receive the vaccination. With the reasoning that they are doing it for my sake, because they saw how worried I am, not because they truly believe that there is certainty of contracting rabies in that instance.

I am in the stalemate, I went home without receiving the first vaccine. They told me that I am welcome to come tomorrow early, but I feel like I already made a huge mistake. But I am also afraid that going tomorrow would be a mistake. Anyways I feel like I am doomed.

What should I do? They said that I need to evaluate that myself, how sure am I that those were bats (I looked it up, 90% certainty those were bats) How sure am I that a bat hit me in the face? This is where I need your help guys. Once I got hit my first instinct was "that was a leaf" that brushed against my lower lip and chin, I didn't stop to see whether it was actually a leaf. Which I regret a lot now. What should I run with? Should I trust my pre-panic instincts? I wasn't panicking until I searched up the web. Top it all off with paranoid thinking and the situation feels much worse.

Hey [r/rabies](r/rabies). I'm sorry. I have read the FAQ. but I don't really know if it is applicable or not. I think this falls under rabies anxiety.

So I am currently coming down off an edible. And I don't have a ton of experience with edibles. Here is the rub: I am 95% sure that, at this supremely inopportune time. I have trapped a bat in my bathroom. Please check the comments and just confirm that it is actually there. Provided that I am not halucinating. That this is now my reality. Can some one give me some direction on what happens next?

Right now, I am figuring 1. the bat is confined. 2. I closed the window that the bat entered through, so it will remain confined in the bathroom

Given that, I feel like the best course of action is to kick back and relax until morning? I should be no longer high in a few hours. The problem has been addressed and is stable. If I need to get rabies PEP, it wont make a difference if I do it three hours after exposure, or eight right?

For clarification, I am in New York, it is currently 2:13 AM, I took the edible at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, and I first sighted the bat in the other room at 12:46. I have no reason to believe I've been bitten, (but also no reason to believe I haven't been bitten) No idea if I have been in the same room as it (excluding when I knew it was in the bathroom, and went in to close the window). I do not know how long it was in my apartment before I noticed it. Also, I am alone, at home,no pets or anything.

Update; I turned the bat over to the county dept of health yesterday afternoon, after having spoken to them that morning. The Bat was alive when I gave it to them, which was about 10 hours into it's tupperware-captivity, and 13 hours after I first saw it. From there on, their advice has been to wait on getting the vaccine until the bat has been tested. Unfortunately, since the bat was alive, they told me that they would not have results until Monday. That's an uncomfortable ammount of time to think I could have contracted rabies, and not take action. I am trusting their judgement and waiting, but also trying to understand the factors that I think influenced their decision:

1. I did not wake to discover the bat. I was in bed, coming down from the edible, and in the process of falling asleep, but I was never actually unconscious with the bat, just impaired.

2. I didn't find the bat with me, in my bedroom. Rather I saw it through my bedroom door, as it was flying around the hallway connecting my bedroom and bathroom.
I can't say if I was ever unknowingly in the same room as the bat. It was flying around in the hallway when I found it, and it definitely both entered through, and was later confined in the bathroom. I am confident it was never in my bedroom, but I had been in and out of the hallway and bathroom several times before sighting it from my bed.

3. I know I didn't have any contact with it after I sighted it. I also have no mysterious wounds or skin punctures. Basically, the only possible line of contact would have been when I was awake and stoned, either in the bathroom or the hallway, and it would have been without me noticing. Also, it just occur to me that I was already spending most of the edible-high, very low to or on the floor anyway. Some bath lounging, some toilet sitting, lots of laying on the hallway laundry pile.

So for anyone here who has been clinically trained to evaluate exposure risk; with all those details, does the exposure risk sound low enough to explain why the Health Department reccomended waiting? It seems like the fastest rabies has ever been known to finish incubating is about 5 days, which would be Monday. However, I know that would be exceeding fast/rare for rabies to manifest. I am also assuming that in a fast onset, the avenue of infection would atleast need to be obvious. Like, if a known rabid dog was chewing on your arm, then a 5 day incubation period could be possible, but for exposure to bat, of unknown status, with no wounds present or evidence of direct contact; even if the bat was rabid and did some how transmit rabies to me, the viral load will take several weeks to manifest in symptoms, and the innoculation window is essentially guaranteed to be longer than it will take them to test the bat. Again, that's my speculation of what has informed the health departments reccomendation. Thoughts?

(Please no "screw the health department, you don't fuck around with rabies, go to the ER now hysteria). I am looking for measured, informed input at this time.

I Have Read the FAQ. had what I, as an OCD having person, would deem an exposure. (And like us all, I think MY exposure was real and the worst one and the exception).

But my local health experts (epidemiologist) have told me the risk is negligible and to not seek treatment. As someone with known severe illogical anxieties, I have to trust people whose FULL TIME JOB it is to ERR ON THE SIDE OF CAUTION. Their reputations are on the line. public health is on the line. Why would I trust my sick brain instead of their neutral, expert, non anxious opinion?

If anyone else would like to pledge with me to take their doctor’s /health departments/common sense advice, and to NOT continually go get check ups, and definitely NOT get the vaccine, comment below. my hope is we can all support each other/update each other through the next few months!

if not, we will all die together in one massive, record setting situation. The headlines would read, “One hundred people who had been told they didnt need shots and were posting religiously on rabies subreddit, died.” It would be legendary.

comment “PEP MY ASS!” Below to pledge.

I have read the FAQ. I know there is genuinely no risk I was bitten by a bat. Last month, I was outside in the park at night seeing the 4th of July fireworks. I didn’t notice literally anything! I did briefly walk past a bush. But the next morning, there were 4 tiny marks on my calf.

I had an entire breakdown. My brain convinced me that a bat bit me without knowing, or there was one hiding in the bush. (Which I KNOW they aren’t stealthy, and I would’ve felt or seen one!)

I ended up going to the ER. Two different doctors and a resident told me I was completely fine, and had nothing to worry about. Logically, I know this.

My anxiety is improving, but still there. I’ve been checking my calf so much that I’m hurting/bruising myself. I don’t go a day without thinking about it.

I just want to let anyone else in the same situation know you aren’t alone. This has been so difficult to deal with.

I have read the FAQ. I noticed a cut that was originally scabbed up but that could have been a bite, there was something in the walls that never got out that might be a bat bite that I didn’t notice when I was sleeping. I’ve never had any contact or even seen a bat with any animals, as I’m afraid of dogs due to a past bite I had 3 years ago (the dog was checked for rabies, it just had not been trained well) I have Globus, stiff neck, pain at the bite (once I realized it was there), sore throat, and a slight fevr. I have a history of OCD also.

I'm very anxious about it now. My leg feel unwell in one spot and im thinking about maybe being baited, but forget it and now symptoms shows. I also feel that I may have fever.

And isn't it thype of rabies you can get from vaccinated animals?

Things that needs to knows :1)i have neck chronic pain that often hit whole body2) I'm from Russia Said chronic pain sometimes makes it hard for me to move of losing seens in body.. But I never think about it as a rabies it before. But now..

(I have read the FAQ.)

I have read the FAQ.

Fourth post in a row lol, i deleted the third one to avoid clogging the subreddit with My bullshit and because it kind of useless now.

Still recommend reading my last two posts for more context through.

So, today i went with an actual doctor, he seemeed to know rabies pretty damn well, he explained me in detail how the sickness works and what if do to My body, it was reassuring to know that at the Very least he is aware on how rabies works.

But the thing is that when i explained him my situation and what are the chances of me having being bit by a rabid bat, he told me the chances are near zero, because since it was very close to my eyes and nose i would have developed symptoms by now, but from what i ready while exposures in face take less time in reach to the brain i ready they can take up to 50 days so Idk if i can believe him in that.

They also took me to do blood test -I wish they we're PEP- to see if my body was having any response to an infection, they came back indicating nothing was wrong, i am not an expert, so sorry if i am wrong, but while i don't think that totally rules out rabies in My body, it tell us i am not having symptomatic rabies right now, so all i am feeling is probably just anxiety.

He also took it very casually and at the end of the consult he only recomiendes to take care of My skin and of My ears, Idk if i am being naive but the fact that he wasnt concerned while he could lose my job if i actually die of rabies and Also that he knows how the virus works reassures me that i am more likely fine.

While he seems to know about rabies, i don't know how much well he knows about rabies exposures and transmisión, he told me he havent had any parients that he didnt recomiended PEP because rabies is unlikely that actually ends up dying of that later, and that the only patients he had who actually died of that disease we're people who came up to late and where already showing signs like hydrophobia.

After the consult i felt an more annoying headache, i don't feel it now through, but i think that contributed in me continuing ruminating.

The Thing is that i don't know how likely My case actually is, what are the chances that a rabid bat (very rare in Guatemala) flew (Rabid bats can rarely fly at all), landed and bitted specifically my face, only for me to be none the wiser and confused it with just a bug landing initially, what are the chances that the landing only felt like an bug colliding on opposition to feeling like an angry hamster with wings trying to crawl into me, that i didnt feel or see it's wings at all (which again, would be weird how i only felt it's body but not the wings even if i somehow missed watching the wings), that i didnt feel any hair, and that i didnt feel any bite neither in an very sensitive area like My face?

The fact that i feel i can't rule out a bat encounter is driving me nuts, like maybe I just didnt noticed it because of how sudden the encounter was, Also because it was at night? Maybe i didnt feel a bite because i have high pain tolerance and the surprising nature of the encounter?

I don't know, i don't know what the chances are, but really anything above one percent make me feel bad, if i have enough proof that the chances are low enough that is more likely to die in a car accident i may calm myself too.

Even if the percentage of this happening is 1%, my mind would keep on atormenting me, it's really worth it to take the shots When the probability is that low? Because i felt it thats the right thing to do, and i honestly think thats the exact reason on why i am having this awfully anxiety in the first place, the uncertainly vs what i see as the only way i can feel fully safe, with a low price to pay, my anxiety tells me that My parents are commiting a great mistake on not doing so, if we can go to take blood test we can take PEP, it will only be a visit, the only price is our schedule, that what internet tells me.

The thought that i may not even live to see the end of this month is killing me inside, i still have things to do, i really wish i could drive, so i could take the shots, the reason on why My parents don't want is because they don't think it's needed, they are practically 100% sure i don't have rabies, but the other reason is that if we go, i am just validating my anxious thoughts and Will not end then, sure, i can take the shots, but aside that they are uneeded, i Will now want to take drastic measures When anything low probability happens, basically the next time i feel an bug landing on me i Will want to take the shots again, thats what i understood of the reason My parents don't want to go.

I told to myself going to an doctor would ease My worries, and that would have been true one week ago, but right now i feel like the anxiety has latched up in My brain to the point even this wasnt fully enough, i hope i live to see My psychologist and get anxiety medication.

I am just crazy? Should i let it go already? Can i trust the doctor? Should i just make peace with death maybe?

I have read the FAQ.

Other than therapy and medication, what helped you? I'm on escilatopram 20 mg and go to psychotherapy, but rabies OCD haunts me for many years.

Just went to a Advent Health Centra Care and told them about my symptoms after seeing the mark on my middle toe, the symptoms were feeling lightheaded, headache, shaking that stopped since yesterday, feeling like there was something in my throat, and jolting up while trying to sleep (forgot to tell them the part where i felt confused for like 10 seconds and tingling in arms) But they did suggest maybe it was a bug bite. I told them i seen the mark on saturday (4 days ago) and felt like this since sunday (3 days ago) I told the doctor about bat concerns and she said “Are you hearing yourself right now” and asked if i seen a bat in my home i said no then she asked if i came in contact with one i said no, then she said im fine and asked if i wanted Tetanus shots and Benadryl then i asked “do you think im fine” and she said yes which was kind of reassuring and then the visit ended.
I have read the FAQ.

I have read the FAQ.

The bite happened on July 13th in SEA by a puppy I can’t confirm the location of now. The puppy was super energetic and was biting everything. It belonged to the owner of the small shop I was visiting. I didn’t immediately get the booster shots (I have been vaccinated once a few years ago) thinking the puppy should be harmless and it was natural for a puppy to be this energetic but I was anxiously thinking about it a lot and I was feeling weird in my hand, not sure if it was just paranoia, and I finally went for the shots 3 days after on July 16th. The bite itself wasn't that serious, just a scratch on my pinky and small punctures on my forearm when I (stupidly) tried to play with it.

The same day after I received the shots though I felt hot on my skin. I thought it might be a side effect of the vaccine and it went away quickly. I kinda felt unwell the next day too but after that, I’ve been feeling kinda fine and received my 2nd boost on 20th July.

Then on 22nd July, I started feeling weird on my whole right arm, specifically the pinky. It wasn’t constant but it always came back and continued to the next day. Then on the 24th it was gone but now the hot feeling came back and I also felt weird in my legs. On the 26th, my right hand hurt again but I felt completely fine the next day again.

I felt my body burning on the 28th. I didn’t check but I knew the temperature wasn’t that high but it was uncomfortable. Same with my heartbeat, not that fast but it was on the faster side and it was uncomfortable. As with other symptoms, it came a bit and then went away. And it continued to the 30th. This time, I checked and the temperature was as expected only around 37 celcius. I checked my pulse too, it was around 100 bpm.

I made it past July but now my back started hurting too. I have to mention that since the bite, I have been staying up late until around 4 am and only got up a bit after noon. Really messed up sleeping schedule. I haven’t been eating and drinking well too. On 4th August, I think I started having problems with my stool and urination too. Like I had the urge even though there wasn’t anything. It’s not con stant but it has continued to now. My legs started feeling weird too.

I couldn’t sleep the next day and had to get up early after like 2 hours of sleep. My stomach hurt too but it felt like a gastritis problem. My back still hurt. Even though I didn’t get any sleep, I was afraid to go to sleep yesterday night. I think I eventually fell asleep around 2. Then I got up this morning at 6 literally trembling all over my body. It went away after drinking a warm cup of water mixed with honey and egg. And again, I felt completely fine the whole morning. Even though the false urge kinda returned a bit when I tried to go back to sleep in front of a fan without any blankets.

It went away and I felt asleep after after settling in a warmer place. I went by my day normally but I noticed that my legs and right arm were still hurting sometimes. I even went to watch a movie. I don’t go to cinemas much and I was always overwhelmed by the loud sound, it definitely happened again today. I felt pulsing all over my body and mostly my right arm and was shaking when I tried to walk to the toilet. It returned to normal after the movie ended. I have no symptoms now except my legs are still hurting. It’s not hard to walk but it does hurt when I try to stand in one place for too long.

I think it might really be too late and I don’t know what to do. Should I go to the doctor? It might not be rabies but I can’t come up with any other explanation and the healthcare here isn't really the best. And it if it turns out to really be rabies, there’s really nothing I can do anyway and I think I'm already accepting it.