Going NUTS here...

Sorry for bringing this up so many times but I have been TOTALLY freaking out today with this rabies thing. All that happened was that a bat flew over my head 28 days ago. It did'nt bite me. My hands were in my pockets the whole time. It flew 20-25 feet over my head. Still, to put my mind at ease, I went to the ER - even though I felt very silly. But hey, it flew over my head so I was "exposed" I guess(?)

Then I came home and worried myself sick for over two weeks until I cut my finger and had to have surgery. Then my mind was on the surgery for awhile (and recovery) but for the last week or so I have been back to obscessing over rabies again and now I read that you can sometimes just breath in aerosolized rabies and possably get it that way!.

When they did surgery, they gave me a nerve block in my arm pit and that whole area has gotten very sore over the last 3-4 days - even going up into my shoulder, backbone and the left side of my neck. I've also had a thickened feeling in my throat like it's constricted sometimes. I thought all this might be caused by the injection in my arm pit but the surgeon is insistant that that's impossable so now I really AM freaking out!.

The first 3-4 nights after surgery I slept sitting up against the side of the bed with my back which was fairly uncomfortable and on the fourth night of this, I woke up several times because I was sleeping on my cast or had fallen over to one side, etc. So, I began sleeping in a rocking chair out in the living room and each morning I would wake up with a stiff neck on the same side where they did the nerve block (the left side) and a lumpy, constricted feeling in my throat. Sometimes when I swallowed, it would hurt just a tiny bit like a small "cramp" (but not sore or anything). This made me think "rabies" because I read that rabies could cause problems with your throat and encephalitis (ie; stiff neck?). So I was imagining rabies racing it's way up to my brain and really freaking out over this. I mean REALLY freaking out!.

Then, all day today I have had explosive diarrhea (sorry, gross I know) and my rectum burns like crazy. On top of all this, I have had more saliva than usual for about a week now (not drooling or foaming though) so that only adds to the fear and terror.

Now I should tell you folks that these symptoms *could* be caused by IBS/GERD (thus the diarrhea) GAD (thus the throat probs) and when I look back at other posts (from other forums) over the years, I can see that I've had the over-salivation problem several times in the past (going back years).

So I just don't know anymore and even if I did have rabies, it's too late now because you have about five days from what I've read. I just don't see how it's possable to get rabies from a bat flying over your head though. I mean, I used to handle live bats from time to time (now that I think about it) when I was a kid and went to stay in my uncle's cabin in the woods and there was a bat out back that we killed many years ago and that one was out hanging on our laundry during the day (much more likely rabid during daylight hours!). My friend also told me all kinds of bat stories back from we he was a kid, etc.

Anyway, I don't know what else I can do or say. I'm just really freaking out. I even looked at all the rabies statistics in my state for the last two years and did a lot of other reading elsewhere. Is this a tempest in a teapot or should I really be freaking out right now?. Does having a bat dive-bomb you or swoop over your head constitute "exposure"?. Does anyone else here have any bat stories to tell?

No. No. No........you can get rabies by: a bat that is rabid biting you. there may be other ways to get it but i KNOW that you can't get rabies by a bat flying over your head. I swear this to you on a stack or two of bibles.....for the stiffness and such....my bet is that you're worried and you've been sleeping in weird positions and you're sore and you have been ambushed by all of the tension in your head/body. I believe that it's mind over matter here and that's got you going in circles. I sympathize because I know you're scared but I truly believe that you're in no danger. I would put some low heat on the sorest spots........and if you have some sort of mentholatum rub, massage small amounts of it into the sorest muscles. don't overdo the heat..just hot enough for comfort. you can warm a towel and use it if you don't have a heating pad or hotwater bottle. please post again tomorrow and let us know how you're doing....xoxoxo pat

Sweetie you were exposed to a dive bombing bat NOT rabies, not all bats have rabies only those infected with rabies that I know of, relaxtake some deep breathes and PLEASE stop reading anything on rabies
Love ya
Angie

Maybe you should seek help about this, not with a doctor but a T. This isn't normal, this is an irrational fear that a T can help you explore and put to ease. It makes me sad reading about all your anxiety about this, I agree that there's ZERO chance you got rabis and they did the surgery thing undoubtedly just to bring extra income in.

*hugs* You take it easy and get well soon.

Thank you all for the encouraging replies. Please keep 'em coming (I get a HUGE amount of reassurance from these replies and it puts my mind at ease!).

I forgot to mention that the stiff neck, throat probs, etc only occur in the mornings and this morning I had a stiff neck but my throat was'nt as bad as previous mornings.

About my friend/roommate - he said he and his friend used to fish by the lake sitting accross each other and bats used to fly between them and swarm over thier heads. Gosh, if that had been me, I think I would freaked out and dove into the lake!. I also read posts on a bat board where people were claiming that they had bats "dive bomb" them. Other people were talking about building "bat houses" to keep the mosquito population under control. I have learned a lot about bats so far (most good but some very frightening).

think about a bat being a mouse with wings.........and truly, truly, truly you aren't likely to ever being hurt by a bat. i've seen them flying around me all my life, in New Mexico and Oklahoma, and have never been threatened by them. i'd be worried about being in a car accident, stepping on a nail or stubbing my toe!!!kidding!! i can't even think of all the places that i've seen bats....around my houses, around lakes, in pastures around stock ponds, etc....i'm older than you and i've never even heard of ONE bat biting anyone.....and i read and really keep up with news and research.......xoxoxo pat p.s. get your goose and go to bed!!!!

I like Pat's answer. Bats are cool. I forget Grey and I am too lazy to look up, do you take an ssri medication? Are you being treated for OCD? There are great meds out there to help and cognitive behavioral therapy is usually essential as well. Honey, I gotta tell you the poor bat was innocent. I used to have to go to this home where there were about a billion sick, unvaccinated pets crawling on me. I had a vet friend tell me that I could bring sickness home to my pets that way, or that if they were rabid and I had an open wound I might get it. Now THAT was freaky but I researched the rabies in my area and the shots vets get in case they are exposed to rabies and decided it's just not enough of a risk to bother. You my friend are obsessing, I once had my throat close up and it was anxiety eventhough my mind wasn't telling me I was anxious. Make sense? It relaxed and I was fine. You will be too.

Grey.....i'm going to bed, but i'm lending you Tippy's spirit to sleep by your bed so that you can crawl in there and get a decent night's sleep....Tip's a very good watch dog and i'm sure that if he needs any assistance, he'll call on Henrietta, his best dog friend, for help. she was half German Shepherd and half Chow...you'll be in good paws tonight. xoxoxo pat