Convinced im going to die of rabies or prison

[Anxiouspotat0]

(Yes we have a type of rabies here only in bats)
5 weeks ago I woke up with this mark on my hand.
Google lense said it could be a bat bite.
I went to urgent care who said it doesnt look like a bat bite, who contacted ukhsa / rabies team, who said because I didnt see a bat in the room I didnt qualify for the jabs. Since then I have been convinced im going to die. I even wrote a goodbye letter to my children. I sleep with the window open and I am convinced a bat flew in and bit me and flew out.

I then went on holiday and had a run in with a bat there and came home completely panicked. Id been having rabies symptoms for most of the holiday so I was horrifically anxious the whole time and this was just the cherry on top.

Then I stupidly over exaggerated the exposure/ what happened on holiday at urgent care. This was fueled by ny anxiety from the "bite" here and that id been having what in my head were rabies synptoms, and having another run in with a bat over there also, I wasnt thinking straight and it just came out in the moment. I regret it badly.

Ukhsa then recommended the jabs based on that but I panicked as I read lying/ over exaggerating and getting treatment as is a criminal offense/ fraud against the nhs. But I was just terrified, anxious, not thinking straight and wanted to not be scared anymore. I declined the jabs as im terrified of getting into trouble.i dont want to be a bad person. I just dont want to die.

I just want to be okay again. My mental health is in tatters, im not eating, cant stop crying, cant parent my children, can barely work, my hairs falling out, panic attacks.

I did admit to multiple doctors that I wasnt completely honest about the exposure and thats why I declined the jabs as they probably woukdnt have recommended them otherwise,
and one doctor told UKHSA this also, so there is now evidence I wasnt honest that can be used against me and im so scared.

A a&e doctor recommended I just get the jabs even though UKhsa woulsnt have rexommended tbem if I had not exaggerated, because my mental health is suffering so bad -- I had a full breakdown on him- but im convinced I will be convicted of fraud if I do. Id lose my job and what if I went to prison. I have kids..

But im convinced ill die if I dont get them.
Even though logically I know theres a chance it isnt a bat bite. But no doctors can tell me what it could be. Im just so scared.

Im having really scary thoughts as I just want this all to go away. I feel hopeless and trapped and im terrified

What would you do? Risk legal trouble and get them? Or risk rabies.

OP you will be okay. I’m sorry you feel so anxious and the best thing you could do for yourself and your children is to call your GP in the morning and have a chat with him.
Do you have a friend who could maybe go sign you for support?

OP if you had rabies you'd be dying by now. Once you start getting symptoms, it's too late for the jabs. The disease progresses quickly from there. You don't have rabies. You have raging health anxiety, which is arguably worse, but not rabies.

Your extreme anxiety reminds me of how my DS has been in the past when his anxiety is really high.

Please get help for your mental health. Have you got anyone around you for support?

If you can get the jabs, get the jabs. Then, that is fear No. 1 handled.

I would be amazed if you would be prosecuted for exaggerating your symptoms.

I don't agree with others that you should treat the anxiety first. The anxiety will not go away as long as the fear about the real-world consequence is still there. I think you should do whatever you need to to calm the specific fears you are facing.

As an aside, what did the doctors think had caused the bite?

The stress of all this is making you feel like you’ve got every symptom there’s ever been, sympathies. Worry can and does produce amazingly convincing body feelings. They’re fake.

The doctors have no idea what it is. They dont rhink its a bite as it hasnt changed in 5 weeks

If there waa some explanation I would feel alot better but theres no conforrt there either

Oh bless you, I suffer with anxiety so badly I don’t leave the house but I am able to identify I’m not rational.
Go see your GP asap and get some medication for your MH, but be aware it takes time for antidepressants to kick in.
if you truly believe you need the jabs, have them. Nobody will prosecute you for that. Think how many people ask for antibiotics who don’t need them for example!

I understand the aynptoms I waa feeling 2+ weeks back are not caused by rabies but right now I am experiencing new synptoms. And the kncubation period is 1-12 months.

You asked, should you risk legal trouble, or should you rather risk rabies? Obviously, assuming they are both genuine risks you should risk the legal trouble. Take no risks when it comes to rabies. Doctors have recommended you get the jabs to put your mind at rest - so do it.

As others have said, if you had symptoms of rabies you would be very, very sick.

You need urgent help with your anxiety. Please focus on that

There is no way this would meet the threshold for prosecution. No way. If the jabs are available take them.
But most of all tell your GP all this and get some urgent help for your mental health.

What are your symptoms? Just get the jabs you won’t get into trouble- and then treat your anxiety. You are going to be ok x

My son was bitten by a bat about 6 years ago. There was no mark at all, but he definitely felt it. He did have the injections which were about 5 over the course of 5 weeks. By the time he was due the second one we’d found out the bat that had bitten him did not have rabies, but as they’d started the course they finished it.

It exceptionally rare for bats in the Uk to have rabies. As I say when my son got bitten there was literally no mark, but he did feel it. And bats don’t tend to swoop in through a window and then leave, they basically panic and start flying around all over the place (thanks Cat, we really didn’t appreciate that present). Honestly, your risk of having rabies is just vanishingly small. I agree with previous posters that you need to see a GP about your anxiety as it’s pretty clear you are spiralling and need some help in respect of that. Big hugs as it sounds like you need them

Could you be beginning perimenopause OP?
I went through a similar health related extreme anxiety and it was starting HRT that helped.
Health anxiety can be the first noticeable signs.
Sending hugs.

Hi there, I wanted to just send my love to you and share my experience with you.
I had the most dreadful health anxiety for years and convinced myself I was dying of all sorts of diseases.
I have also been known to worry about going to prison, losing paperwork with confidential details, accidentally starting fires by being careless... All sorts.
You are currently seeking reassurance. I think that most people would agree that the likelihood of a bat flying in your window and biting you without you waking up (they are noisy and I'm sure a bite would be pretty painful, enough to wake you up) is slim to none. However, any reassurance you get now will be short lived and the anxiety will return until you get more reassurance. If you get the jabs, it is likely you will find something else to be anxious about. It's rumination, the assurance seeking feeds the cycle and, trust me, I know how absolutely horrendous this feels.
I had CBT and acupuncture. I did not hold out much hope that these would help, but it did. I also got diagnosed with ADHD, I'm not particularly hyperactive physically, but my brain is constantly on the go and I can still be prone to going over and over situations and worries.
Please get yourself to the GP. ❤️

What are the new symptoms?
1 year incubation is extremely rare

An incubation period that long is vanishingly rare and not to be flippant as I understand you are very worried but the fact is; if your symptoms are rabies, you're already dead.

Rabies has a 100% mortality rate once symptoms appear. At that point, it's too late for the jabs, they don't work once symptoms appear. So why are you obsessing over the jabs?

Either it's rabies, in which case you'll die no matter what you do or it isn't (its not) and all your symptoms are self inflicted by stress.

OP, this is textbook health anxiety. You do not have rabies.

This is so true. At the start of Covid we were told by work that we had to wear face masks if we had to sit next to each other to go through work together. My colleague and I had a meeting on Friday afternoon. He was suffering from what we assumed was a cold and asked me if I minded him taking his face mask off as he was struggling to breathe. I said go ahead and very foolishly took mine off too. In the end my colleague felt so poorly he left work. We both thought it was a cold, it was at the start of Covid at the point when we were fairly laid back and rather blasé about it all and most were in denial.

Roll on Monday morning - up until that point I'd had a smashing weekend, riding the horse and going to the gym and not a sniffle in sight. And then my colleagues wife rang in to say he'd be off work sick as he'd taken a test and was positive for Covid and very poorly.

As soon as I heard those words I was convinced I had it too, I felt physically ill, the feeling was so strong, I've never experienced anything like it. Almost instantly I became achey, with a sore throat, a headache, and I noticed I was struggling for breath (probably shallow breathing due to panic), I had the works......I did get Covid, but it was many months later and I think I caught it from my friend!!

Never under estimate the power of the mind!

People aren’t beating down the door to get multiple, painful shots. There is no special investigative team for rabies fraud.

If they will give them to you, just go get them.

.

The OP has explained on more than one ocassion that you cannot buy them privately. You can buy injections to prevent rabies but after being exposed to rabies you can only obtain via NHS. As the OP is convinced that she has been exposed to rabies, there is only one avenue available to her.

I also do not think she has rabies. I don't know what the bite marks, if indeed it is a bite but it certainly isn't from a bat!

And I've said several times she is incorrect.

Not true. False information doesn't help

Propranolol doesn’t cross the blood/brain barrier. It can be good for the physiological impact of anxiety, but you might benefit from an ssri to calm your thoughts. This is very extreme anxiety, talk to your gp and if they can’t get you in for counselling asap, then if you can afford it pay for therapy. You aren’t going to go to prison and you aren’t going to die of rabies.

I would literally never in my life think it was a bat bite.

Although since I posted last night one flew in through my open bathroom window while I was having a wee at 1am and made me scream!

I would 100% assume it was from lying funny or from holding a hairclip or whatever. I wouldn't have even noticed the mark.

It could be a from a false widow spider and harmless.