Hi everyone! First of all, thank you for this thread. Sorry for the long post, I hope you have the time to read!

30 days ago I was bitten by my own dog because I was trying to force a pill down his throat. He was sick (bladder stones - peeing blood) and I was trying to provide treatment. He bit me in the middle finger of my left hand. He was overdue his vaccine by 4 months (because in my country rabies vaccine should be annually, but I checked that the vaccine he was given last year has a protection of 3 years according to the vaccine brand).

So, I took him to the vet because he looked in pain and he was not eating. They decided to perform surgery for his bladder stones and next day after surgery he started to recover, he was eating and drinking.

However, since I live in a “rabies endemic country” (Dominican Republic) I decided to get my first rabies vaccine at day 6 after the bite. I got a tetanus shot and rabies shot, one in each arm. They did not provide immunoglobulin. At day number 10 after bite, my dog was completely normal, so I decided to stop treatment.

Like Batbite24, I am a floxie. I had a severe reaction to Ciprofloxacin in 2019 and I was left with peripheral neuropathy and occasional paresthesia, so I am careful with meds and vaccines. That’s why I assessed my risk and decided to stop vaccination.

So 12 days after the rabies and tetanus shot I started feeling pins and needles and some numbness in my left hand, especially the bitten finger. As you can imagine, I started to get VERY anxious. I have pins and needles everywhere in my body but my left hand, finger and forearm are much more affected. (Every time I get a sensation in any other part of my body I get really happy).

So my dog, 30 days later is completely fine. Happy, playful, eats, drinks, normal behavior. But I can’t understand why the bitten finger/hand is most affected by the vaccine. I have stopped eating properly or being productive because of a HUGE fear of having rabies. My neurologist said that since I already have Peripheral Neuropathy from my reaction to Cipro, probably the bite affected a nerve and that is why the pain is more present there. However, it wasn’t a huge bite, it was small, so this explanation is hard to believe.

Recently I read that a small % of dogs can actually overcome rabies disease. Now I’m thinking “what if my dog had rabies the 3 days he was acting sick (when he bit me) and his behavior was not due the bladder stones but rabies? And then he got better coincidentally after surgery?” I know it sounds crazy but every time I feel tingling sensation on my bitten finger I FREAK OUT. My neurologist says that some dogs can overcome rabies, but they have to live the disease first, and my dog never showed other neurological symptoms, only pain and lack of appetite for 3 days.

I just don’t know how to stop feeling anxious all the time. The “tingling sensations” caused by rabies, is it immediately before getting other clinical symptoms? Or can it present itself weeks before the other symptoms? My tingling symptoms started 2 weeks ago and it’s not constant or getting worse. Some days are better and some days are worse.

I just don’t know how I will continue my life with this constant fear. Since there is no way to actually KNOW, I do not know how to handle this uncertainty and it is taking a toll on my life.