Hi Battyinthemountains,

Oh my gosh your story just hit a chord with me. I feel so badly for you that there is a bat problem in your home. That is a nightmare. On the positive note, you are all vaccinated thank God!! With that kind of exposure never second guess your choice to vaccinate. I am glad your little ones are doing well and I hope they can eliminate the bats from your home quickly. Can you get the health department involved to move things quickly?

I found a strange bite on my wrist and ended up going through rig and the series of shots. They made me feel pretty lousy. The Rig was the worst, each shot caused lethargy and a terrible headache. But as you know, there are really no other options then to just wait and see if you get sick. Not a risk I was willing to take. I finished the shots just fine, but in the process of them I came down with a virus my son brought home. Sore throat and sick for a week. I thought I was getting rabies. But it passed.

I have something possibly going on with the nerves in my mouth that caused bad tooth pain. Seemed to coincide with the shots it happened a month later. I often wonder if it's residual effect of the shots I will never know. It was a rough decision to get the shots but I did not want to risk it.

Just be good to yourself, follow a good diet and allow your body to recover. Hopefully this will all be a distant memory for you all very soon.
:grouphug:

Thank you. We were lucky enough to have a friends rental property to stay at during the whole bay exclusion process, so we haven’t had to deal with the bats for a couple of weeks.
I know getting the vaccine was the best for us, but hope that someday I’ll feel normal again.

Me again... two week from 4th shot
 

I wanted to check in as I am two weeks out from the 4th shot of RabaVert. Last night I finally got some good rest, most nights I cannot sleep though the night without having fear of the bats re-entering our house (even though it's now closed off and as far as I know all bats have been excluded). My kids are also afraid of going into their rooms so now they sleep in our room. It's hard to see them go through this fear too.
I also get the jerky movements (myoclonus) when drifting off or trying to relax, but I don't let it bother me since I see it can be common for some of us after these shots.
As for other lingering effects... My body hurts. Back ache, arms ache, feet ache. My left foot especially. My tingling has not subsided, but is mostly in my left hand/arm. My right collarbone has ached since the final shot and sometimes it's hard to catch my breath. I still get the lump in the throat, but it's more when I'm in panic mode. I still have daily headaches that remind me of a dull hangover headache.

As of now I have to believe we caught this in time. A scary statistic I read is that 15% of bats being tested in my state are testing positive for rabies, which is up from a typical 1.5-8% depending on who you speak to.

I have also spoke to 3 doctors since the shots (two Epidemiologists and a local ER doctor), a family member who is a ER nurse, and our family pediatrician and they all say that at this point after the shots you can feel confident that you're in the clear. Failure rate of full course of vaccine in North America continues to be at 0. That has helped immensely.

Thanks for reading.

One more...
 

I also wanted to say that I got the HRIG 4 weeks ago and within the past week the left glute injection area has began feeling painful. Not sure why after all this time, but there is that too.

Post exposure rabies vaccine
 

I received my full rabies series 1.5 years ago. Had another bat exposure (woke up to it in our bedroom) and had to get my booster. Waited a full month to get it because my Dr recommended getting my titers checked first. Had no reaction to the original series. Anyway... It's been 23 days since my first booster shot. Initially had the normal pain at the site. After the second booster my feet started tingling. Now almost 2/3 weeks later I have constant on and off headaches, lightheadness, upper thigh pain and so many muscle twitches. I don't know if it's because I'm pregnant now or what but it's put a series hamper on my ability to be in the moment. I feel not only myself but my family is suffering due to me being preoccupied feeling awful on and off all day. Hoping this all goes away soon!!

Welcome Ratatat. :welcome_sign:

Kitt

So sorry you’re going through this. I hope these symptoms subside for you soon. You’ve got this!

Thank you!

Thanks batty in the mountains!

Weekly Update
 

Hi everyone! I am 3 weeks past my final shot.

As of now my main issues are pain in my left glute near my HRIG injection site, mostly noticeable when sitting or laying down. Central lower back pain, between the shoulder pain, everything is pretty much the same (pins and needles/ numbness, achy joints) I've resorted to taking pain reliever, something I'm not a huge fan of. I will say that my headaches have subsided and my sore throat/lump in throat seems very connected to anxiety, I'm OK and don't notice it unless I have too much time concentrating on swallowing my spit.

I had a couple of days where I could keep some of my anxiety under control, but then it comes back. Some days the thought of vaccine failure consumes me. It's a horrible cycle and I cannot wait to be out of it.

I would love to see a Dr about this, but after reading and rereading this thread I don't know if it'll do any good. Also I live in a very small very rural area and Dr care is sparse, no-one accepting new patients during COVID and they certainly aren't returning calls to be put on a waitlist. If this back pain continues past this week I may seek an Urgent Care or ER. One things for certain, I'm glad my kids have care.

Speaking of my kids... my baby seems to be doing well, no adverse reactions that I have noticed, my 4 year old is too busy to notice any side effects, and my 10 year old often complains of numbness in the legs, but is still on the go!

Well, that's it for this week. I hope to update here weekly while things are flaring.

I hope you're all well and enjoy your weekend.