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.

I figure we were very overdue for an update but as you’re soon to read, life threw us some curveballs. If you don’t want to read this lengthy monologue, then all you need to know is I am still twitching, and they could never figure out why or how to treat, BUT all testing is supportive that whatever is going on is nondegenerative meaning I can move fully and I’m not losing my strength or function etc. and quite honestly, I’ve just learned to live with it because I don’t really have any other choice. Also, there is a rainbow at the end of this story.

As a refresher: I had a possible bat exposure and received Imovax 10/2019 and had muscle twitching in my left foot (pinky toe jumping) that started less than 48 hrs after receiving my first shot. I received the second shot and immunoglobulin but then stopped the series because the twitching (which I was told was nothing) worsened and ascended immediately after the 2nd injection. It looked like there were worms under my skin, and it made my fingers and toes jump too (fasciculations and myokymia). I saw a neurologist who told me it probably was a vaccine reaction worsened by anxiety and it should go away but agreed to do further testing. EMG done 11/2019 was normal. I continued to twitch for months after, and he agreed to do another EMG and an MRI without contrast of the brain. Both done 5/2020 and came back normal. Well, 6/2020 comes along and my husband and I were exposed to covid and since this was still beginning of pandemic, it was the strict 2-week quarantine thing. A month later, we find out we were pregnant with our little quarantine surprise. (Come to find out all the supplements I was taking to help with my neuro symptoms are the same supplements that make you super fertile). Neurologist felt there would be no risk to the baby as my symptoms had been relatively stable for several months at that point, just migratory twitching all over my body. My twitching did not get better or worse during my pregnancy, it just stayed the same. I did suffer from some vasovagal syncope (passing out) but could control with drinking more water and eating more salt; this is also an issue I had (rarely though) before I had vaccine reaction. The only time my twitching became an issue during my pregnancy was at my 36-week checkup, they checked my cervix to see if I was dilated. For some reason, that stimulated a twitching storm down there and sent me into preterm labor. I delivered a healthy baby who was actually a good size and didn’t need a NICU stay (I exercised constantly and ate as healthy as I could just in case anything like this were to happen). Of note: I still twitched in my legs even with my epidural. Since then I’ve been loving mommy life with my sweet baby who has definitely been the rainbow to our storm. Postpartum bloodwork showed I do have a +ANA but I’ve had that in the past with a full workup by rheumatology and they never find anything, so that I will continue to watch. I also found out I have a MTHFR genetic mutation which I’ve seen several other members on here mention as well. I also had a DRD2 mutation which I’m curious if anyone else has checked as well.

I still twitch every minute of every day, but I really don’t notice it unless I focus on it, and it doesn’t keep me from being able to do anything. A few interesting things that have happened though: I contracted HSV-1 (cold sores) and because it is a nerve disease my nerves reacted very hypersensitive. I woke up with a fever, face tingling, feeling like my arms were vibrating, and crazy intense twitching all over my body. When the sores appeared it was apparent what was going on. My MD said that was a very atypical presentation but not surprising given my underlying neuro issues. I then thought I would react that way every time I got sick. A few months later I got a 24-hour stomach flu with high fever, body aches, chills, the normal stuff etc. What was interesting was that with this illness my twitches completely STOPPED. For the first time in this 2+ year journey they stopped for about 3 days. Then as I steadily got better, the twitches steadily came back. The same thing happened again when I caught the inevitable covid last month. I am unvaccinated (due to my past vaccine reaction) and thankfully my covid course was very mild. The twitches didn’t completely stop with Covid, but they were pretty darn close. And same thing, as I got better the twitches returned. My theory is that whenever I get sick my immune system gets turned on to fight an actual invader and stops attacking my own nerves, then when I get better it’s like “Ok, let me go after those nerves again”. My hope is that my nerves are not getting damaged in the process. For this reason, my PCP wants me to see my neurologist annually for routine MRIs (neurologist felt 2 EMGs was good for a legit lifetime so no need for those again). I did have an MRI of brain, neck, and spine 6 mos. ago, was told all was clean. My brain had one area of T2 that my neurologist was not concerned about because it was unchanged from previous MRI (though they didn’t even report it on the read) and believed it to be artifact from the imaging (He described it like seeing red eye on a photo).

Whatever the reason, the battle remains the same. I still fight this twitching battle every day, and the anxiety related to having an unknown and untreatable condition caused by vaccine that was supposed to help me is extremely frustrating especially being a healthcare provider myself. I still worry about what if my MRI and EMG will eventually show something, or if something is being missed like MS. I still worry if someone else on here has a similar path like mine, but they never got better or got worse. My hope is that most people stop reporting their symptoms on here because they get completely better, and I hope to one day report the same. But at least I am pain free and functional, and I take that as a win.

Don’t know if anyone is still on this thread but I recently started the rabies vaccine on 3/22/22. I had a possible exposure on 3/7 but there was a delay in the start of my vaccine so I keep worrying I started the vaccines too late. On 3/7 there was a weird chirping sound in my bedroom. I didn’t see anything but I didn’t look up at the ceiling or the tops of the windows because I had no idea it could possibly be a bat. A few days after I saw a small mark on my wrist. I googled and saw it could have been a bat and my anxiety spiraled. I went to two doctors and they told me I didn’t need the vaccine since I didn’t see a bat. We had pest control come out and they found bat droppings I’m the attic and that’s when I went to ER and started the shots. Since the shots (just had second on Friday) I have had pins and needles everywhere, throat is super dry and felt like I had a lump, and weird tight sensation in back of my neck. I’m just so scared I took the vaccine so late and am having extreme anxiety- went to the er recently for chest pains which the doctor said could be gerd or anxiety. This has been such a scary ordeal so far and I haven’t even finished all of the shots yet. I figured I’d post since it seems like you guys have experienced some of the same things.

Welcome Shellz. So sorry for your experience. Hope it all turns out okay.

I had a delayed start too, made me a nervous wreck, but I’m still here!

You should be done with you series by now, I hope you’re doing well!

How did you deal with the anxiety? I feel like I am having a real rough time with the anxiety and thinking the vaccine may not have worked since there was a delay in treatment.

When I felt half OK I practiced CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) to help reframe my thoughts about everything going on. Meditation and visualization helped as well.

Now the crazy part of how I got through it… I memorized every rabies case in the US and Canada. It helped me grasp how after 30 days the likely hood became less, 60 days even more rare, and then finally 90 days it has never been on record. I reminded myself that PEP rarely ever fails and I did get the shots before any symptoms showed up.

It’s hard, I don’t wish the worry on anyone. I truly believe you’re going to be fine, but know when you’re in that worry it is so hard to believe that.

Take deep breaths and remember you are still here!

Hi everyone. Wow this has been a terrific trove of real time information over the years. Kudos to all the consistent and regular posters!

Backbrief. New to the upper Midwest, not super familiar with bats but familiar enough to know not to touch one. Came across a grounded little brown bat at the city park, live in a small town and the park is a big attraction, the bay was relatively close to the kids playground so i thought hey this isn’t good. Asked a few passerbys if there was a park service to call or how to proceed and one suggested I move the bat off the sidewalk and into the long grass along a creek. Great idea. I found the nearest stick I could and proceeded to try and coax the bat towards the grass. It resisted. Fluttered it’s wings. Gave me an oh **** moment. Then the person who suggested I move the bay handed me a longer stick. Got the bay to latch on and then moved to a tree nearby. All in all the interaction was 5 minutes or less start to finish. Later that evening I research the internet. I send a couple local bat experts pictures and info, it’s a holiday weekend so nobody responds. The following morning I check back the bay hasn’t left. So I call local PD dispatch as that is who dispatches animal control here. They send an officer who puts on a glove grabs the bat and carries it off to his squad car to relocate it. Wild.
No mention of rabies, no asking about my interaction with the bat, nothing.
The weekend goes off, my mind wanders. I start to review the video I recorded of the interaction and notice the stick flings towards me when the bat climbs off onto the tree. I set off into panic mode. By Monday I’m in the urgent care discussing whether or not I was potentially exposed to rabies. The nurse calls me paranoid. Sends me on my way. Tuesday I’m a ball of nerves reading into every sensation in my body. Wednesday I notice a tiny cut on the back of my hand and suddenly it hits me that while I was so busy being paranoid of the flinging stick I didn’t think about the possibility of the bat scratching me while moving it with the first smaller stick. Thursday I call public health and have a chat. They insist because I’m not certain the bat didn’t touch me I go get the vaccine immediately. So I did. HRIG in the thumb and deltoid and vaccine in the deltoid. It’s been a wild ride of emotions and anxiety.

I stumbled across this forum and y’all are amazing. I just got my day 3 shot this past Sunday and have day 7 this Thursday. I’ve had severe bouts of anxiety, but also marked known side effects of the vaccine, the tingles and the soreness as well as some hypersensitivity in the arm the day after each shot so far. Been doing my best to stay busy and tell myself mathematically with the length of the stick and the size of the bat there wasn’t anyway it possibly scratched/cut me. But even then an air of doubt creeps in and spirals out of control. Thanks to search engines mostly.

I’m perplexed that not one of my conversations with the locals suggested I examine my hands for any possible scratch or bite wounds. You’d think there would be protocols in place living in a national forest area!

I’ll keep checking in as this plays out. Thanks for reading!

Hi battyinthemountains.. I am thankful you shared your experience... Which helped me get through the horrible initial phase of vaccine reaction. I am now 8 months post my vaccine completion. I saw that you also experienced throat issues around this time. Can you please elaborate on how they were exactly. What i have is, from the time of starting of vaccine till now, each time I have a flare up this throat issue feels more and more. Now at 8 months out it feels like something is stuck in throat everytime after 30 min to 1 hour of having a meal.

I think I posted here in 2019 and 2020 following a possible rabies exposure with Category 2 bite from a stray dog in New Delhi,India. Started the vaccine late by 5 days and delays at the day 3 and 7 shot no immunoglobulin to my knowledge. I had a huge episode of panic attack and anxiety following this experience. It was a very huge deal and every year I have a flare up at around the same time of the year. A tingling at the site of the bite and itching in my left hand ( dog bit my left hand ,no blood, little to no puncture wound) and tight shoulders. This is the 4th year and it doesn't get any easier atleast for me. So my only advice is hold on tight. If you are religious like me prayers help.