Is this fear of Rabies irrational?

[Strawberry]

Okay so about 10 years ago I was bitten by an animal and now I am thinking I am going to die from the rabies virus because I never got vaccinated during that time. I used to think that rabies usually usually has an incubation period of 2 weeks to a year but now I hear it can be 6 years or more and this has scared me senseless. Every doctor that I ever went to and every nurse, including 2 psychiatrist, one social worker and my therapist all think it is impossible that I can get rabies. They all think if I did get the virus I would have died years ago.

I got bit really hard by the animal but I was wearing sweatpants at the time. The teeth did not rip through my sweat pants but it did leave a bloody gash underneath it. Can the virus survive through the clothing and infect me? I am scared that a small amount of the virus managed to get into my blood and since it is a small amount it is taking a much longer time to get into my spine/nervous system and ultimately into my brain. Is this an irrational fear? Please help :(

[JLBnole68]

Yes, it is irrational. You said you were bitten 10 years ago. If the maximum incubation period is 6 years (and highly unlikely it would incubate that long), that would mean you are 4 years past the point of becoming ill. If you had rabies, you'd have been sick or dead years ago. This isn't something you should be worrying over. At all.

[Strawberry]

This has been haunting me for years. I recently had to go to the hospital and embarrass myself because of this horrible fear. I have begged all of my doctors to give me vaccinations but they wouldn't. I would break down completely and would try to think of every excuse to get it but couldn't. I keep thinking I am infected and I will infect others. Sometimes I think the virus is inside my body and is slowly mutating to a form where it can be passed on from people to people and that would be horrifying...People think I watch too many zombie movies but that's not it. They don't understand, it is so hard for me to shake this intense fear of rabies. For me this is real and having OCD when having this fear is so distressing.

I don't want to be 40 years old or even 80 and wonder "what if I still have it inside me?". I always wanted a pet cat but I am even letting that go because I am scared I will "infect it." It is like preventing me from doing things I want to do.

[JLBnole68]

They aren't going to give you a vaccine because you don't need it. Besides that, it's not a single shot. It's a series of very painful and expensive shots to administer treatment. There is no rabies virus in your body and they aren't going to administer something that's useless, expensive and could do your body harm just to pacify an obsession that has no basis in reality. That is factual information. If you had it, your doctors would know it. They would've known it years ago, and so would you. You would've been very sick and bloodwork would have detected the virus. So, why spend years of your life waiting for something to happen that isn't going to happen? I'll admit that there have been times when I've worried over certain diseases, viruses and such, but 10 years later? There's not much that will hide out in your body for a full decade. I think you know this is irrational. It sounds like you've just held onto this fear for so long that it's become a way of life. No one has ever been bitten by an infected animal and came down with rabies 10 years later. It's never happened in all of human history. Ever. If you'll look at this objectively, ask yourself why on earth would you be the first person to fall ill to rabies an entire decade later? Why would you be singled out as the world's first carrier of some horrible mutant strain? Think about it. That's purely science fiction.

[acetone]

Its irrational. There are no reports of someone developing rabies after this long. I played with stray dogs and went through rabies scare myself.

[Strawberry]

They aren't going to give you a vaccine because you don't need it. Besides that, it's not a single shot. It's a series of very painful and expensive shots to administer treatment. There is no rabies virus in your body and they aren't going to administer something that's useless, expensive and could do your body harm just to pacify an obsession that has no basis in reality. That is factual information. If you had it, your doctors would know it. They would've known it years ago, and so would you. You would've been very sick and bloodwork would have detected the virus. So, why spend years of your life waiting for something to happen that isn't going to happen? I'll admit that there have been times when I've worried over certain diseases, viruses and such, but 10 years later? There's not much that will hide out in your body for a full decade. I think you know this is irrational. It sounds like you've just held onto this fear for so long that it's become a way of life. No one has ever been bitten by an infected animal and came down with rabies 10 years later. It's never happened in all of human history. Ever. If you'll look at this objectively, ask yourself why on earth would you be the first person to fall ill to rabies an entire decade later? Why would you be singled out as the world's first carrier of some horrible mutant strain? Think about it. That's purely science fiction.

This fear of rabies is ruining my life! My little baby sister accidentally got her finger bitten when she was feeding a goat in India 2 years ago. She is 5 years old now and thank God healthy but I can't help but think she has rabies. I even asked my mother a million questions such as if the goat was still living 10 days after my sister was bitten, was the goat foaming from the mouth, etc. and she thinks these questions are bizarre. She didn't think anything of it because the goat didn't bite her aggressively but it was an accidental bite so she didn't think too much of it while I am here over analyzing everything and thinking any day my baby sister will get sick.

I am on medication, CBT, go to obsessive compulsive anonymous, etc. and nothing seems to work. I keep begging everyone to give me to give me the shots but you are right they are very expensive and probably have complications. This is complete torture and then I ended up finding out that a man got rabies from getting a kidney transplant from a donor who died from rabies and didn't get the symptoms till 16 months later. I also have a beloved relative who had a kidney transplant and now I am scared for her thinking what if she has it too. This is destroying my life. Everything always seems to lead to this. Now I am constantly thinking in my mind ways on how to find cures for rabies.

[Strawberry]

Its irrational. There are no reports of someone developing rabies after this long. I played with stray dogs and went through rabies scare myself.

How did you get over your fear of rabies if you don't mind me asking? I am so tired of living this way! I am close to dedicating my life to finding a cure for this horrible incurable virus so I can finally rest and be able to save people who get rabies by not getting vaccinated in time.

[acetone]

How did you get over your fear of rabies if you don't mind me asking? I am so tired of living this way! I am close to dedicating my life to finding a cure for this horrible incurable virus so I can finally rest and be able to save people who get rabies by not getting vaccinated in time.

The fear gradually lifted. Meds helped tremendously too. When I had panic attacks thinking about rabies I used to take Clonazepalm and went to bed. If you had contracted rabies you would be in a hospital right now and you would be suffering from convulsions and delirium. Your nervous mind is playing tricks on you. Don't google about diseases and relax. I used to play with around a dozen stray dogs and I'm OK.

[Strawberry]

The fear gradually lifted. Meds helped tremendously too. When I had panic attacks thinking about rabies I used to take Clonazepalm and went to bed. If you had contracted rabies you would be in a hospital right now and you would be suffering from convulsions and delirium. Your nervous mind is playing tricks on you. Don't google about diseases and relax. I used to play with around a dozen stray dogs and I'm OK.

I made a big mistake and googled about rabies and found an article about a man who got rabies after 25 years after a dog bite in India. I don't know what to do, I didn't get bitten by a stray dog, the animal that bit me was domesticated but I still can't shake this rabies fear. I feel like I have to wait another 10 years to be sure I won't die from this horrible virus.

Have you been bit by these stray dogs if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to bring up anxious feelings again so if you don't want to answer this you don't have to.

[acetone]

I made a big mistake and googled about rabies and found an article about a man who got rabies after 25 years after a dog bite in India. I don't know what to do, I didn't get bitten by a stray dog, the animal that bit me was domesticated but I still can't shake this rabies fear. I feel like I have to wait another 10 years to be sure I won't die from this horrible virus.

Have you been bit by these stray dogs if you don't mind me asking? I don't want to bring up anxious feelings again so if you don't want to answer this you don't have to.

Not exactly bitten but been scratched many times by strays. I have been bitten by my own dogs which also have not been vaccinated. If the dog which bit you did not die after 10 or 15 days there is no chance of you contracting rabies. Rabid animals die soon after catching the disease themselves. I've also read that rabies is very rare in developed countries.