Hello, this is my first time posting on reddit at all. I have read the FAQ. I have also read the other community highlights as well. I'm posting here because I'm quite nervous at the moment and it seems like users over here are quite good at logically and reasonably dispelling zero/low risk accounts of rabies exposure. Disclaimer: this will be a long post.
Location: United States
Date of possible exposure: Oct. 4th or 5th
This happened as I was taking my family's dog out to our backyard for his nightly restroom time. We have a backyard porch with a bunch of LEDs and other lights so there are a lot of moths around. I stepped out onto the porch and something fast flying hit/landed on the crook of my elbow. I flicked my arm in surprise and whatever it was was propelled into flying off again in that direction. During the incident, I was unable to clearly identify what it was. All I know is that it was a pale tan color with very fast moving wings. It was sizable enough where I felt the impact but not so big that it filled out the entire crook of my elbow. (I want to say it was about half the size.) Additionally, during the incident my initial thought was that it was medium/large bug or moth.
This is what my concern primarily hinges on: I have chronic eczema. I've had it all my life. One of the spots where I have it is at the crook of my elbows. The skin is broken all the time. It gets itchy and inflamed often. And as you've read, that is where the exposure site was at.
The days following the exposure I didn't think much of it. However, around the 15th/16th, I started to become anxious about it having been a bat. I live in an area that is known for having a lot of them. (However, I've never seen one in person before.) I started to replay the memory over and over again, and this led me to contact my local nurse health line. The nurse told me the same thing that I read on this forum, which was that: if it was bat, then I would know. However, she did also tell me that if I was still concerned to go to the ER and have them evaluate me. So that's what I did the next day. Before going, I did develop symptoms of something, which added to my nervousness. The skin on my upper arm (not at the crook) was feeling very sensitized and prickly. It looked like my hair follicles were raised and inflamed. I also felt a tender/achy/sore spot in my upper arm as well. I disclosed all of this to the doctors at the ER. They told me that most likely I wasn't exposed but if I think the incident was severe then I'd get the PEP. (Which I thought was a little strange that they were saying the decision was up to me as that was why I came to them.) I decided to trust their evaluation and was sent home without having received the PEP. They told me before I left that if anything else comes up that I could reach back out via phone.
Later on that very day, I felt another tender spot start to form on the same arm lower down (above the crook of my elbow). This concerned me further but I opted to sleep it off because the ER said I was alright. Just to make sure the tenderness of my upper arm wasn't due to me rolling on and sleeping on it, I slept on my side. The next morning I woke up in the same position. However, the tenderness was more noticeable than the day before. I reached back out the same ER and asked if I should contact my PCP or go back to them. This time they redirected me to a larger one that would have the proper resources for rabies care. So I went to that one. There they took a look at my arm and told me that I was fine as they didn't see any infected bites or marks. I went home for the rest of the day and noticed that sometimes my arm would randomly feel twitchy at random spots. The prickly sensation was now occurring at random spots on my arm as well now. Then during the night I noticed a spot on the side of my chest (a little bit down from my armpit) was also beginning to feel tender too and semi-prickly.
Now to today, my upper arm is less tender. Nevertheless, I still feel a tender spot at the location lower on my upper arm. Similarly, I'm still getting random prickly spots on my arm and on the same side of my body. What is amping up my concern a lot too is that today I experienced diarrhea. Usually I go once a day. Today I went twice and both time it was loose and watery.
My anxieties are as followed:
- All of the symptoms I've experienced so far are in line with those of the prodromal period.
- Additionally, the prickliness and tender spots are all occurring on the same side of my body as the exposure site.
- It's been around 2 weeks since my exposure incident which falls within the typical incubation period.
- ERs said that I would see infection at wound site. ERs said there are no bite/scratch marks. However, other reputable sources online say that that is not always the case. Bite/scratch marks can heal leaving behind, once again, a prickly sensation during the prodromal period. Also, what I'm concerned about is not only a bite/scratch mark but something like saliva getting into my eczema wounds.
- ERs told me that if I didn't experience any symptoms after 72 hours of the exposure incident then I didn't have rabies. However, this seems to be inaccurate as reputable sources say that it has a variable incubation period. 72 hours is for the most effective administering of the PEP. I'm still concerned as of now because ER doctors are more generalists than specialists.
- I've been feeling a sense of unease/not feeling right which I can probably attribute to my anxiety but it's also another possible symptom.
- I haven't developed a fever but some sources say one isn't always the case.
I know that there are other accounts with similar premises to mine of an unidentified collision or brush and that this is also addressed in the FAQ. However, my broken eczema skin made it a viable concern for me.
Note: I already set up an appointment with my PCP but that isn't until the end of this month. I will be telling them everything and if this is a case of OCD then I will be pursuing treatment for that at their recommendation.