Will I ever feel the same again?

[sniknej]

To start I'm a 26m with history of anxiety/depression. About a month ago (july 21) I was bit (small bite) and licked a lot by my friends dog who had an open wound of an unknown source (which he also licked). Once I returned home, I began to research rabies pretty obsessively and made a case for myself that I had contracted it. This sent me into an extreme panic attack and I ended up at the doctor's office explaining my situation. He tried to reassure me that I was simply suffering from a panic attack, so he prescribed me with Xanax. I have not felt the same since this initial attack. Since then I have suffered from 3 more attacks. The last one I needed an ambulance because my whole body had gone numb and I broke out into a cold sweat. After having doctors tell me not to worry about rabies I started to wonder why I had no appetite and no desire to do anything. I found another article on the internet linking panic attacks with pancreatic cancer and again I convinced myself I had pancreatic cancer. After weeks of not eating/sleeping well at all I had a CT scan of my entire abdomen and no masses were found. Had tons of bloodwork done, stool samples, etc, and physically the doctors can't find anything wrong with me. The day after the CT scan was the day I woke up with tons of diarrhea and extreme anxiety (anxiety seems to be especially bad upon waking). Wondering why I could only get 3 hours of sleep after being reassured I did not have pancreatic cancer I began to research more on the internet. I started reading about rabies again. This is when my whole body went numb and I broke out in a cold sweat, my mom called 911. By the time we made it to the hospital all my vitals had stabilized and I was feeling a bit better. The first thing the doctor said to me was to take rabies off my list of fears. He then checked out the CT scans that had been done from my previous hospital visit and said everything looked great. After doing more blood work/urine samples/etc he strongly suggested I see a psychiatrist. What really terrifies me is that on the ride home I began to think about rabies again and I can't stop thinking about it. An endless streams of WHAT IF'S run through my head and I have not been functioning well at all. I'm still afraid, every single day, all day, constantly worried that something is dreadfully wrong with me physically. Reality seems to have lost all its flavor. I no longer eat regularly, sleep regularly. I no longer feel like me. It seems like the bulk of my day is spent DREADING death. I keep running it through my mind, over and over again, and I keep using the internet compulsively. It's been almost 4 weeks since my first attack, will I ever feel like me again? Just felt like sharing my story and was wondering if anyone could relate?

[khere]

I  was  bit by  a  dog in Dallas about  a month ago...I  was in shock... I  did  not  know  the  status of  the  dog and  I left Dallas  within  hours of the bite... the more  I  thought  about  this  situation   the  more fearful  I became  about my health...all I  could  do is think  about  Rabies. I started  taking  the  vaccinations  and became ill... flu like feeling, headaches  and  anxiety  and  fear of   death...I heard  from the  Dallas  animal  control people  who checked  up on the  dogs after 10  days  and the  dogs  were ok  and the owners had  all the  records  but  for  some  reason I still cannot  get rabies  out  of my head...lately I have  felt kind of depressed  and  anxious  and i have  a   feeling  of  tightness in my head...of  course my mind  goes  to possible  side effects   from  the  vaccine  ( which I  stopped  after the  second  shot) I  feel  grateful   for this  site  and  the fact  that there are others like me  because this is  such a  lonely and  gut wrenching  place  to be. I   feel like  I am on  death row  and  have  no  desire  to do  much of  anything  anymore. I do  not  know how to proceed with  my life.

[theotterone]

Panic attacks are not fun.  They can be debilitating!  You need to see a mental health professional.  They can assist not only with medication, but with other suggestions.  Not only have I dealt with depression/anxiety since I was 16 years old (I am 34 now) but also undiagnosed ADD.  I have learned some meditation techniques that help, especially at night.  Night seems to be the worst time for those with anxiety disorder.  I have been where you are, and the memories are vivid.  Feel free to contact me if you need support, I would be grateful if my experiences could lessen your pain.  

[jem516]

hi, i know how you feel, its really hard feeling scared all the time. right now im going through the same experiences, i had heart problems b4 and went thru 2 ablation procedure to correct my arrhythmia. my cardiologist told me it was a successful procedure. still i keep thinking that it will come back and lot of times i think im feeling the symptoms are back, been to man dr's and done alot of test. all are good they say. this is where i develope anxiety i guess, ill be meeting my neurologist/psychiatrist mybe next week to diagnose me if i have anxiety. feeling wost ever in my life and i long for the day that the old times come back to me, happy times with the people i care. maybe if we could share to them what we're goin thru little by little everything will be ok again. its nice to know that there are people who really cares, listen, and love you.. really helps alot. im here if ever you'll need someone to talk. take care and try to pray whern you feel afraid, it helps alot. God bless and lets not try to worry alot, its hard i know but  we must do what we can to get over this.. tc