u/PeterLoew88

A week ago I was walking my dog at dusk and passed under a street lamp while looking down at my phone. I suddenly felt a "whoosh" right near my forehead. I couldn't tell whether something physically touched me or whether I just felt air movement.

I looked up and saw a bat. My assumption is that it was feeding on insects around the lamp post and flew close because there were bugs nearby.

I immediately questioned whether I felt it physically touch me (such as brushing its wings against my forehead as it flew past), or if I just felt the sensation of it close by. Over the following days I started reading more and went down the internet rabbit hole.

Now my brain keeps replaying the event.

The facts are:

• I definitely saw a bat.
• It definitely flew very close to my head.
• I felt something (whether air movement or actual contact, I don't know).
• I never saw a bite.
• I never found a scratch.
• I don't remember any pain.
• I have no way to go back and determine with certainty whether contact occurred.

To make things more complicated, I called my local health department. Their guidance was essentially that if I think there may have been contact with a bat, I should consider rabies post-exposure treatment. She told me they can leave microscopic bats and scratches that people don't feel. However, I also saw in other websites about rabies that scratches still need saliva -- so there is a lot of contradictory info.

Being that I have OCD, I genuinely cannot tell whether "I think there may have been contact" is a rational assessment or an OCD-driven attempt to eliminate uncertainty.

Part of me says, "You don't know if it touched you. You don't even know if what you felt was anything other than air."

Another part of me says, "But what if it did touch you? What if you missed a tiny scratch? What if you're dismissing a real risk?"

What makes this especially difficult is that either choice can become part of the OCD cycle.

If I don't get vaccinated, my brain says I'm taking an unacceptable risk.

If I do get vaccinated, I worry that I'm reinforcing compulsive behavior and teaching myself that I need medical intervention anytime I encounter uncertainty. I can already feel the goalposts wanting to move to things like: "What if I waited too long?" or "What if the vaccine doesn't work?" or "What if I got it unnecessarily and caused some other problem?"

So my question isn't really about bats or rabies.

It's about decision-making when there is a genuinely uncertain situation that carries some level of real-world risk.

How do you decide what is a reasonable action versus an OCD-driven action when certainty is impossible? Once you've made a decision, how do you stop revisiting it over and over and move on?

I just bought a pair of brand-new (and unfortunately pretty expensive) workout shorts that are 77% nylon / 23% spandex. I’ve never owned this type of material before and didn’t realize until afterward that the care tag says “Do not tumble dry.”

I washed them and put them through the dryer on the delicate/low-heat setting before noticing the instructions.

Afterward, I noticed one small fiber on the inside seam looked a little frayed (though it’s possible it was already like that). It was just a loose thread along the seam, so I carefully snipped it with scissors. Other than that, the shorts seem fine and I don’t see any obvious damage.

That said, I did notice the inner liner felt a little more abrasive against my skin when wearing them. I’m not sure if that’s related to the dryer, the loose fiber, or if I’m just overanalyzing because I realized afterward that I wasn’t supposed to dry them.

For those familiar with nylon/spandex athletic wear: how likely is it that a single low-heat dryer cycle actually damaged them? Would you expect any permanent issues from that, or am I probably worrying over nothing?

I just bought 3 pairs of nylon/spandex workout shorts. I washed them on delicate cycle in my washing machine, then ran them on the delicate cycle in my dryer… but I didn’t notice the tag specifically says “do not tumble dry.”

How badly did I mess up by doing this? Could a one-time run through the dryer on low heat have permanently damaged them?

Just looking for advice really… I have larger bottles of cologne and am kinda confused on whether it’s good practice or recommended to remove the tops and filter them into smaller travel size reusable bottles, or just buy the travel bottles separately.

What do you guys do?

I’ve been in therapy for a decade now and have tried so many therapists, but honestly, I feel nothing has helped - if anything, I’m worse than ever recently. I have anxiety, ADHD and OCD and think I probably suffer from depressive episodes as a result of those conditions. I’m overwhelmed with stress lately between my own health problems (possible cancerous lesion on my kidney), my pets’ health (my cat just got an aggressive cancer diagnosis), and work (nonstop stress at a startup); and therapy just isn’t working for me. I feel like the past 10 years have been a waste of time and money. People talk about entering therapy and changing their lives - to me it feels like all I do is talk and nothing changes.

I’m finally at the point where I’m considering meds. My current therapist isn’t a believer in them and thinks they mask root issues. I went to my physician and asked about anxiety meds and he put me on an antihistamine.

I’m sort of confused over how people try things like antidepressants or OCD meds and looking for input on what I should do next. I feel like every day my brain bounces from one issue to another and catastrophizes and worries and stresses and no matter how much talk therapy or ERP or whatever else I have tried, nothing is working or changing.

Looking to refresh my wardrobe with some staples:

• Nicer shorts I can pair with white sneakers (i.e. not gym shorts or Adam Sandler vibes);
• Long and short sleeve button-downs that can be dressed up/down;
• Polos that can be dressed up/down;

I have an athletic build and department stores can be tough. For those with a similar build, what are your go-to clothing brands? Any websites or specific stores you'd vouch for?

I tried Banana Republic, too, but find a lot of their stuff seems designed for skinnier dudes.

Two nights ago (today is day 3), I was walking my dog on a wooded trail at dusk. There are lamp posts along the path, and bats often fly around them feeding on insects.

As I walked under one of the lights while looking down at my phone, I suddenly felt something pass extremely close to my forehead. My immediate reaction was that something might have brushed against my skin and made contact, but it's also possible I just felt the air movement from wings passing very close to my face. When I looked up, I saw what appeared to be a bat flying right past me, very close to eye level.

The problem is that I genuinely don't know whether there was actual contact or not. The event happened so quickly that I can't confidently say either way.

I called the health department, and they told me that if there was skin contact with a bat, rabies post-exposure treatment is recommended because bats can leave tiny scratches that aren't always noticeable. Obviously, hearing "rabies is 100% fatal" sent me down a rabbit hole.

The complicating factor is that rabies has been one of my OCD themes for years. I've spent the last two days replaying the event over and over in my head, trying to figure out whether the bat actually touched me or whether I'm developing a false memory around what happened. The more I analyze it, the less certain I feel.

I'm stuck between two fears:

1. Getting the vaccine and wondering whether I'm feeding an OCD compulsion.
2. Not getting the vaccine and worrying I've ignored a legitimate exposure.

The vaccine series would be expensive, involve multiple ER visits, and I'm traveling internationally soon, which would make follow-up doses complicated. I also have an OCD fear of side effects from vaccines, especially long-term autoimmune issues.

In a situation like this, how do I separate the "OCD factor" from the "real risk" factor? This involves a big "what if" -- but it also involves a real thing that happened, I just can't get certainty around whether there was direct skin contact and that's the part that is impossible for me to move past and make a decision around.

Any advice on how to handle this?

Last night I was walking my dog at dusk on a wooded trail with lamp posts spaced along the path. As I walked under one of the lights, I was looking down at my phone and suddenly felt something either brush against my forehead and make physical contact, or pass close enough that I felt the air movement from it.

I immediately looked up and saw what appeared to be a bat fly right past my face at about eye level. It happened very fast, so I can't say with certainty whether there was actual contact or whether it simply flew extremely close. I observed it weave through the treeline and then circle back and fly around the lamp post -- couldn't tell 100% for sure if it was a bat or a bird, but Google says this is more in line with bat behavior hunting for insects.

I don't have any visible bite marks or scratches, but I called my state's Department of Health for guidance. The nurse told me that if there's any doubt about potential contact with a bat, they generally recommend getting rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). She also mentioned that a significant percentage of bats (supposedly, 1 in 3) tested in my county have rabies, although I don't know if that's skewed because they're only testing the ones they catch from exposures.

Complicating things a bit, I have OCD and health anxiety, so I'm having a hard time determining whether I'm reacting reasonably to a real exposure risk or getting caught in a worst-case-scenario thought spiral. Right now I'm leaning toward getting the vaccine series just to be safe, but I'm still unsure.

For anyone who has gone through rabies PEP:

• What was the process like?
• Did the shots hurt?
• Did you experience side effects such as fatigue, flu-like symptoms, headaches, etc.?
• Any lingering or long-term issues afterward?
• Has anyone had to receive one of the follow-up doses late? I'll be traveling internationally and would likely receive the final dose on day 19 instead of day 14. The Department of Health told me that shouldn't be a major problem, but I'd be interested in hearing others' experiences.

Thanks for any insight.

38M in Pennsylvania.

Last night I was walking my dog on a wooded path at dusk. There are lamp posts along the trail, and bats frequently fly around them feeding on insects.

As I walked under one of the lights, with my head down looking at my phone, I felt something either make physical contact with my forehead, or flap past extremely close. My immediate reaction was that something may have brushed against me, but it's also possible what I felt was air displacement from wings passing very close to my face. When I looked up, I saw something fly past, and then when it circled back overhead it appeared to have webbed wings, so I am assuming it was a bat hunting insects around the light fixture.

I cannot say with certainty whether there was actual physical contact, but that was my immediate reaction to the sensation, and either way, the bat was definitely very close.

I contacted the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and they advised that if I wanted post-exposure vaccine, I would need to go to the ER (the only place you can get it in PA, unlike other states where doctors can administer it).

My concern is that I leave for an international trip in one week, and the vaccine series would require follow-up doses while I'm abroad. They told me this would likely create issues as the vaccines differ overseas. I called the ER for advice and they refuse to help over the phone and said I need to come in to discuss. Another complication here is that the ER copay is $500 and the vaccine itself is $15,000.

Given the ambiguity of this scenario -- a bat possibly brushing my forehead versus simply flying extremely close -- would you recommend rabies PEP, or does this sound like a low-risk exposure where vaccination is not typically advised?

I posted this to r/bats but Reddit just sent a notification saying I should cross-share it here.

I'm in central PA and was walking my dog at dusk last night on a wooded path, with lamp posts spaced along the trail. As I walked under one of the lights, I was looking down at my phone and felt something lightly brush my forehead. It happened very fast and startled me, and when I looked up I saw what I initially thought was a bird fly past me at about eye level or slightly higher.

I watched it swoop around the lamp post and treeline, and when it passed overhead again it appeared to have webbed wings, which made me think it was a bat feeding on insects.

I'm curious how common it is for bats to fly extremely close to people while chasing insects. Is it more likely for one to pass within inches of someone's head and create enough air movement to feel like a brief contact, or is it more likely that it could have actually made (accidental) physical contact with its wing?

I know this subreddit gets a lot of "what if" health anxiety type posts, but in this case, I definitely felt something -- whether it was contact with the wing itself, or if it was just EXTREMELY close to my forehead and what I felt was the air displacement as it flapped past.

I'm not sure if it warrants post-exposure shots, but the issue is I'll be traveling internationally next week, so the timing couldn't be worse.

I spoke to a nurse in the dept of health last night who told me the shots are ONLY available at the ER in Pennsylvania, not regular doctors’ offices, and cost $15k (on top of ER copays). She also told me they have different follow-up shots overseas so I would not have an easy time getting the full series if I start here. So I literally don’t even know if I *can* get the shots unless I cancel my prepaid work trip, which would not look good to say the least.

How would you guys react / handle this situation in my shoes? Does it warrant a post exposure shot and if so, it suggestions on how I can start here and continue overseas? Or is this not worth worrying about?

EDIT: seems the automod is deleting people’s replies, feel free to DM me directly with any input!

Question for people familiar with bat behavior:

I'm in central Pennsylvania and was walking my dog at dusk (around 8:40 PM) on a wooded path with lamp posts spaced along the trail. As I walked under one of the lights, I felt something lightly brush my forehead. It happened very fast and startled me, and when I looked up I saw what I initially thought was a bird fly past me at about eye level.

I watched it continue swooping around the lamp post and treeline, and when it passed overhead again it appeared to have webbed wings, which made me think it was a bat feeding on insects around the light.

I'm curious how common it is for bats to fly extremely close to people while chasing insects. Is it possible for one to pass within inches of someone's head and create enough air movement to feel like a brief brush or tap? Or do bats occasionally make light contact when maneuvering around lights and trees?

For anyone who spends time around bats, does this sound like fairly typical behavior?

I know this subreddit gets a lot of "what if" health anxiety type posts, but in this case, I definitely felt something -- whether it was contact with the wing itself, or if it was just EXTREMELY close to my forehead and what I felt was the air as it flapped past. It's weird -- it's been a half hour and I can still feel the lingering sensation of it. I don't want to overreact but also wasn't sure if I should just shrug it off and wanted to ask the experts here.

Hi everyone,

I'm a long-time Nootropics Depot customer and unfortunately I'm here under difficult circumstances.

My 15-year-old cat was recently diagnosed with feline oral squamous cell carcinoma (FOSCC) after what initially appeared to be a dental issue. He underwent surgery for a severe tooth infection, and during the procedure a mass was discovered and biopsied. The pathology came back as oral SCC and he's been quoted 2-3 months. 😞

I've already consulted with a veterinary oncologist and am pursuing conventional veterinary treatment options. I'm not looking to replace veterinary care with supplements or asking for medical / veterinary advice, but rather looking for anything that may potentially help support quality of life, reduce inflammation, support the immune system, or possibly have anti-cancer properties as an adjunct to standard treatment.

A few things I've already seen mentioned in various cancer communities:

• Turkey tail mushroom
• Fucoidan
• Sulforaphane
• Curcumin
• Omega-3s (EPA/DHA)

My questions for the community:

1. Are there any Nootropics Depot products or ingredients that have a particularly strong rationale for cancer support or immune support that would be relevant for cats?
2. Are there any supplements that have shown promise specifically for squamous cell carcinoma in humans that would be safe for cats?
3. If you were in my shoes, what would you be researching or looking into trying next?

I'm especially interested in hearing from anyone with veterinary experience, animal nutrition experience, or anyone who has gone through cancer treatment with a pet.

Thanks in advance. I know supplements aren't going to magically cure an aggressive cancer, I want to make sure I'm exploring every reasonable avenue that could potentially help him while keeping his quality of life front and center.

DM me your best offer. Face value was $66 I think, I paid $128 on a resale site.

I made a post yesterday about my 15-year-old senior cat who was diagnosed with aggressive oral cancer. Unfortunately he was only given 2-3 months by my vet, and I want to spoil him with our final times together. As an indoor cat, I was always worried in the past about taking him outside for fear of him escaping or being exposed to ticks or parasites, but I think it would be nice to bring him on walks with my dog.

I saw they sell "cat backpacks" that you can put your cat inside and walk around with them. I was wondering if anyone has tried these and if so, whether there's a gold standard brand/product that you guys would recommend? There are so many on Amazon (and reviews are all over the place) - just want something safe, comfortable and secure.

Thanks!!

It says doors open at 6, any idea when they are likely to take the stage? Hired a sitter to stop by for my dog, need to figure out when I’ll be back.

I adopted my cat when he was 5 years old. He's about to turn 15 and has been with me through a lot over the years.

Looking back, there were probably some signs something was wrong recently, even though I did take him to the vet and nothing was found. Over the past year he gradually lost weight and became increasingly clingy and needy. I wasn't too concerned about the weight loss because I'd switched him from kibble to primarily Tiki Cat wet food and he had been overweight before. About six months ago he also started yowling a lot in the mornings, which is why I took him to the vet. Bloodwork came back excellent and they didn't find anything concerning, so we chalked it up to aging and being more vocal and needy (and Google reinforced this as I read many senior cats will become more talkative).

A few weeks ago, though, his breath suddenly became very foul and he was constantly licking his lips and making slurping noises. I brought him back to the vet and they found an infected tooth that needed to come out. During the exam, the vet also noticed a small bump in his mouth and said he'd biopsy it while doing the dental procedure. I think he was hoping it was related to the infection.

I went ahead with the surgery. They removed several bad teeth, cleaned the rest, and sent the tissue sample out for pathology. Interestingly, after the procedure he seemed much better off behaviorally and the morning yowling has so far completely stopped.

But... right as I was feeling positive about everything, today I got the call that the biopsy came back as oral squamous cell carcinoma.

I felt absolutely gutted.

My vet explained that they did not remove the entire tumor during the dental procedure. From my understanding, it was too extensive to simply remove during the tooth extraction, and they needed a diagnosis first. He offered to refer me to a dental oncologist, but he also told me that if this were his cat, he probably would not pursue further treatment.

He explained that treatment would likely involve major surgery (possibly removing part of the jaw), oncology consultations, medications, and likely intensive chemotherapy or radiation, all for what he described as a fairly limited survival benefit. He told me oral SCC in cats is notoriously aggressive, often recurs even after treatment, and may have already spread. His estimate was roughly 2-3 months if we let things go as-is.

What makes this especially hard is that aside from this diagnosis, he's in remarkably good health for his age. His bloodwork is excellent, he's eating, affectionate, and otherwise seems like himself.

I guess I'm looking for advice from anyone who has gone through this before. Did you pursue treatment? Did you consult with a specialist? Is there anything you wish you had known earlier? Any recommendations for keeping him comfortable and maintaining quality of life?

I'm trying to process all of this and figure out what's best for him.

I'm honestly kind of confused with the point structure with all these cards...

My existing flagship card was the Citi Costco card, and I also have the Chase Freedom card.

I just got the Sapphire Reserve and I saw people saying they use the Freedom card for everyday purchases and then transfer to Sapphire Reserve?

if I'm making purchases day-to-day or online, which card should I be using to maximize value?

Hoping some frequent flyers here could give their input. I primarily fly via Southwest and most of my flights are domestic. I have a 45l travel backpack, but on trips longer than 2-3 days, the weight can start to really kill my back (especially trips where I buy stuff to take home).

I decided to get a carry-on spinner and the Travelpro Versapack+ was on sale for 60% off. I bought both the compact 20" (holds 37L) and the standard 21" carry-on 46L), with the intent of picking one of them once I could compare side by side.

The details say the 21" fits most domestic bins whereas the 20" is compliant with every carrier, including international (where I guess the 21" is too large).

I'm not too concerned about international because most of my international trips are longer anyway, so I'd likely be checking a full-size suitcase and bringing my backpack as the carry-on. So the spinner will primarily be used for domestic flights.

However, the compact arrived early (still waiting on the standard) and it's definitely nice, and a good size. I'm worried the standard could end up being a little too bulky and I'm not sure how well it would fit into the overhead bins with Southwest. But - I also feel like the 46L vs 37L storage is a pretty significant difference and I'd probably struggle to pack more than a couple days' worth of stuff into this alongside my dop kit, so kinda defeats the purpose of using it for longer trips when the backpack is too heavy.

TL;DR -- in my shoes, which would you guys keep (or would you even consider keeping both...)?

And has anyone here run into issues with Southwest specifically in terms of overhead bins or gate-checking standard 21" carry-ons? Would the compact 20" be a safer bet on Southwest?

I have a previous gen Google Nest in my living room that I’ve always used to play music.

It suddenly began giving me a “sorry, something went wrong, please try again” response and refuses to play anything.

I did a power cycle which didn’t fix it so I did a complete factory reset and re-connected it to my account, but it is still giving the same error message.

My WiFi is working. I don’t understand what could be causing this. Any ideas? Been going on for days.

The speaker is working with other command prompts (e.g. if I ask what the temperature is or what time it is) -- so it seems like it's something specific to the YouTube Music integration? I just don't understand what is causing it to suddenly happen and why a factory reset didn't fix it.