Very Worried About Tetanus, Please Help

Hello all,

Last Wednesday, I was in a college art class and accidentally stabbed my thumb with my x-acto knife. The slice was small (maybe 1/4 of an inch long at most) but bled a lot since it was near my nail. The x-acto knife had primarily been used to cut aluminum cans, paper and plastic and was stored capped and stored in an art bin. The knife was not rusty and the blade was fairly new and never exposed (as far as I can tell) to the conditions usually associated with tetanus: manure/feces, soil or dust.

I immediately washed the wound with cold water and soap, and after applied a small amount of antibiotic ointment and dressed the wound with a bandage. Being a person very prone to anxiety, I immediately remember that I am due for a tetanus booster this year.

Thursday evening at work, I noticed an odd body sensation in my right arm - like an achey feeling and a tightening feeling with some numbness/tingling. Upon returning home I of course made the mistake of looking up all the symptoms of Tetanus and got myself very worked up and couldn't sleep all night. First thing Friday morning, I went to the student health office and got a tetanus booster, as I read that if potentially exposed to tetanus, one should get a booster within 48 hours if it has been more than five years since your last shot. As far as I know, I had the 3 shot intial TDAP sequence as a child, one at age 15 or 16, and just had one Friday.

Since Thursday, I've notiecd some strange body symptoms - feelings of tightness and muscle weakness/pain in my arms, tingling in my hands, as well as some really strong tightness and soreness in the muscles in my neck (feels like it originates in my ears and goes down the sides of my neck and jaw) as well as soreness on the back of my head where the skull meets the neck, but no lockjaw in the sense that I can't open my mouth. I've also recently started experiencing some nausea and stomach pain.

I'm wondering if anxiety could be playing a role into these symptoms? I've woken up a few nights out of a dead sleep shaking, and from past experiences, attribute this to anxiety but I'm not sure.

I've seen three different doctors and all have reassured me that Tetanus is VERY rare, especially in people who have already had multiple immunizations. They assured me that the chance of me having this disease is minute and attributed the body symptoms to severe stress and anxiety and I was perscribed Lorazepam. I also had a large amount of bloodwork including a c reactive protein and a CBC both of which were completely normal.

I suppose three doctor's expert opinions should console me, but I'm still very worried. I'm sure anyone on here who suffers from severe anxiety can understand exactly where I'm coming from.

If possible, I would really appreciate an expert opinion from the doctor on this site, as an additional opinion would help to put my mind at ease, as would the opinions and advice from others who are familiar with this disease. Thanks so much in advance,

Justin