If you've been infected, what was your first symptom please?

[MrsAvocet]

I've Googled but just get lists of early symptoms and I am specifically wondering whether the temperature or the cough typically come first?
DH has just started with a temperature tonight. Its 37.7c so not quite at the officially worrying 37.8c yet, but its gone up quite suddenly. He has no other symptoms though, so I am clinging to the probably unrealistic hope that it is something different. We have been staying indoors all day apart from a daily walk when we barely see anyone anyway as we live in the middle of nowhere. DH has been doing the weekly shop, though, so if he has caught the virus I guess that must be how. I normally get deliveries but I'd stopped them so that more needy people could have the slots. Don't know what we are going to do for food etc now as we don't have family to help and none of our friends live particularly close by. I have an underlying health condition but it isn't bad enough for me to be on the vulnerable list so I don't think we will be entitled to any kind of assistance. And to add insult to injury my veg patch has been dug up by rabbits today. Could be time to shoot the rabbits I guess.
I know it won't make any difference - what will be will be - but I am just wondering what other people's experiences have been.

[indie92]

HI only joint pain for two nights and headache wouldnt have known only I lost my tase and smell and I mean very suddenly in a few hours tested positive day later in work , I have been quite well slight tickly cough but still manged to walk dogs two miles before I knew I was positive, im a nurse and had been working from home/office as I have ashma but mild. hadn't been any supermarkets and walked dogs very late at night when quiet who knows

[Iflyaway]

My sister lost her sense of taste and smell. (So I'm smelling my hand cream every day).
The only other symptom she had was exhaustion. She had to quarantine for 14 days, volunteers brought her food and left it on the doorstep. She's not in UK.

Wishing you all the best OP.

[Trinovantes]

My first symptom was, er, digestive distress.

Then constant headache (went to bed with it, woke up with it), tight chest, phlegmy chest, choking feeling, and extreme fatigue. Temp up the entire time but not "officially" fever. Never got the dry cough.

Later on severe abdominal pains, burning lungs, elevated blood pressure.

[Complexico]

Pains in my chest.

[Jjjjjj1981]

Headache and tiredness, got the cough and actually started feeling properly ill, temperature, uncontrollable shaking etc, about a week later.

[MrsAvocet]

Thanks both.
Interesting about the headaches indie92 as my teenage son was complaining of headaches yesterday but I just thought that was because he was doing a lot of school work on the computer. He seemed fine today though. It is so hard to know. There seems to be such a wide range of symptoms and severity. I wish testing could be available to everyone, but with even health workers having to wait I can't imagine that the general public are going to get tests any time soon.
I've managed to book a Tesco slot but its not til 23rd May. I thought it was sensible to get it though, as if we catch it sequentially we will be in quarantine for weeks. I can always cancel it if we are ok by then.

[Rebootingagain]

I tested positive a few weeks ago.

Will be polite and agree with “digestive distress” Above as the first symptoms.

Realistically I had the shits for about four days, then a slight cough and no fever at all.

A bit of chest pain which I still have now.

This is why I think loads of us have had it. Symptoms aren’t consistent and other than the fa t that where I live test loads of people I would have never though I had it.

Testing positive or not doesn’t really matter. It’s going to sweep through the whole population and what matters is if you need hospital or not. The vast majority won’t

[WaxOnFeckOff]

I started with a stiff neck mainly on one side and then woke with a migraine. Then I had exhaustion which is normal with a migraine and then an intermittent mild fever which isn't, that's what really started me wondering. then the cough, tight chest and sore eyes.

[WanderingMilly]

I had something, but not sure it was COVID-19 or not.
It started with bloodshot eyes, I thought I had rubbed them or something - it certainly wasn't conjunctivitis - but odd that both eyes became bloodshot. After they cleared up, my eyes didn't 'look right' for many days.

I then had a prickling sensation in my throat. Not like the sore throat with a cold, more like needles sticking in it. Coupled with a headache that got worse. When that wore off I felt really ill, my temperature went up to 37.8 (not as high as in the symptoms list) and I had a dry cough. Not lots of coughing, just every so often. The worst was the aches, they were terrible. Up my arms, in my neck, in my back, into my shoulder blades. I also felt the aches went into my chest, but from my back, not the front, if that makes sense.

At one point I felt as though I needed to breathe more, a bit like when you need more oxygen when at altitude. Not breathless, just that when I breathed deeply I still wanted to breathe more. I was taking paracetamol every 4 hours for about three days, and I went to bed. Didn't feel I could do much.

After that it subsided, but the aches moved from the top half of my body to my lower back. I ached so badly that I'd cry out if I turned over in bed, even with paracetamol. I almost felt as though the virus - if that was it - had settled into my spine rather than my lungs.

As I got better, I lost my sense of smell and taste very briefly. They were fine in the morning and then in the afternoon I had some cream cheese and nearly spat it out, there was no taste whatsoever and it felt like a mouthful of soap! But that only lasted a day or so, not a long time.

It took a while before I felt like myself again, I am still coughing now, but only on and off. At one point my symptoms got worse again, more aches like before, it was almost as if it resurfaced before my body managed to fight it off.

I have no idea if this was the virus, but it wasn't like a normal cold - normally I never have a temperature with a cold, but I do get a terribly runny nose and lots of sneezing, there was none of those symptoms this time.

I haven't had a test so I have no idea what this was, but I had enough symptoms to think it was the virus...

[fortunacookie]

Wanderingmilly I had Exactly same symptoms as you! I am more than sure I've had it ...my eyes itchy to start with too!

[OmartheGoose]

WanderingMilly that's exactly how I described my breathing...like I was at the top of a mountain in a ski resort.

Not tested, OP, so I don't know for sure but started with dry intermittent cough one afternoon then temp up to 38.5ish the next day. Temp normal at beginning of day 3 then rose again as day went on. Weird breathing day 4 and 5. Day 6 7 8 9 thought I'd beaten it. Day 10 breathing weird again and temp went up again but only to 37.9. Day 10 lost sense of smell for about 3 days. Had no aches but v tired, more so afterwards. Cough changed in second week to be very productive and I'm still coughing 6 weeks later! Also had sore eyes and night sweats in week one.

[SlowHorse]

Haven't been tested but have been ill and self isolated. No cough or sore throat. Started with severe joint paint, cold like symptoms, high temperature for four days, severe chest pain on left side (touch of pneumonia?). Worst has been absolute exhaustion; luckily had just finished contract work because would have been incapable to continue - which was fine by me because had planned out time; however, that's all gone to buggery and have just started to look.

[MrsAvocet]

I realise that testing makes no difference to an individual's care Rebooting but surely it has an impact on spread? I'm sure I have read in that the countries with the most extensive testing have the lowest death rates? I'd assumed this was because testing informs contact tracing, but it has just occurred to me that people are probably less likely to break quarantine if they have had a positive test.
We do have some food in stock, but I have heeded the requests not to stockpile so we don't have masses and things will be getting tight by the time 14 days are up. I wont let DH out early, whatever happens, but I can see how if you have had uncertain symptoms and you are running out of food it might be very tempting to persuade yourself that you haven't got it and are ok to pop to the shops. A positive test is likely to stop people doing that. Or the opposite situation - I have an important hospital appointment a week on Monday but I am going to have to cancel it now, even if none of us develop classic symptoms before then. I can't risk infecting hospital staff or other patients but missing the appointment is potentially detrimental to my condition. If DH had a negative test then I would presumably be able to go. Then there's that trial of using plasma from recovered patients. It has to be easier to identify and recruit more donors if there is a bigger pool of confirmed positive patients. So I am afraid I respectfully disagree with you about the importance of testing.

[laurely]

I had aching and pains to all my joints. Back pain in kidney area . The aching was painful enough to keep me awake . I had chills . A dry cough and headache . I tested positive last weds . I lost my sense of smell and taste yesterday . I’m left feeling total exhaustion.

[Mrsemcgregor]

Not tested but a dr confirmed he thought I most likely have covid.

Tuesday just gone - niggly tickle in my throat, thought it was allergies

Wednesday - throat feeling more irritated but not sore, making me cough a little.

Thursday- woke up early hours uncontrollably coughing. Lungs feel raw and burning. Coughed a bit throughout the day

Friday - woke up early hours even worse coughing, very tight chest. Horrible burning sensation when breathing. Fever up to 38 in the afternoon but not for long. Coughing more in the day.

Saturday - again woken by coughing, noticed sense of smell had gone. Very sore tight chest, achy in my back and shoulders.

Today - not so much coughing in the night and less burning sensation. No fever and feeling like I might have beaten it? Very tired, feel like I’ve taken a beating.

[CaroleFuckinBaskin]

Temperature first here. For all of us in this house actually.

[circusintown]

"I wont let DH out early, whatever happens"

Well if he's feeling better after 7 days he is able to go out before you are. You need to isolate for 14 days.

Only those tested can answer the symptoms and the vast majority haven't been.

Do you have a pulse oximeter? I would monitor that way after reading a very interesting article in the NY times. It seems this virus is causing silent hypoxia which means people don't even know they are being starved of oxygen

[circusintown]

www.nytimes.com/2020/04/20/opinion/coronavirus-testing-pneumonia.html