Is anyone else experiencing this weird flu thing

[TonyBlairsLover]

since Friday I’ve felt very unwell, tested negative and it seems like half my friends have some weird flu/cold. Is it just us?

@LizzieSiddal

Since last Tuesday I’ve had

Runny nose and sneezing
Awful cough
Headache
Aches
Feeling hot
No energy

I’ve also had in the last two days very painful cramps and feeling nauseous.

I’ve done 4 LFTs all negative!

This is me!

My head keeps being that bad I have started using my migraine medication to block it, that is working on the head but clearly not other symptoms.

Few of us in office keep saying we feel like this but none of us tested + so assuming some other virus doing the rounds.

I have this and tested positive.

Dh has it and tested negative.

Plenty of places do PCR testing - it's pretty simple to google your closest one.

However, seems that plenty of people have had symptoms way before the NHS testing was stopped.

I tested negative for 3 days then very strongly positive on day 5 - came up in 2 minutes ☹️. Started with sneezing and headache that wouldn’t go then dreadful sore throat. A day later I ached all over, felt like bad ‘flu - that’s when I tested positive.
Now day 7 and still like a really bad cold but getting palpitations and hot flushes so I guess I’m still spiking a temperature.
Absolutely exhausted after hanging out a load of washing and changing the bed 🥺

If you've got any more, might be worth doing one more - I started feeling iffy on the Monday, had a very faint LFT on Thursday. Either way, hope you feel better soon.

I’ve had some strange bug, I did not feel as poorly as I did with Covid or the flu but I could not go in work as I could not stop coughing and kept burning up, then diarrhoea followed, it’s a nasty one. It takes a while to disappear too.

@Phascolarctos

Plenty of places do PCR testing - it's pretty simple to google your closest one.

However, seems that plenty of people have had symptoms way before the NHS testing was stopped.

The local test centres have closed their doors and online is telling me I have to pay.

Me too - had Covid in Feb and feel worse now. Still negative after at least 5 days.

Well yes, you do have to pay - just like most people have to pay for LFTs now.

Having to pay does not suddenly mean you can use LFTs reliably when you have symptoms.

@Phascolarctos

Well yes, you do have to pay - just like most people have to pay for LFTs now.

Having to pay does not suddenly mean you can use LFTs reliably when you have symptoms.

So I won't be getting a PCR test or using LFTs when mine have ran out. Why would anyone do that?

Why would anyone do that?

For the same reason people have normal medical testing to check for illnesses?

Haven't there always been illnesses that have been 'going around' ? Always seems like a really odd question, people get mildly ill all the time and I mean that in the context of not being hospitalised.

I’m not sure why everyone is completely opposed to paying for LFTs either. I really do appreciate that some people can’t afford it, but no one seems to want to pay. If you go out to the pub or for a coffee regularly you can probably pay £2 for a test. In many counties tests aren’t free but people are still testing, it’s not that no one is testing there.

@Phascolarctos

Why would anyone do that?

For the same reason people have normal medical testing to check for illnesses?

People don't routinely pay to test for every sniffle though. They acknowledge they feel off or ill and act accordingly. The same will happen here. I'm not paying for tests every time I or a member of the household get a cold just to check it's not covid. Just no.

People do routinely (through NI) pay to test for illnesses which they believe are contagious, or they pay to see a doctor to get a diagnosis to rule out illnesses that are contagious or may be serious.

@Secretname123 Yes, I am with you - and thankfully there's help here (London) for those who still require regular testing (CEV households) who cannot afford it.

I don't care what some people do. Routinely we don't for a virus that moves through the population and I'm not going to start now.

You can do what you want of course

Then why did you question me?

Regardless, PCR for symptoms, LFT for no symptoms. It's a bit late in the day for people to still not understand this.

Also, would you not go and see a doctor for something like Whooping Cough?

@Phascolarctos

Why would anyone do that?

For the same reason people have normal medical testing to check for illnesses?

Nobody pays £10-20 to see if they have flu or measles, or to get their urine dipped when they have cystitis. Expecting people to pay £20 to see if they have covid, when they no longer need to self isolate if positive anyway, is not going to happen. As the government knows very well.

@Phascolarctos

Also, would you not go and see a doctor for something like Whooping Cough?

No? Not unless my breathing was compromised. I would take a young child, but not myself. What is the GP going to do exactly?

Nobody pays £10-20 to see if they have flu or measles, or to get their urine dipped when they have cystitis.

Actually, plenty of people pay way more than this.

@Phascolarctos

Then why did you question me?

Regardless, PCR for symptoms, LFT for no symptoms. It's a bit late in the day for people to still not understand this.

There isn't anywhere to get a PCR test. What you're saying is pointless. It's not going to happen.

@Phascolarctos

Nobody pays £10-20 to see if they have flu or measles, or to get their urine dipped when they have cystitis.

Actually, plenty of people pay way more than this.

Not in the UK, unless you have money to burn on a private GP.

@Phascolarctos

Also, would you not go and see a doctor for something like Whooping Cough?

My GP is like fort Knox. There's no seeing a GP for anything and I don't think they would charge anyroad.