Is there any chance this could be covid? Did it present like this for anyone else?

[AtLeastHalfRelieved]

Saturday and Sunday I felt vaguely off all day, low level headache and sore throat and Sunday my chest felt strange and tight and I had a slight fever. Nothing that made me feel bad enough not to carry on as normal, as we weren't going anywhere or seeing anyone anyway!

Monday I woke up feeling sick and had to spend the day lying still in the dark apart from explosive toilet trips 💩

Yesterday I still felt delicate and didn't want to eat much.

Today the low level fever is back and so is the sore throat, plus everything tastes weird. My coffee just tasted of burnt mud.

I had covid in November 2022 and was appallingly unwell for over a week with blinding headache, body aches, fatigue, and cough - this feels completely different to that, but also isn't presenting like anything I've had before with the mix of throat and gastro symptoms. I'm well enough to carry on as normal really, but not "right" iyswim.

I now want to know if it's covid as I'm meant to be seeing elderly relatives tomorrow. I've asked someone to pick me up some tests but they won't drop them round til tonight at the earliest so I'm just speculating really.

I’ve had covid four times and each time it’s been different.

First time I had a very upset stomach, high temperature and exhaustion.

Second and third times I had flu symptoms and was floored for about 10 days.

Last time was just a bad cold and cough. Only took one day off work.

So strange, how can the same thing be so different each time? I assumed that if it was covid I'd be very unwell like last time but perhaps not in that case.

Get some tests from the pharmacy?

We had covid in September and had totally different symptoms,I had really bad gastric issues. You shouldn't see your relatives tomorrow even if it isn't covid, see them when you're better.

Can you read? I did say someone was bringing me some. I live rurally. The pharmacy is a 7 mile drive and I don't really want to do it if I can avoid it.

Read the OP maybe?

I'm not sure I'd want to pass that on to elderly relatives whether it's Covid or not.

I had Covid for the second time last week and had a really bad upset stomach and diahorrea. Immodium!

Also sore throat and cough which I didn’t have at all the first time. Both times I was exhausted and lost my appetite though. Two days first time, three days second time.

1st - 99% asymptomatic bit itchy and cold like but this was when you had to isolate and think being stuck in the house made it more noticeable. Was very slightly out of breath.
2nd - more like a sinus infection no chest symptoms at all.

1st + 2nd didn't need to rest in fact we decorated two rooms whilst "ill".

3rd time (October/November) started with a horrible cough and really breathless to the point going up stairs was a challenge. Had a few days where you could hear I was out of breath when talking etc. But no cold symptoms for me at all (coughing like you have a chest infection with nothing to bring up is strange).

Ended up with a resting heart rate of 129, palpitations and 5% drop in sats (sats 93-95% at rest compared to 99% normally) it's been a month and they've just gone back to normal. Again didn't feel unwell enough to not do anything.

DH had more cold like symptoms. We both got sickness and diarrhoea but as we still went to work etc we assumed it was another virus as it's was days 8-10 we were being sick.

Can you pop to the shop and get a test? Tho I wouldn't risk a sickness bug with the elderly either.

Second time around, I couldn’t move from a loo for about 6 days. It was really difficult and I had to ban my family from using the downstairs loo just to ensure I could reach one in time! I had that in May this year.

It really is a strange virus.

I'm on my 3rd bout. This is the first time I've had d & v with it but I don't feel too awful. Whatever you have, I certainly wouldn't be visiting anyone regardless of age.

I think that is probably Covid because of the muddy coffee symptom.

But, as others say, if you are ill you should stay away from others, no matter what it is. I feel like this message is still very unclear in the UK. Covid highlighted the need to protect others from illness, and we seem to have forgotten, or misconstrued, and ront think of it as general good sense.

If you're ill, whether it's covid or not, cancel the visit. Why would you want to pass any virus on?

Yeah I get the point about staying away from people when ill even if it's not covid!

Its just that, outwith the gastro symptoms (which will have been over for more than 48 hours by tomorrow), I don't feel unwell enough by any means to avoid normal life. It's very low level, I only know I have a fever because I can tell I'm hotter than usual, it's not a burning up type fever by any means. I certainly wouldn't be taking time off work for the symptoms I have right now (other than the standard 48 hours for D&V).

It's a very odd illness that presents differently at different times.

First time, high fever, cough, breathlessness, loss of smell, tiredness. I was in bed for three days then it took me around a month to fully recover.

Second time, cough, headache, in bed for a day, felt unwell for about a week.

This time, heavy cold and tiredness. No need to be in bed, and three days in I'm feeling ok.

I've had it multiple times and yes it can be gastro, however norrovirus is also around rn

It presents differently in different people so there's no way of saying. It could just be a stomach bug?
I've had Covid twice, the first time was just like having a cold, the second time was worse and I had a bad fever with it. Never had the gastro symptoms but both times it was like someone had switched my taste and sense of smell off.

Your illness has obviously made you a bit tetchy as well. 🙄

Anyway, I hope you’re feeling better soon.

I think if you had a fever you would be feeling really unwell rather than just feeling a bit hotter than normal.

I would just decide about whether you want to pass your germs on to the elderly. Any illness can affect them more. Maybe you could ask them and seek their views.

Sounds like it could be but does it really matter? Surely you avoid spreading this unpleasant illness regardless of the name of the virus. Either that's covid or flu or any other virus is pretty irrelevant