To assume my cough is because I have a cold

[Redsquirrel34]

So since Thursday I've been absolutely full of cold. Streaming nose, felt a bit rough. No temp and no cough until today. I've woken and feel alot better in myself but can feel the phlegm at the back of my throat and it's making me cough! Not horrendously, just a short cough. I've been awake an hour and coughed 3 times. The cold was caught from my nieces, who passed it onto my daughter, then to me. And now my husband and son are all extremely snotty too.
Isn't this the reason why there's no tests? Because technically I have a cough I should get tested but common sense says it's a cold. I just feel it's stupid to attempt to test in these circumstances. If I had a cough out of nowhere or a temp it would be different. Aibu to put the cough down to a cold?

@randomsabreuse

Effectively define continuous cough and we've got more chance.

A few individual coughs (not episodes) in the first half hour after getting up doesn't seem like a continuous cough.

In my non expert opinion an episode of coughing needs to be more than 10s of coughing joined together rather than isolated clearing of snot/food.

If you say that though, you risk missing all the positive cases that don't have 10s of coughs together.

Lots of people have posted recently (including me) about getting positive tests with mild/intermittent/tickly coughs.

They need to think through the wording though. If they want all "illness" coughs then that needs to be the definition...

Episode of coughing doesn't mean 1 cough (or shouldn't do in public facing guidance).

The people saying the guidance isn't clear are ignoring all the advice given from healthcare staff such as myself, and the advice on the NHS website.

What pps seem to be saying is that their cough 'doesn't seem like a continuous cough' while ignoring the clear guidance that 3 incidents of cough in 24 hours is a continuous cough.

And yes, a single cough is an incident of coughing. An incident of coughing is one or more coughs close together.

The guidence is clear, people are just choosing not to follow it for their own convenience.

Where have you been told a continuous cough is a single cough three times in 24 hours though? I haven’t read that anywhere? It is definitely open to interpretation.

I'm not in the same boat at the moment, but know on the occasions I have a cold, I get a cough with it. I know it's normal for me, I don't want to bother with a test in those circumstances but can imagine being talked into it by colleagues.

I had this, I get it every time I have a cold for weeks. It is a pleghmy, rib rattling cough. Talking, change of air temperature, in fact anything, sends me into spasms. It was mortifying.

I knew it wasn’t covid, but had a test because I was being massively cough shamed.

The guidence is clear, people are just choosing not to follow it for their own convenience.

We're following guidelines buts it's taking its toll. I can't afford to do this every time my lo picks up a bug. Missing out on work and uni. They're climbing walls wanting to get back to nursery.

I imagine a lot of people are in worse situations and can't take time off at all

3 incidents of cough in 24 hours

It’s 3 ‘episodes of coughing’ and quite obviously not 3 single bloody coughs in 24 hours.

Well that be tested negative so it definitely is just a cold!

That’s good, cricketmum84!

And yes, a single cough is an incident of coughing

I asked my GP about this earlier this week. He said a single cough didn’t count as an episode, it would be lots of coughing.

The guidance is as clear as mud.

I’ve just had my third Covid test and am waiting for the results. I’ve have classical cold symptoms: a sore throat, gradually followed by a runny nose, sneezing and coughing. I think it was a waste of a test and I feel uncomfortable about that.

No wonder that more than 80% of people aren’t following the guidelines.

uk.reuters.com/article/idUKKCN26G14F

Sorry to add to all the confusion, but my DP took part in the random antibody testing research thing that imperial college London has done and he indeed has the antibodies. He’s been asked to do the test twice so far and he still has the antibodies. So we’re pretty confident he definitely had it. Anyway, he had a bout of illness in March and his main symptom was sneezing and snotty nose and the usual feeling of having a bad cold. Had no cough, no temperature, no loss of taste.

So I’m just pointing out that the symptoms aren’t as clear cut as everyone thinks, is all.

I wish people would stop saying it's only a dry cough.

My cough was productive and I tested positive. At one point all three of us had runny noses too.

I don't think whether it's wet or not is the issue, but whether it's continuous or not. Any continuous as per the 3 episodes in 24 hours should be tested, far more important than trying to decide whether it's dry or not.

"I only cough occasionally, a Covid cough is more persistent and involves ‘coughing episodes"

Definitely wrong in my case previously.

If your cough meets the criteria then get tested. I moved seamlessly from a cold into COVID, it's not either or.

My, adult, daughter has just had a test. We were fairly confident it was a cold but with a fever, cough and limited sense of taste, and no snot at all, it seemed irresponsible not to get tested. Her result came back in less 24 hours, which impressed me, and was negative as expected.
There was a long queue of people waiting to get tested, we are in a high risk area, but if this year's cold gives coughs I imagine lots of people will pushed to get tested. Or people will just assume their symptoms are a cold when they're not... dammed is you do and dammed if you don't.
As a disclaimer my daughter is chronically ill and at high risk if she does get Covid.

It's a nightmare for anyone to try to second guess whether they have covid or not. My DD is currently recovering, and had a sudden complete loss of sense of smell, only discovered when she couldn't smell her shampoo. No other symptoms at all. Over the next few days she had a very slight fever and then became breathless. 2 weeks on and she's still very breathless and tired. Also very low, which is unlike her. No cough or really high fever at any point. I think one of the reasons covid is so easily spread is that the symptom are so vague and variable, and fit other illnesses particularly at this time of year.

I copied this from another post

'Our eldest went off to university a couple of weeks ago and just told me she has tested positive for Covid-19. She feels okay so far, with just cold-type symptoms which she's had for four days. She's in halls and has flatmates who'

So you definitely CAN have COVID with just cold symptoms