To ask what happened with my lateral flows?

[Sidetableable]

I’ve namechanged for this as don’t want to link to my other threads but basically my DC developed Covid over half term so we followed isolation rules etc etc. I’ve been doing lateral flows daily as felt sure at some point I would catch it. Today I got a faint positive so I did three more lateral flows and they all showed the double line. So I rang and requested PCR and will receive that soon in the post I hope. Anyway, I didn’t feel too bad today so just decided to do another test tonight ( I know I know) and low and behold it’s negative. So I did one more and it’s negative too. AIbu to ask what on earth is going on? I’m so confused…how can I have Covid at lunchtime and it be gone by bedtime?

I have positive pcr test and 5 negative lft -gp said lateral flow have small window when they show positive. Shocking.

Keep following guidelines and isolate until you get PCR done. LF tests can be unreliable sometimes.

Yes I absolutely will continue to isolate. No question of that. Thanks for your quick responses - I felt I was going slightly mad. I’m just glad I kept the positive ones from earlier otherwise I would have thought I had dreamed it. So do you think my PCR will show positive then even if it’s no longer showing on the lateral flow? I’ve been doing daily testing for ages and this has been the first hint of Covid. But I’ve been immersed in it all around me I guess due to the DC.

I've recently had a colleague test negative on LF then positive on PCR, then very quick positive results for a friend testing positive on LF... and then also positive on PCR. SO who knows? But sounds like you're doing all the right things. Hope all goes OK and that you are well.

Thankyou I’m very fortunate (due to work role) to be triple vaccinated already so really hoping that gives me milder impact. Let’s see.

Similar position. Had 1 faint positive, 3 negative. 1st was an old batch. I'm thinking there's a been a bad batch. Waiting on PCR result. I'm expecting positive though my throats really sore now

Good morning @Carpetsareforflying sounds like we are in similar position. Hope you are doing ok and you managed to sleep last night. My symptoms are mainly sinus pain and feeling tired. I’ve just had an email that my PCR should be delivered today. The thing about old tests may have something to it. Maybe some are just more reliable than others? In a way i really want to see this PCR result. I’m not keen on the ambiguity. It makes me think how many people are none the wiser that they might have Covid if lateral flows are so unreliable…..

@Sidetableable

Good morning *@Carpetsareforflying* sounds like we are in similar position. Hope you are doing ok and you managed to sleep last night. My symptoms are mainly sinus pain and feeling tired. I’ve just had an email that my PCR should be delivered today. The thing about old tests may have something to it. Maybe some are just more reliable than others? In a way i really want to see this PCR result. I’m not keen on the ambiguity. It makes me think how many people are none the wiser that they might have Covid if lateral flows are so unreliable…..

My PCR came back negative. So the old test was wrong. Wonder if the solution had gone off? Though use by date on the box was next year. Still really sore throat and a bit of a cough but I'm prone to tonsillitis so I'll see a doctor if it's not cleared up in a day or two.

Goodness it’s so confusing isn’t it? I guess there are all the usual bugs flying around still? Glad it isn’t Covid though. And you feel better soon.

Thank you, hopefully yours is negative too.

Lft aren't accurate!

@caketiger

Lft aren't accurate!

Obviously. But all the materials say a line is a line. Positive.

If you've done 5 lateral flow tests in one day, and you had a relatively low viral load to start with, you could have wiped away sufficient of the virus that was there and it hasn't yet built up again, so your last test was negative.
Keep isolating, assume you're positive, and don't do any more LFs till you get your PCR.

@Welshlavalove

I have positive pcr test and 5 negative lft -gp said lateral flow have small window when they show positive. Shocking.

I'm not sure this is true, when dd had covid she was symptom free and we lateral flowed her throughout out of curiosity. She was positive on lateral flows until day 8.

LFTs pick up roughly 50% of positive cases only. The idea is they at least remove that 50% from general circulation. PCRs pick up nearly all cases. So this isn't inconsistent. Your viral load may be over the peak making the LFT less likely to pick it up.
Also there's no point in doing lots of LFTs to confirm a positive; they don't give that many false positives (or at least not with the current infection levels) and it's not clear what they cost, but I saw a figure of £8 each.

Thanks everyone for your opinion. Helpful up hear about lateral flows and their accuracy or lack there of. I’ve sent off my PCR now so hopefully may find out tomorrow for definite. I’ve felt pretty wiped out today so I’m assuming the four positive rather than two negative results i got from lateral flows yesterday are correct….if lateral flows are so expensive but inaccurate I don’t understand really why government doesn’t just allow people to do say two PCRs per week. To avoid all this confusion and inaccuracy. And stop wasting money on lateral flows?

The LFTs aren't supposed to be used if you already have symptoms, so it might be because of that.
I had covid recently and sinus pain and tiredness were two of my main symptoms.

LFTs are a lot cheaper than PCRs and don't have to be processed in a lab so that's why they tell people to do two a week. It's a balance of cost, practically (limited lab capacity) and accuracy of

Over the weekend I had 4 positive LFTs in a row - 3 on Saturday night, 1 on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon I went for a PCR - result on Monday morning was NEGATIVE! So what on earth was going on there?! One of the positive LFTs had a really strong line as well.

Hey what do you expect from crap made in China? ;-)

If you have a positive lft then you have a viral load. They are unlikely to be wrong especially when you've done a few. There have been cases where pcrs have been done incorrectly so if you have a negative pcr I'd still isolate on the lft and maybe get a retest.
My ds had negative lft but came back positive on the pcr. My dd had 2 inclusive tests on pcr and negative lft so it's likely her viral load was just too low. If you have enough load to have a positive lft then a negative pcr is highly suspicious.