To want the NHS or FlowFlex to research why all my LFTs are positive?!

[LindaBlinda]

Because seriously I'm worried that maybe eventually I'll try to travel and it'll be a FlowFlex test and I'll be told I'm positive.

Every single FlowFlex test I take is faintly positive. Pink line. Within the 15 minutes. As the attached photo. The same for the last 3-4 months or however long ago the FlowFlex started being the ones the NHS mailed out.

Any other brand of LFT is 100% negative. If anyone else in my family uses the FlowFlex from the same boxes they get negatives.

I'm mid 30s and double jabbed with Pfizer. I've never knowingly had Covid. And have tested at least twice a week since we were able to have LFTs due to caring for a terminally ill family member.

When the rest of my household were recently infected with Covid I was the only one not to catch it. Luckily I have some boxes of the other LFTs and have in the past month had 3 PCRs as each other household member tested positive. Also had 2 PCRs the past 2 months due to these faint FlowFlex lines.

All been negative.

Please if anyone knows how I can get some information on this or get some advice about it I'd be grateful. As I don't want false positives (which everyone says are totally rare and impossible) to ruin any future freedoms.

If there are trials or something for people in the same boat I'd be very willing to take part. Just want to get to the bottom of it as I'm on my last box of non FlowFlex!

Bumping this thread as it has the link to the yellow card scheme. Again I think it's mornings, or when I wake. Sick of having to self isolate, and repeatedly putting myself at risk by going to walk in centre for PCRs.

Four people in house, all have had Covid in the last six months. Only one LFT has ever been +ve, it was a flowflex and a pcr confirmed. Two other cases picked up by pcr testing at the same time as the person who had the +ve LFT.

I do not trust LFT at all as they are not, at this time, a reliable method of testing. It’s just not feasible to have everybody take a regular PCR though.

I do not trust LFT at all as they are not, at this time, a reliable method of testing. It’s just not feasible to have everybody take a regular PCR though.

While PCR is more sensitive than LFT the biggest source of error for both the LFT and the PCR is that taking a sample is unpleasant so lots of people don't do it properly. All assays have different strengths and weaknesses and the fact that we have two orthogonal assays for Covid is great and each have a role to play. LFT are cheap and fast, they do pick up asymptomatic cases that wouldn't otherwise be detected (and are used by lots of people as a confirmation they don't have Covid when they have cold symptoms) and so it is useful for everyone to do them regularly even if they are less sensitive. PCR are more sensitive but that means they can detect viral genetic material long after an infection has cleared so can give false positives (which is why you're not suppose to do one for three months after a positive result).

If people are getting what seems to be a false positive by LFT then it's better to report it than to refuse to do any testing at all. Data always is the answer.

Thanks all for signposting yellow card link - I've done that too. I test positive any time of the day on flowflex and have done so for months now. Every. Single. One. Today DH brought some home from school called orient gene (same principle - nose only) and those are negative! As are the old style ones. I have also called T&T who are aware of the issue and advised a weekly PCR test but that won't help
Me if I become a close contact and have to test daily (and I am reluctant to rush through my limited stock of non FF tests by using them every day).
So glad I'm not alone though 😊

@Turniptracker

Haven't read the whole thread but I know some ppl with rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune issues find they constantly test positive on lfts so could it be that?

I'm always positive on FlowFlex. Faint but always a line there. I'm on Levothyroxine and Elvanse (ADHD)

So I've wondered if either the medication or my genetics could effect them.

Will do a FlowFlex today and report to Yellow Card. Thanks for the link!!

Have tested multiple times a week (due to work) for months always faint lines with FF and never with other brands or PCRs. So I have to source as many non FlowFlex as I can but I now sort of accept faint FF as negatives for me. As when my husband and daughter had Covid their FF were so so dark.

Oooh! I’m on levothyroxine too, and I test positive in the mornings.
I take the tablet more than 30 minutes before taking the test, but I wonder if that is what is making them positive.

Im so glad I’ve found this @LindaBlinda. I could have written your post because the exact same thing has happened to me. I’m panicking now because I only have 4 non Flowflex tests left and can’t find anymore for Christmas! This has been happening to me for nearly 5 months now and there’s no one you can talk to about it!

Just came back to say this has happened for the third time with flow flex. It only happens with my daughter and only when she’s ill already. PCR negative again 🤔

So I have reported using the yellow card scheme. Beyond fed up

It's the covid version of the boy who cried wolf. God knows why I still follow up with a pcr even without symptoms so over it!

Are you me???
I have had two flow flex with faint lines. (And several more without) One was done when I was able to allow the reporting site to read my test from a picture - it read it as negative. (If it had been a pregnancy test I would have been $h!tting myself).
Do you get nosebleeds? I do (and worse now I have to stick things up there). I wondered if blood contaminates the sample?
But the "old" ones are always negative...
I wondered if it was an evaporation line? You have to read these after 15 minutes. That line on mine was definitely clearer after 20 minutes than at 15 minutes!
But... the kids do them and they are always completely clear.

This happens to my husband. Not every time, but enough to be annoying. However, it’s only ever a faint line. He has covid now, though, and the line is anything other than faint, and appearing even before the control line. I think if this is happening to you you will just have to accept faint lines as negative. Annoying.

Same for me it's so frustrating! I paid for an antibody test (specific for covid antibodies and not antibodies from the vaccines and it came back negative). PCRs always negative.
Anyone know if you can still get any other style of LFTs?

I had a different brand the other day @squirrelnutkins1. green box and slightly different looking. The box I picked up today were like the ones we all used at the beginning (the throat and nose ones)

Adding myself to this thread. DS (17) recently had 2 positive LFTs (flow flex) both confirmed negative by PCR a week apart.

This happened to him in the summer too (can’t remember what brand of LFT).

The positives have been very faint grey Squinters to medium pink line. They have all been in the mornings first thing before eating or drinking. He is negative in the evenings. No medicines or underlying health conditions.

It’s a mystery!

@ElinorOliphant brilliant thank you. I'll keep an eye out at local pharmacies x

@shreddednips

Glad I found this thread! Same issue, but only first thing in the morning. It's been an absolute nightmare having to isolate to get PCRs. I contacted test and trace and they told me it's a known issue that's being investigated. I have no idea if that's true, but it if is they should distribute another brand and tell people to use them instead!

I've reported it under the yellow card scheme, thanks for signposting that.

My friend has exactly the same - only faint positives in the morning.

OP you’re not alone! I know someone who tests positive on every lft he does (has done so for a year) but every pcr has been negative. Never knowingly had covid and it’s been a year of positive tests…

Is very strange.

My daughter has been producing lines on her lateral flows since end of June. The old innova brand faint line appears just after the 30 mins so officially negative but line was quite obvious by 60 mins . From start of September since flowflex was introduced she has been producing line at 10 mins so “positive” . We have had many many many follow up PCRs since end of June when this started happening - all negative. I do not believe she has ever had covid.

I phoned and complained to test and trace in September , who told me to phone my doctor , who told me to stop testing as she’s under 11🤦‍♀️

I did stop testing her though as she kept missing out on stuff whilst isolating waiting for PCR which wasn’t fair.

My advice is very similar to what other have said:

• log issues on the Yellow Card scheme as there is a process for logging issues with medical devices
• try testing in afternoon rather than morning. Others have seen they are less likely to test false positive in afternoon and we have experienced it too although not always
• find another brand . The new orient gene ones seem to be negative for my daughter so we have a stash of these just for her at the moment

My next plan of attack was to complain to Public Health as I do want an official response on what the hell is going on . I am also very worried when I read about stopping PCRs in favour of lateral flows and the broad consensus seems to be that false positives are extremely unlikely … when this clearly isn’t the case for some people

I've got a box of the old ones you can have if you want/it helps. I've opened it but not used any of it.

I really hope an answer is found to this. I have had a faint positive on all LFTs I have done. PCRs all negative. DH's tests out of the same box always totally clear. Both with Flow Flex and a different brand which I can't remember the name of. This has been over a long period. I was sent an antibody test from London Imperial which was negative for having had Covid. Never had any symptoms.

Really worried about what happens if we want to go away. Neighbour recently back from a cruise. Everyone had to have a PCR three days prior to departure (arranged by the holiday company) but they were doing LFTs at Southampton prior to boarding. Apparently several people were refused boarding because a line came up.

Not sure I coud stand the stress of packing for a holiday and not knowing whether I am actually going until the very last minute. Do they do th same at airports?

Hope they sort it out soon.

It’s not even about going abroad though is it . They are telling us to test before we see friends and relatives to keep them safe. You are asked to test twice a week to go to secondary school. You can now leave isolation 3 days early if you produce a negative lateral flow . You are asked to produce a negative lateral flow if you haven’t been vaccinated and want to go to a large event or the theatre . You don’t have to isolate if you are been a close contact if you can provide a negative lateral flow for 7 days every day . These are basic freedoms which my daughter can no longer access

Don’t get me wrong - I’m v pro testing but frustrated that my daughter can’t so this

I have had 5 false positives on these tests. They are shit.
I am fully vaccinated with zero
symptoms. These 5 false positives tests have been over 3 months, different batches. Some lines were faint but 2 were dark.
I no longer test on lateral flows but do regular PCR tests instead.

My son has the faint positives every time he uses Flowflex tests. Follow up PCRs are negative even when on the same day and other brands of lateral flows are negative. We try to give him the other sorts of tests whenever we get those. It is very strange and I agree there should be research on why this happens with some people.

To want the NHS or FlowFlex to research why all my LFTs are positive?!

No, they’re too busy saving lives. This comes way down the priority list.

I'm part of the random faint positive club! I've found my people, yay.

Got a faint line Christmas day, so cancelled family plans and went for a pcr instead. Pcr came back as negative and after 2 more days of faint lines my lfts turned negative too.

But.... New years eve we were supposed to be going to friends, so did more lfts, all my family was clear except for me again. Faint positive. Another pcr done yesterday, again negative.

In the last 3 days, all the 5 lfts I've done have all been faintly positive. It doesn't seem to be the batch as dh and dc are all consistently negative.

My lines aren't a deep dark red like the C line on the test, but more subtle and squinty, but definitly there.

I feel fine, had a snotty cold just before Christmas but tested negative on Christmas day pcr. I've had 3 vaccines. I'm confused.