To think I have covid with a negative test?

[Redhot24]

1 week ago my colleague has a positive lateral flow test (later followed by positive pcr). As a matter of precaution, i isolated from my family and as an nhs worker, got a pcr done which was negative. Don’t know if this is at all related but thought I’d add anyways.

1 week on (and after being out and about this week), I’ve come on with an awful sore throat, feverish feeling (not an actual fever but feeling boiling hot in bed at night, then chills), slight cough, sneezing and lots of snotty tissues. Have also had an awful headache all day long, can barely move about and feeling really bunged up.
The reason I feel I may have covid, is because I can’t taste a single thing and this doesn’t usually happen when I have a cold.

I’ve taken multiple lateral flows which are all negative, but I am worried as my family is hosting this year in our home (hosting tomorrow though I’m unwell isn’t a major concern for me, my family can handle the workload and I’ll do the easy stuff).

I’ve let all my guests know of how I am feeling but all are insistent on still coming as they think I’ve just got a cold.

What would you think??

The taste and smell pretty much confirm Covid don't they?

You need another pcr for developing symptoms

@Redhot24

1 week ago my colleague has a positive lateral flow test (later followed by positive pcr). As a matter of precaution, i isolated from my family and as an nhs worker, got a pcr done which was negative. Don’t know if this is at all related but thought I’d add anyways.

1 week on (and after being out and about this week), I’ve come on with an awful sore throat, feverish feeling (not an actual fever but feeling boiling hot in bed at night, then chills), slight cough, sneezing and lots of snotty tissues. Have also had an awful headache all day long, can barely move about and feeling really bunged up.
The reason I feel I may have covid, is because I can’t taste a single thing and this doesn’t usually happen when I have a cold.

I’ve taken multiple lateral flows which are all negative, but I am worried as my family is hosting this year in our home (hosting tomorrow though I’m unwell isn’t a major concern for me, my family can handle the workload and I’ll do the easy stuff).

I’ve let all my guests know of how I am feeling but all are insistent on still coming as they think I’ve just got a cold.

What would you think??

You need to do another PCR surely? It only picks up infection at the time you did the test

Aparantly if you think you have a cold there's a 50% chance it's covid. I'll see if I can find the article

Cancel the meal. Get a PCR. Sounds like symptoms of Omicron.

It sounds like covid. Its the headache and loss of taste. That said, omicron presents differently so I will be cautious if I become unwell regardless of my taste status.

Do you even feel well enough to cook? Doesn't sound like it. I would definitely cancel.

You need a PCR test as it sounds very likely sorry.

I had a positive LF just 48 hours after a negative PCR. it’s only relevant at the time you actually take the test.

Take another PCR

@BergamotMouse

The taste and smell pretty much confirm Covid don't they?

As does a cold or flu.

I HATE The cold, my whole world revolves around being warm. The only times I've ever felt too hot in my life were when I had pneumonia, giving birth, when I'm about to faint and when I recently had that bastarding non covid cold/cough. Absolutely sweating, rolling about bed/sofa in my pants in a freezing house whinging it's too hot.

Negative pcr, I did two as I just didn't believe it. No sense of smell of taste for a few days.

My initial PCR and lateral flow were negative even though I had cold symptoms. It took a few days for it to turn positive. Keep testing.

You work for the NHS and you need to come on here to ask

Go get a PCR and isolate. Cancel tomorrow’s plans

Ok thanks everyone. Think I will insist on cancelling tomorrow 😭😭😭😭 and get a pcr. Shame this didn’t happen a few days ago.

Dh and dd had COVID (both positive on LFT and then next day on PCR). I had a horrible cold, dry throat, dry mouth, fatigue, headaches, basically exactly the same but I never developed the dry cough (just my normal asthma cough!). I took daily LFTs for a week and 3 PCRs in that time. All negative. No idea what had but it was very similar to Dh and dd but no positive test. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Has anyone had confirmed omicron and what symptoms did you have??

Just really thrown at the moment because whole family thinks I’m crazy with all these negative LFTs and are making me feel really bad for cancelling everyone’s Christmas

2 of my family members tested positive on PCR and did LFT same day and for 5 days after pcr and never did one ever come up positive
They aren't reliable, you need a PCR

My husband took a pcr on Wednesday at lunchtime, it was positive. He didn’t get a positive lateral flow until this morning so nearly two days later.. up until that point they were negative.

I had a stinking cold, did two lateral flows and a pcr - all negative. I was sneezing, bunged up and felt naff, took painkillers and chilled out at home

50% of these colds are colds I guess

I have had neg lateral flows all week and then a positive pcr .Started with a cough, sore throat .Absolutely freezing .Lower back pain really bad . I got told it would just be a cold by my inlaws but it wasn't it felt worse than a cold more like a cross between the flu and a cold .But I can still taste and smell , really bad fatigue. Listen to your gut feeling. Lateral flows are not reliable enough to trust .

I'm on day 8 of omicron...feel OK this evening but had a terrible temperature that would come and go, aching all over, headache, no taste or smell, mild chest discomfort and nausea. The most annoying for me we feeling OK, then feeling terrible again the next day. Here's hoping yours is just a cold xx

@Redhot24

Ok thanks everyone. Think I will insist on cancelling tomorrow 😭😭😭😭 and get a pcr. Shame this didn’t happen a few days ago.

I'd go ahead if you have other people to carry the load.

Yeah honestly I’m not even worried about myself. I hate to be the person to ruin it all.

Gonna book a PCR for tomorrow morning

Anyone know of any places in London where you can get an instant PCR result? Or even 3/4 hour results so maybe we can enjoy the evening in case of a negative result.

I started feeling sick on Tuesday last week. Very mild symptoms. Hadn't been anywhere so thought it was just a nursery sniffle from my son. I took 4 LFs that week, finally the 5th I took on Saturday came up positive. Confirmed by PCR the next day. So anecdotally at least, you can have it for a while before it shows up on a test. Sorry you're not well! Speedy recovery :)