To think I may have Covid despite testing negative . Anyone else think the same?

[Cranklanky]

Had symptoms on and off since Monday - mild congestion first , headache in the morning, then seemingly improvement. But sore throat on Wednesday followed by runny nose. Slight achy shoulders and back of neck. Very slight cough yesterday. Testing negative, but this doesn’t really feel quite like a typical cold for me. Historically, if I have a cold , normally my nasal secretions would be a lot thicker and coloured by now! (Sorry if too much information! ) I have read that the tests aren’t picking up this new variant, but they seem to be giving positives to other people I know.

I had it last week and tested negative, I know it was covid because my husband had it first (positive test) and two days later I came down with symptoms identical to last time I had covid. Lateral flow tests have always given a lot of false negatives.

It is rife again just now, I had symptoms for days and testing because of work and constant negative until around day 5, was positive for 2 days. Daughter positive for a full week from first onset of symptoms.

How many days did you test?

Are you throat swabbing? Or just nose?

Both, always .

@shaniahoo sorry , that question for you , how many days did you test?

I have known a few people who came down with symptoms and tested negative for the best part of a week, then ended up testing positive.

I am pretty sure I had Covid recently as the symptoms matched, but I did not test.

DS woke up with what I thought was croup on Wed morning (even though he's 12! He had it a few years ago and had the same barky cough, difficulty breathing till he'd calmed down). Tested negative (thought I'd maybe have to take him to e.g. GP surgery so.wanted to.find out).

Tested again today after 2 days of 'croup' and lo.and behold, got a big thick line. It's ripped through us all since the weekend, more so than previously and despite trying to separate out the positive people from the negatives (we had plans for the holidays!).

For me, I tested positive the day after I could barely lift my head from my pillow, a few days after I started feeling off.

Headache, body ache, terrible head cold, loss of taste came later.

Not all colds are equal and not all bouts of Covid are either 🤷‍♂️

I've had Covid 3 times. One bout was heavy and the other two were much milder than some colds I've had over the years.

There are a lot of weird viruses about at the moment that aren't covid. I've tested on day 1, 3, 4 and 6 but this virus is obviously something else. My parents are CEV so I test regularly especially as Mom nearly died of covid in hospital in 2022.

@Cranklanky I tested negative for 4 days and stopped because I ran out of tests. I don't know if I would have tested positive on day 5 but I was nearly better by then.

Day 5 and I’m still testing negative. My taste buds are a bit muted and my sense of smell is behaving strangely! One moment I can’t smell anything then suddenly I can! Very odd - I can only assume it’s not Covid but another virus that’s behaving weirdly. I’ll carry on testing until day 7, and I’ll update if I do turn positive.

I had a super-faint line on Thursday morning - if it hadn’t been that my DP had it, I wouldn’t have looked so hard - then tested negative on subsequent tests until this morning when it was a very clear line.

Knew I had it on Wednesday night - achey and cold - but only just tested +

Does it matter whether or not it’s Covid? You’re ill. A lot of people are at the moment, Covid and non Covid.

Just dose up, get some rest, and avoid giving it to other people. We need to get over this Covid obsession, the virus is not going anywhere.

Get well soon!

Sorry you are Ill but it's a seasonal virus along with a massive cohort of other seasonal viruses, get well soon, but seriously get a grip, it's not special.

I'd just act as if it is covid if you can

Sounds like a cold to me.

In September I tested my young child, because they seemed a bit tired and “there was a lot of it about”. (Edinburgh post-Festival). So I tested myself but only tested positive for one day. Negatives before and after.

@SleepyHollowed84 I understand what you’re saying but I’d like to know if it was Covid, because if other family members come down with it imminently, I could at least be confident I wouldn’t be afflicted again so soon. I won’t be able to have the jab as I’m under 65, so if I knew I had it, then I’d be offered some protection from this infection. I can get quite anxious as some family members are more vulnerable . And also, just to satisfy my curiosity!

I had Covid over the summer and tested negative. To begin with I assumed it wasn't Covid as it wasn't the classic symptoms, but then I saw the symptoms of a new strain going round and I had every single symptom, plus loss of taste and smell after a few days. I've had Covid twice before, 1st time I was asymptomatic, 2nd time was just a mild cold, but 3rd time was horrendous, I've never felt so unwell and it took 6 weeks for the fatigue to lift

@Survivingmy3yearold how long did you test for?

I’ve got a friend who works in a small residential school. Everyone’s been sick recently with the same symptoms. Half have tested positive and half haven’t. Apparently the rapid tests are not so good at picking up the latest variants in everyone.

This!

Who cares if it's covid or not?

You are unwell, anything you have can be passed on to people around you, making them a lot worst than you are.

Either you want to protect people, and you protect them from everything you physically can, or you don't care, and covid is irrelevant.