New Covid Variant

[CareerChange24]

I’ve only ever had flu once in my adult life. It was that bad I remember it was in 2016. Since then the odd cold but never caught covid, as far as I know. Had my vaccinations.

Woke up last Thursday to feeling dreadful and by the end of the day. My throat is in pieces, I’m coughing yellow/green (sorry for the description) thick balls of it up, the congestion and pain in my head reduced me to tears and the waves of feeling sick it’s like I’m at sea.

My dad is also really sick with the same symptoms and he’s mid 70’s so worried and it sounds like my brother thought he had Covid, but was over the ‘worst’ and decided not to tell us that and we all met for Sunday lunch last week.

Does this sound like the new Covid? My legs are like jelly and I truly haven’t felt like this in a decade.

Could be, or could be an unseasonal cold/flu, but nobody on here is going to be able to say with confidence, given the symptom similarities.

Just take a test

Could be. The latest variant has a horribly sore throat as one of the symptoms

Sounds like it. I had similar symptoms six weeks ago and it must’ve been Covid as I still can’t smell a thing!

What am I a lateral flow test? 😂

There's a sickness bug at DS's school (they had 8 kids in and 20 off last week in one class) and I caught it with those exact symptoms. It's some sort of virus but honestly I wasn't really bothered whether it was COVID or not - it's nasty, whatever it is!

Covid, just like the common cold and flu can have vastly different symptoms in different people.

there is nothing dramatically different about the new variant, it is just another offspring of omicron which has firmly established itself as the main player.

I had influenza at Christmas, but didn't have a fever, just mild symptoms for a couple of weeks, other family members couldn't get out of bed - I then had a cold before Easter that caused Uvulitis, which is an uncommon symptom, but that was my individual reaction to it.

These are all self limiting infections for most, you just have to weather the storm and will feel better in 10 days or so.

I don’t know if it’s Covid but dds gcse year has been floored with an awful cold /flu. They’ve just been sleeping all the time

What change in your behaviour would knowing if it was covid make? Presumably you won't be mixing with other people as you're so unwell.

As others have said, if you want to know do a test, surely if we've learned one thing from covid it's that you can't diagnose it from the written word

Could be a variant of one of any thousands of cold / flu virus strains

Yes I had this in April and then again 4 weeks later. The exact same symptoms and like nothing Ive ever had before . I rarely get ill and I was confused as to why I had the exact same thing a month apart i obviously didn’t gain any immunity the first time ?

I recently had covid - not sure which variant but tested positive.

Sore throat
Snotty nose
Headache
On and off sweats but no temperature
Waves of utter exhaustion

Lasted about a week. Wasn't deaths door but also not nice.

Stomach problems are included in the new variant symptoms, nausea, constipation and diarrhoea are being listed.

Could be a cold, could be flu, could be Covid. What difference does it make?

I am recovering from 38.5-39 temp, headache that was out of this world, stomach messed up, painful sore throat, nose congested. Tested positive for a COVID so presume new strand. Worse day was last Thursday. Fever broke after two days. Lost smell for about a day. I am now fatigued and have absolutely no appetite.

Also ongoing cough. Was sleeping about fourteen hours a day during worse of it.

I tested positive yesterday and it has totally flooded me. It’s my third bout, and they have all been similar in that they have made my body ache terribly, horrid taste in my mouth, aching head, and painful chest. I’ve been sick this time, and also insane exhaustion and fatigue. Plus chills, sweats etc. it’s different from bad flu, but just as awful. I’ve been very breathless this time round which has been worrying me.
Does knowing it’s Covid matter? It means I will stay away from my elderly dad til I’m better. But also I’m interested that it’s my third time and how similar but slightly different they all are. I had flu only three months ago, so was weirdly comforted it wasn’t that again (although it feels totally different).

It sounds like pneumonia and a chest infection. You need antibiotics. Take large doses of vitamins C, D3 and zinc. Drink a lot of water / herb tea. Gargle saltwater. If you can, rinse your sinuses with warm saltwater. Bed rest. You’ll be better next week.

In the old days we would have called that glandular fever.

Or mono, in America.

"In the old days we would have called that glandular fever.
Or mono, in America."

In the old days attendance was much higher. In all likelihood it is COVID which is definitely going round schools at the moment. Some parents still test their kids before visiting older family and some staff and cleaners have tested positive too.

Just because Covid exists, doesn't mean the old fashioned stuff doesn't!

I feel like COVID could be likely as there has to be less colds and flu as we're not in autumn/ winter.

🤐 Covid is as seasonal as colds and flu are

All cough and cold viruses have essentially the same symptoms. Some people get more serious cases and are at one end down the symptom spectrum, others are affected more mildly, or even have no symptoms at all.

No one can possibly tell you whether you have a particular strain of a particular virus based on a vague list of symptoms. That simply isn’t how any of this works.

What everyone else has said.

And why are people so obsessed with knowing whether they've got covid or not?

If you're really ill, you're really ill. What difference does it make whether it's covid or not?