Day 7 of suspected Covid - worth doing a swab test?

[MrsMummyBx]

I’m on day 7 of my symptoms for suspected Covid 19 and was wondering whether to have a private swab test. If I order it tomorrow it will come on day 9 of my symptoms. Will I still have the virus detectable? I only have a cough and slight sore throat now. It’s £250 so I don’t want to throw money down the drain if the virus won’t show even if I have had it. I’m keen to find out for sure as it will lower my anxiety about going to the supermarket when I need to that I’m not going to get sick as I will have immunity. Question is - will the test still be able to pick up Covid when I’m on day 9? I think the current feeling is that you stop being infectious at day 7 but I don’t know how sensitive the swab test is.

It they don't know yet whether having it give immunity. Especially mild cases. Like chicken pox, although unlikely it is possible to have it twice.

I'm recovering now, day 7. You'll still need to social distance etc at the supermarket. I'm sure I read the tests we're only 70% effective at the moment.

Personally I wouldn't, but I don't have a spare £250

Hi I think I know the website as I ordered the test too. Yes I would definitely order it. You will know and that knowledge is power especially if you have kids. My son first came down with symptoms- GP was very unhelpful. Then my daughter, who has asthma. 111 refused any testing. Then I got it- 3 weeks of awful symptoms (luckily no breathing problems) I ordered the private test. I now know my kids had it and myself. My test tested positive and I tested at the end of my symptoms too. We are now not guessing, neither are we now ridiculed by my husband that it was ‘just a cold’ and I’m being over dramatic to think it was anything else. My GP first put me on antibiotics thinking it was tonsillitis (phone consultation with me sending her a photo of my throat) I now know why the antibiotics did not work. I feel relieved that I just know. Relieved that at least now I know we’ve had it and how our bodies responded to it. That I’m not worrying and scared of catching it because I KNOW we’ve had it and coped. And by the way, those tests were £150 at first but with high demand they put the prices up!! They did that 2 days after I bought mine 😠

Aren’t they fake the ones you can buy online? The only way they can diagnose at the moment is by looking at microbes so if it claims to give you a result at home it’s not real

@Londonmummy00 thank you, glad to hear you’re all recovering. It’s citydoc - is that the one? Did you do yours late onto onset of your symptoms? I will be swabbing on day 9, possibly 10 or 11 depending on how efficient the post is. Totally agree knowledge is power and while I really can’t afford to spend the money, I will do it if I know that it will work when I do it either way!

@Londonmummy00 with chicken pox if you get it again it tends to be worse. And they don't know about immunity.

Its a bonkers amount of money to spend on false security.

Hello yes that’s right citydoc. I thought the test was very genuine and I am glad I did it (although I did pay £150 which is somewhat better than £250!) would I pay to simply have the knowledge I do now for £250... yes.

Breathe less- yes I know absolutely no guarantee I have ANY immunity. I know but I still feel better for knowing I’ve had it and my body coped. I’m hoping if we caught it a second time our reactions would either be the same or much much milder.

For me it lasted all in total 3 weeks, I tested after 2 weeks. The remaining week I just had tiredness and a cough.

As I saw it- I waste SO much money on a day to day basis (in normal times) it’s started to sicken me. Daily Cafe Nero coffees (usually with slices of cake/ croissants) hair, getting crap for kids when I’m just going to pay for petrol at the petrol station, top ups for food at the weekend that consist of do nuts and biscuits. A gym membership I barely use. When’s the last time I purchased something I genuinely needed and that would make a difference rather than just frivolous spending. So for me it was justified. My only other expense at the minute is food so I could do it.

Pointless to do the test 7 days into your symptoms. The level of virus in your system will be too low to be detectable leading to false negative test results

I think I read NHS workers are tested by day 3 for accuracy, you may be wasting money.
I also hope/ suspect I had it and was looking forward to the antibody tests but they were announced then it became clear would not be available as soon as they had hoped. Not sure when they think they might be available now.

@Londonmummy00 thank you, yes I agree I think that test is genuine and totally get what you’re saying about spending on something important - I waste so much money (that I don’t have!) on getting my nails done, going out for lunches and dinners, top ups of food - I’m with you totally!! - that I think it’s worth it - I have ordered it! Good to know that you did it after two weeks, my only symptoms are sore throat and cough and tiredness so let’s hope it works. Out of interest did your DH have one? My DH has horrendous hay fever at present (He has it every year) but did have a bad headache one day and some of the hay fever symptoms are so similar that it’s hard to know where the hay fever ends and possible mild Covid starts but I can’t afford to get him tested too! When the antigen tests eventually come out, I will get us tested and the 2 children.

@pocketem thanks so much for the graphs that is super helpful to have the facts - it looks like if I test on day 10 I’m 75% likely with the nasal and 50% likely with the throat to get a positive if I’ve had the infection. I’ll take those odds - if I test positive then great It’s worked; if I’m negative then it doesn’t mean I haven’t had it but at least I tried!

@scochran thank you, I wasn’t sure when nhs workers got tested - I also wanted the antibody / antigen tests but due to the problems with the batch they ordered goodness knows when they will be available now, which is why I’m keen not to wait indefinitely and would rather take my chances on the test now. I’m just kicking myself I didn’t think of this last week but I think I was still in denial that it could be CV and also not up to thinking of such things! I hope they manage to get the other tests out soon so you can get one - I’m also going to get one for the rest of my family as they are meant to be more affordable (I heard talk of £6) and I certainly can’t afford to spend £250 on 3 other people!!

MrsMummy, I ordered 2 tests one for my husband and 1 for myself. We didn’t do his test. He has displayed no symptoms at all! So he said it waste of a test to test him and best to keep it when and if he does (he has asthma) so he doesn’t want to waste an expensive test. Only now after 6 weeks of this virus in our house he has got a cough. No different to his usual asthma/ hay fever coughs so we are just keeping an eye on him.

I’m glad you ordered the test!! I did it wearing mascara, very big mistake. Wear no make up and just a clean dry face. It makes you want to be sick (gag) and the nose swab will make your eyes tear up so badly and sneeze 10 times in a row! Good luck and let us know how it goes xxx

My best friend had all the symptoms and was tested with a negative result. She works NHS and was told that they suspect she's had it but the virus is mutating so fast that there are a lot of false negatives. I had a test on day 6 of symptoms and was negative - again I was told I probably had it but tested too late to be effective. This was tests done by medical professionals. I really wouldn't be wasting money on online tests. I work in the police and we're receiving daily bulletins about scam tests available online.

@londonmummy00 that’s so interesting re your DH - I find it fascinating that it’s as contagious as it is (pretty sure my mum caught it from me being in same room for 2 minutes and not near each other) but those in same household can be ok! My 2 children thankfully by and large seem ok. I think I will be the litmus test for the family. Thanks for the tip on taking the test - doesn’t sound pleasant at all - I’m dreading it! Haven’t worn makeup in about 3 weeks except for a couple of hours on Easter Day when I was trying to pretend life was normal so should be fine on that score haha. Will keep you posted!xx

Remember how far back you need to go for the swab

That is hideous! I didn't know that was possible.

It was not like that on my test! You do have to go up quite high on the nose but not like that lol

You do if you want the test to be accurate. No point if you are just going to collect the mucus from the front of the nose, you might as well sneeze into a tissue and send that instead

Well I am really not looking forward to this!!!

And if it touches your tongue, the results are void.

Oh why do I keep coming back to this! I feel ill! I had no idea that was possible.!!

It's pointless. The accuracy of the test could well be under 50% - I know three doctors who have been in intensive care with it and two have tested negative (several times).

Also, they recommendation is to test with five days of the first symptoms.

Is testing going to make a difference to you or your family?