I have gone nuts and paid someone to come to my house and do an antibody test on us

[LaurieFairyCake]

Can't take anymore not knowing so I've paid £260 to bike out a test from a lab and wait while we stab ourselves and return our blood to the lab

Dh thinks I've gone a bit batshit but I couldn't take anymore

Disclaimer : it won't affect my behaviour in line with current government guidelines

There appears to be a lot (and growing number) of people commenting that they thought they had this at Christmas or January, ignoring there are other viruses circulating all the time....

There will be lots of disappointed people when they get negative results. Hopefully some aren't going out and about thinking they have already had it?

@LaurieFairyCake I understand your thinking about immunity and my guts tells me the same but the evidence is not there yet to support that. I guess we know so little about this virus.

Take your point about the longer after symptoms the more antibodies.

Possibly a false negative. Your test results will tell the fuller story.

I think if people are convinced they had it then it’s important they know they didn’t. I know op says it wouldn’t affect her behaviour but some people could have a false sense of security.

I thought I might have had it (before all the mumsnet threads) as the cough was horrible and I haven’t been ill for ten years. So many people had it it was weird. Having said that, I do think the hospitals/medics would have Identified an unusual pattern much earlier so I do have an open mind.

Possibly a false negative. Your test results will tell the fuller story

Abbot claims 100% sensitivity - based on testing a lot of people who have had positive swab tests and then testing them later for antibodies.

I saw this thread and meant to post a few days ago. Not everyone can milk their fingers. I can’t, tried for other tests. I ended up going to hospital to get blood taken. Obviously that won’t work atm. Sorry your dh is negative.

Yes, it wouldn't have affected my behaviour but it would absolutely have affected our feelings

Dh gets very annoyed when he creates a 2 metre gap between him and someone else and then someone walks through the bloody gap! It happened a dozen times on Friday (we're in south London so it's busy, hundreds WERE doing social distancing properly)

I feel on edge too all the time and I would very like to have started to feel not on edge every bloody time I leave the house

@LaurieFairyCake

Maybe try to look at it from a more positive angle - your DH has been in a situation where he is surrounded by people in an environment where Covid-19 is "rife" (confirmed with testing?), yet he didn't catch it. Maybe he's just not susceptible to this virus?

I'm in the ward with the most deaths (also south London). It seems that there's a company offering the test at cost for NHS staff (£50) which I'm very tempted by. I work on a psychiatric ward where social distancing is impossible. I also have asthma!

Interesting article on antibody testing here

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/10/can-antibody-testing-deliver-on-promises-to-lift-the-lockdown

How do you know how reliable these tests are?
I thought the Roche ones from France were showing as being the most accurate but these are not available yet?

How do you know how reliable these tests are

There's a data sheet from Abbot.

Reliability and accuracy are not the best words to use here - the best words are sensitivity and specificity.

Following this with great interest !

Place marking with interest , it is very interesting that you think you had the symptoms around Christmas as so many people have been saying the same.
I wish I could afford to take a test as I would love to know if I had it in March.

Antibodies do fade over time and are then reactivated if you "see" the virus again. Having said that, so many viruses circulating in the winter, including other coronaviruses (& flu) with similar symptoms, it's likely that a lot of people who think they had it, didn't.

@LaurieFairyCake I hear you. South London here too. I most struck by people who seem to think an hour exercise is compulsory. On walk this week I saw sooo many people really really struggling running. They were soooo exhausted they could not swerve to create 2m distance as they pass those on a walk.

Very interested to find out your results @Lauriefairycake
Hope it's the answer that you need

I can understand you anxiety it can feel all consuming at times for many of us.

I think for many the more you are at risk everyday the less anxious you do become. We were all highly anxious at work (work in mh it’s impossible to socially distance) late February and through March but as time has gone on and we have dealt with it less so. We are at risk at work i can’t do nothing to change that just minimise that.

I haven’t felt great for weeks but I think that is more stress related. We also have staff off with stress related illnesses but no covid symptoms. When anxious I convince myself that cough I have or those chest pains are covid but they were fleeting and ordinary times I wouldn’t have given them a second thought.

It’s all been a very stressful and anxious time for many. We are looking for answers and trying to make connections as the not knowing is fuelling anxious feelings. I look to the science rather than opinions from journalists. The understanding of this virus is changing as it’s so new that can be both comforting and at times anxiety inducing- the unanswered questions are worrying but are they mine (as can get carried away with this) or the scientists. I keep telling myself about the numbers we don’t really hear about and they far far outweigh the numbers we do hear about.

Some form of normality in all our lives I think will help too

Yes, I deal with clients every day whose anxiety is all consuming

It would have been great to reassure them that I've had the virus

We have been told by GP and Hospital docs that we have had it. Bizarrely no antibody test done when DP went to hospital for tests to check for long term damage. He is 99% sure he has had it. I'm about 50/50. The symptoms aligned but also we had a link to Northern Italy at the key time.

DP so convinced he has had it he would not bother with a test. I am not so convinced and so would take antibody test if offered. Interestingly I can see a difference in our behaviour. I get irritated when runners get too close and he is relaxed. I act like someone who can still get it (anxious) and he doesn't. He still adheres to the rules but he is way more relaxed. I envy him that.

Thanks for the Guardian link. That’s was very informative

Anyone used this company? £99? Genuine or internet spam? Anyone else let me know which company they've used and actually received a result. www.privatecoronavirustests.com
@LaurieFairyCake Which company did you use?

Yes, used that one

Still no results for me

Is there any way of telling that the test is a legitimate Abbot one? The website name makes it look like a quick start up, and there is little information on the company behind it. Why would they be the first ones to get the test?

I'm quite tempted, but also wondering I should wait a couple of weeks for the Roche test to become mainstream.

I read in the news today that the public will be able to get them from Boots in a matter of weeks.

Following with interest.