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

Any news OP?

It's a shame you can't just decant a mooncup!

"it's a shame you can't just decant a mooncup.."

LOLLLLL

😹😹😹😹

@haget I struggled, too. Make sure you're standing. Hold your hand so the fingers are pointing down. My pinkies were both bone dry, so try other fingers. If the blood dries up, work your hand to get the blood flowing again and 'milk' the finger downward. Good luck!

I’ve finally ordered the£49 one- this is putting me off as I’m not good with blood!! It should arrive tomorrow so will have a stab at it (sorry couldn’t resist)

I found the most difficult part to be getting up the nerve to prick myself. Once I did it, it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd anticipated!

I went with the ring finger first got quite a bit out but not enough blood to fill up the tube. I then stuck my pinky this one hurt a little bit more but a lot came out. I filled the tube and then had to actually stop the bleeding with the gauze provided.

I would do it again for sure as it was much easier and less painful than I'd expected once I actually got up the courage! I much preferred it to getting a blood draw by a doctor. The pain was minimal and once the actual prick was over I was so focused on filling the tube that I wasn't really thinking about it. Fingers were slightly bruised/sore for a day but really didn't bother me.

I did follow advice to wash my hands with warm water and did some light exercise (jogging up/down the stairs and in place for a bit) just before I did it to get the blood flowing. No idea if this actually helped.

DH did his test, first stab didn’t bleed much so he had to do another, but that bled a lot, thankfully. Test has been posted and we await results. I think almost certainly will be negative due to the timing ( late Feb).

Thank for the tips everyone, I'm going to try and do a little bit of exercise first with tomorrow's test. I did the warm hands, arms down and squeezed hands and fingers etc this time but I do sometimes get low blood pressure so I'm guessing that doesn't help.

The mooncup comment made me laugh 😂

Did op ever get their robot vac? 🤔

Exercising before doing it definitely helps - a couple of times up and down stairs warmed me up. Then hands and wrists under the hot tap for half a minute. If it looks like drying up, wiping it over hard with some gauze should get it going again. Also, give the vessels time to refill after squeezing, don't just keep milking it.

I did mine this morning, so I'll hopefully get a result before the weekend.

Hi, I've read the thread but may have missed it. Are any of these companies saying how long after having symptoms the antibody tests are useful for?

I know you have to wait a certain time after infection but remember reading that Surescreen, for example, said their antibody test was only good for about a month after as antibodies then become undetectable.

I was symptomatic in early/mid March so is it too late for a test to pick up antibodies? (I did read the £49 test website but couldn't see anything - wondered if it was in the smallprint.)

I had symptoms mid March (as did 2 of my children) just before lockdown, I'm hoping it won't be too late for the antibody test now. I'll let you know my results if I ever manage to get enough blood out!

Can anyone clever explain why the treated.com one do a credit check when you buy one of their antibody tests? I was about to order one and then spotted that

@LatinforTelly
The directions that came with mine said no less than 14 days following the start of symptoms. There was no upper limit. How long you may still have antibodies after infection is still a big unknown generally, which is probably why.

@inforapennyinforapug I wonder if it's something to do with confirming your identity. When I first ordered I got an email a while later to say I passed the ID check.

@inforapennyinforapug also nothing has appeared on my credit file, I just checked, not sure how long it takes to show though.

That’s strange! Are you only paying on receipt of the results or something?

I've been trying to post on here for a week but I had a Mumsnet ban for calling someone a Bad Name.

Anyway, I'm not sure if this is any help to anyone but will post in case it is.
I ordered my test last Tuesday, it arrived on Thursday (I sent it off an hour later) and got the results 10pm Sunday night. Negative. Gutted.

My kids were extremely unwell in feb, and I had was a very tight painful chest and shortness of breath. But clearly not covid. My kids were so ill (10 days apart) that both were hospitalised, one tested for viral meningitis (negative).
So it will be very interesting to see if theirs was just flu and incredibly coincidental timing.

I did DS's today and he fainted. Turns out he doesn't like the sight of blood, we both found out today.
The middle DC heads all the commotion and is now refusing to test. 🙄

I got my test result this evening (posted it back last Wednesday). Abbott test from same place as the Op. Based on symptoms including temperature, upset stomach, aches, shivers and extreme fatigue for about 12 days in mid March.
Results were negative. Am disappointed but glad I know for sure. DH works in a hospital every day and hasn’t been tested yet. We needed to know and were happy to pay to find out.

Has ANYONE on the thread come back positive yet? With any kit?

Update for me as well -- ordered the abbott test from one of the big companies on bank holiday Friday (8/5), it arrived the following Thursday 14/5. Per the instructions I posted it before noon on Friday 15/5. Results just received via email.

I thought this was fairly quick given it was all done by post. Results were negative. I was really poorly in Jan, so did think it was unlikely but wanted to know for sure as I'd just returned from a lot of international travel. At least I know!

It was definitely worth the £99 for me, don't regret it at all.

HowFurloughCanYouGo Welcome back

Weird that nobody is positive yet.
I think my DH probably had flu, although he had Covid symptoms. I don’t know how long we will have to wait for results, a week maybe.

Weird that nobody is positive yet.

Very odd out of all this number with symptoms. It could be that the timing is wrong, or that the tests aren't as effective as we hope, or that people who have had Covid don't always produce antibodies so aren't necessarily then immune. That would not be good news.

Yes we are assuming that those who have had Covid all develop antibodies.