Confirmed cases - how did your symptoms start?

[Sassenach85]

Just interested about your first symptoms looking back before your illness x

Currently positive confirmed by test.

It started with mild nausea, the next day swollen glands in my neck and a feeling of my throat being constricted which I thought were allergies. I then developed (tmi sorry) thrush, then nasal congestion with a runny nose and sneezing. Some mild gastrointestinal upset. Feeling generally a bit tired. Strange vivid dreams.

So no fever? Cough or loss of taste? What made you get tested? I have what feels like a cold starting and my throat feels swollen or bruised. But nothing to say I should get tested

No fever, no cough and no loss of taste no. I have none of the main symptoms.

I got tested because a kind MNer pointed out that the throat symptom could indicate covid and suggested I get tested. Initially we were querying whether it was just allergies.

When I called to ask for a home testing kit they asked if I had symptoms and I said yes, because I did have - just not the most common ones.

Cold symptoms can also be covid which I didn't realise until it happened to me.

I would get tested if I were you just to rule it out.

Hmmm I feel like I’m totally over reacting but feel unsure. Were they happy to test you despite the main symptoms being absent?

They didn't actually ask me what my symptoms were, just whether I had symptoms at all.

It's always worth checking just to be on the safe side. I didn't think there was any chance of mine being positive so I was quite shocked.

The Monday evening I had a sore throat like when you swallow it's like razor blades and a sore head. Woke up Tuesday absolutely fine all day. Woke up the Wednesday with a sore throat and head then as the day progressed I was really tired, body was aching then fever started to shoot up. Was in bed shivering uncontrollably and sweating, had really sore joints, in between my knuckles was agony. I had absolutely no cough the whole time, not once. I was really breathless starting on day three and was really sore breathing in and out. Around day five my sense of smell and taste completely disappeared for around three weeks. That was actually the longest symptom I had.

Mine started with a sore throat but not like a normal one like someone punched me in the throat and a weird chest / diaphragm sensation then gradually progressing to cough, breathlessness, sore lungs and exhustion.
I never had a temp or loss of taste and smell.

Thanks for the replies. I’ve had a sore throat since March but never felt unwell with it. I get a sore throat if I’m run down or stressed. But this time I feel like I’m getting the cold, bit achy. Just seems madness to assume Covid but the whole thing is mad anyway.... interesting the sore throat has popped up

There’s a list of 19 symptoms to look for on the Zoe app. I’ll post it in a second.

I very often have headaches and sore throats so I spend a lot of time going “is this it?”. I think winter is going to be fun

I feel like I've made it up, I can't find it, it was definitely there on the app last week!!

It was things like
Sore Eyes
Skin Rash

Really odd but quite specific stuff.

Did any one have a missed period while positive with covid? Mine is late so I wondered if it was because I'm ill.

My first symptom was the worst headache I’ve ever had and awful eye pain - it hurt to move my eyes.

Then I had aches and fatigue and lost smell and taste. I had chills and my fingers went numb. I had dizziness and was confused and foggy.

I never had a cough or a temperature.

I have had an antibody test confirmed positive.

@Littlepond that’s so interesting about the headache - I had something which started like that: awful headache, hurt to move eyes, breathlessness which turned into worst fever of my life. I was about 8 months pregnant, was in hospital for days. This was late August though...it couldn’t have been right?! They did every test going and all came back positive. I had Professors coming in and stroking their beards. They gave me antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals...was so weird. I am sure it can’t of been covid that early, but I was working with some children who had just come back from China..

@EvilPea

I feel like I've made it up, I can't find it, it was definitely there on the app last week!!

It was things like
Sore Eyes
Skin Rash

Really odd but quite specific stuff.

You definitely didn't make it up! I think I've found the list you were looking for, the 19 symptoms to look out for mentioned on the Zoe app - it's a bit hidden in the middle of this article:

covid.joinzoe.com/post/tips-covid-safety
no.4 in '7 things to know to keep safe as lockdown eases'

Just to say, I would have posted the list of possible symptoms from the Zoe app article here, but couldn't copy and paste
to here. Perhaps someone else could?

@rachel993
Thank you!!! I was starting to think I was bonkers!!

So the list:
The UK Government has only officially stated that there are three symptoms of COVID-19; fever, persistent cough and loss of smell and taste (anosmia). But did you know that according to the research from the COVID Symptom Study we have identified 19 symptoms related to COVID-19? This seems like a lot, but it’s important to know all the potential symptoms because if you or someone you know is experiencing any of these it might mean you or they have COVID and therefore need to stay at home.

The most important are those that often occur in the first two days, which can be confused with other causes. These include headache, sore throat and muscle pains. The classical NHS approved symptoms typically occur at days 3-4 although there is wide variation. The full list of symptoms are (in rough order of how predictive they are of the disease):

Loss of smell/taste
Persistent cough
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Skin rash
Hives
Fever
Severe muscle pain
Shortness of breath
Diarrhoea
Delirium
Abdominal pain
Chest pain
Hoarse voice
Eye soreness
Sore or painful throat
Nausea or vomiting
Headache
Dizziness or light headedness

It’s a bit like when you are trying for a baby and although the Nhs have listed symptoms it’s always nice to hear from other mums and their experiences as it paints a bigger picture. Although I’m certainly not trying to get Coronavirus! Lol. Hope anyone ill just now is better soon x

Thanks for the list!

Loss of smell/taste
Persistent cough
Fatigue
Loss of appetite
Skin rash
Hives
Fever
Severe muscle pain
Shortness of breath
Diarrhoea
Delirium
Abdominal pain
Chest pain
Hoarse voice
Eye soreness
Sore or painful throat
Nausea or vomiting
Headache
Dizziness or light headedness

Oops sorry to double up!

@nic90

Did any one have a missed period while positive with covid? Mine is late so I wondered if it was because I'm ill.

Yes me, I'm very late (and definitely not pregnant)

@Watermama

Mine started with a sore throat but not like a normal one like someone punched me in the throat and a weird chest / diaphragm sensation then gradually progressing to cough, breathlessness, sore lungs and exhustion. I never had a temp or loss of taste and smell.

Mine started just exactly like this .

Other random symptoms were: mild tummy upset, night sweats , optic migraines, stiff neck, messed up cycle.

Are you logging symptoms through the Zoe app?

The past few days I've also had that cold is coming feeling, tired, that weird stuffy feeling in nose and dry throat.. Pre-Covid I obviously wouldn't think it was anything other than a cold but now I am obviously thinking it's Covid! Partly because hardly anyone has colds at the moment so where would I have got it from?!

But anyway, my point is that the app sent me a link to book a test based on these symptoms so I've got one ready to do tomorrow.

No I’m too scared to entertain the idea that my simple cold symptoms could be this virus.... will you let me know how you get on? I’m not sure if it’s a drive through where I live or if they send you one to your home.

I know what you mean.. Though I think I'm more anxious over the what if! I'm trying to tell myself that of course it's just a cold/being run down and I know I will feel so relieved to have that confirmed. But then also conversely trying to reassure myself that if it is positive, then if it doesn't progress into anything more, it is hopefully a minor case and then at least it's over with (at least for a while!).

I was also trying to reassure myself by looking at the % of positive tests over the past couple of days - think it was 0.4% yesterday and 0.5% today.

So basically, I'm a bit of an overthinker so I think I'll feel a lot better when I know for certain 😂

Yes, of course, will let you know.