Negative home test but racking, wet cough

[AquaFaba]

Sorry to ask, but am feeling very sorry for myself.
For the past two weeks, I have had a persistent cough. My husband started coughing three days after me.

We both sent off for the NHS home Covid test and the results for us came back negative.
We have no other symptoms, just a persistent, phlegmy cough and find it hard to breathe cleanly without a ‘rattle’. Lying down at night is horrible as the phlegm just gets worse and we both have hacking coughs. It’s hard to cough up the phlegm - we just end up coughing.

Not sure what to think as the tests came back negative. I guess it’s just a summer
cold?

Get another test

The Covid cough is typically really dry. No phlem. It sounds a lot like you may have a chest infection, probs worth a shout to your GP!

Doesn't sound anything like the cough I had when I had it. It was very dry and deep down, very painful. It was absolutely not wet in the slightest. I started wheezing slightly after about a week and had lung pain. It was very distinctively different from anything I've ever had before.

This just sounds like a chest infection, and don't forget all the usual illnesses are still going round.

The government will not release the data of range in which the tests are faulty. There have been news articles stating that tests have been found to be faulty and giving out false negatives

If you had to do the test yourself then it’s possible you didn’t swab the right area. From what I’ve heard it’s quite hard to do it to yourself

Other illnesses still exist. People had phlegmy coughs before covid even existed. Not every cough is covid. In fact less than 1% of tests carried out are positive, so quite a lot of people have covid symptoms which aren't covid.

Hope you feel better soon.

@KitKatastrophe

Other illnesses still exist. People had phlegmy coughs before covid even existed. Not every cough is covid. In fact less than 1% of tests carried out are positive, so quite a lot of people have covid symptoms which aren't covid.

Hope you feel better soon.

This ^ I am in the US and everyone I know who has had a test has had a “false” result. It is far more likely to be one of the myriad of viruses we see year in year out. Be considerate and all is good.

The covid cough is really dry. My DD had a chest infection in December which had a wet, productive cough. We also had covid, but the cough is completely dry. I had the cough for a good three months, no phlegm at all. So it does sound like another respiratory infection.

I thought the Covid cough was dry, not phlegmy. There are still other illnesses about.

That sounds as if you have a different type of infection? COVID generally is a very dry cough?

Sounds more like bronchitis, see a GP.

Thanks all; very much appreciated

It's possible you both had false negatives, 30% of them are. But it's probably too late for you to try testing again if you've been coughing for a fortnight, tests aren't recommended more than 5 days after symptoms appear.

Are you both isolating?

Other illnesses still exist. People had phlegmy coughs before covid even existed. Not every cough is covid. In fact less than 1% of tests carried out are positive, so quite a lot of people have covid symptoms which aren't covid

This. And the rate of infection in some areas is so low, the chances of your symptoms being from another illness are very high indeed. Where I live I'd have to go 20-30 minutes drive away to get to an area which has had more than 0-2 positive tests in the last week, and even then it's only 3-5 and one of the places has over 100,000 residents.

I know people are thinking they're social distancing and wearing a mask so how the heck have they got anything at all, but I guess you just do!