Can you refuse throat swab and have extra nasal swabbing instead?

[NeuroticKindofNormal]

I'm sure I'll get a brutal roasting here but anyway, I'm braving it.

There is not a single chance anyone would be able to get near me with a throat swab. I'd need sedating into a stupor, a GA maybe.

I grew up in a country that routinely swabs sore throats. I had a lot of sore throats. Memories of being held down kicking and screaming by doctors and nurses.

My gag reflex is awful, I can't even cope with the wooden stick doctors use in your mouth to help when you say 'ahhhh' so they can look in. I learned quick to get my tongue right down to avoid that one.

I'm also VERY emetophobic so even without the childhood swab trauma I'd be shitting myself about anything that could make me gag.

I realise this all sounds ridiculous, and it is I suppose, but phobias aren't rational, and here we are. I'm far more terrified of a test than I am actually getting the virus.

Shove a swab in any other orifice- I don't care. Take my blood, take a biopsy, do anything you like just don't try and put things in my mouth 😫🙈

So yeah, can you insist on just having the nasal thing? I work in a secondary school, it's only a matter of time before I end up needing to be tested, and I'm losing sleep over it.

(I'm pretty sure I read on here that the nasal swab can make you gag too- if you are about to leap on here to point that out, please don't! Ignorance is bliss and right now I feel like I could absolutely cope with a nasal swab).

Dh has routine testing at work every week and it is just the nostrils.

If you use the government's testing service, you'll be self-administering your test so you won't need to 'refuse' as such. Just be aware that if the sample on the swab is insufficient you may get an inconclusive result and had to re-test.

Best of luck. I hated doing my tonsils even without a background of trauma - nearly threw up all over the test . Thankfully the test was negative.

I hear you OP. Actually vomited first time I did the test. It's 10-15 seconds at the back of your throat... Gag.
Recently DD and I both needed a test and her test said she could do nose only. not sure why it would be the case for kids not adults, other than the practical difficulties of getting a good swab on a kid.

@ceeveebee

I couldn’t get my DD to let me do the throat swab, she was gagging and crying and so I just did both nostrils and test results came back fine (ie negative, rather than “inconclusive” which is what I’d feared)

Same here.

I think Covid I know to be harboured in the tonsils so if you can do them I would- but the test is easily invalidated by touching teeth or tongue - which is easily done I you’re likely to gag- I’d do nostrils on balance-

God i hate the nose swabs, the throat im getting a bit better about. Get tested every week at work and still not used to it.

I have no tonsils, so they do it were my tonsils were.

Does anyone know if nasal polyps would interfere with the nasal swab? My DS10 has them and refuses treatment I've tried spraying him when he asleep and he wakes up feeling sick.

We have excused him from the flu squirt for 2years as the idea of it makes him retch let alone the reality, last time he aa sjck afterwards.

He has never managed a dentists visit as the smell makes him sick - literally all over the pavement before we go in and the idea of him having something down hi throat is so far fetched I've no idea what we will do.

If the polyps are only in one nostril he will be fine because you only test in one, not both.

Has he never been seen by a dentist at all?

Well he has been seen in the car park twice but not with mirrors or instruments.

I took both children with me from 18 months old every 6 months. It's one of the things I feel I have failed at as a mother. He reacts the same if we have to see a GP, last year she was amazing and saw him in the car park too!

Thanks for the info on polyps.

What a sympathetic bunch.

I think you need to grow up, it’s a cotton bud in your mouth for minimal time.

Marpan I have had the test. It was fine, uncomfortable but not painful and I didn't vomit or anything.
But some people do have strong gag reflexes, so I imagine some people will vomit if the have to tickle the back of their throat for 15 seconds (actually dh got around this by doing it for a couple of seconds multiple times).
The swab is no good if it has vomit on it (you would have to request a new one).

I think it is simplistic to think that people can always control a gag reflex... it's not a matter of merely "growing up" its an involuntary physical reaction.

@Marpan

What a sympathetic bunch.

I think you need to grow up, it’s a cotton bud in your mouth for minimal time.

I'm amazed this has been the only response telling me to grow up etc to be fair.

I get it, it sounds truly pathetic, but people have phobias of all kinds of irrational things and just because you KNOW you are being silly about it unfortunately doesn't dampen the very real fear.

I promise I'm not a baby generally, nor particularly adverse to discomfort or pain for the greater good. If someone told me I had a choice to either have a throat swab or, say, have my wrist broken, I'd go for the broken wrist. Obviously that's completely bonkers because as you say, it's just a cotton swab for a few seconds, but I guess the human brain is a complex thing and early bad experiences can leave very deep scars.

I have posted on a previous thread about this. I had to have a test recently and they did throat and nose. I gagged so much on the throat i nearly vomited. And she tried about 6/7 times. My eyes were streaming down my face and it was absolutely horrible. I came home and said to my DH that I'm never having that done again. That was a drive through test centre. Awful experience. Would totally put me off having one again even if I needed one

OMG @smartiecake, even with my weirdness aside, I think it takes a lot of courage to go through that so many times when you were struggling, I tip my hat to you.

Did they insist?

I must admit that after my childhood experiences my blood runs cold reading about bad experiences children have.

Yes I was going into hospital so had to have it done before I could be seen as a day patient for a routine procedure. It was vile

So can someone with the knowledge confirm that a swab of both nostrils will suffice and no throat swab needed?

Ugh, the though of it makes me feel ill. But look thousands have had it done and survived the process, so if I ever had to have it done I'd do it, but they better have a sick back beside them for their own protection.

Thought I'd follow this up as I had to have a test this week 😱

Went to a walk in centre. Embarrassed myself by explaining to the woman on 'the desk' that there was zero chance of getting near my tonsils without a dart gun. She was kind but mildly exasperated and warned I may get an inconclusive result.

I did the most thorough and prolonged job of both nostrils that could possibly be done. It wasn't comfortable and my eyes streamed like crazy but it was absolutely fine and I'd not be concerned at all about doing it again.

Negative result successfully received.

Unfortunately, after seeing my eyes water etc my DC with me was having none of it when it came to his turn. Ended up having a piss poor swab of both nostrils (no throat for him either as he gags on toothpaste and frankly it would have been highly hypocritical of me to ignore his protests on that front). Was convinced he'd for sure have an inconclusive result but nope, negative result for him too.

Hope my experience is of some comfort to others who might be fretting. It was fine.

@NeuroticKindofNormal

Thank you, that is very reassuring, thank you for coming back and updating

Thank you so much for your post, I thought I was the only one. I did the test today, before reading this, and after multiple attempts by me and then by my husband, I couldn't do it. I just kept gagging so badly. So I just did the nostril one. If it comes back inconclusive I'll do both nostrils.
I'm amazed at how kind everyone has been, thank you everyone, it means a lot to people like me.

Might still be too much for you, but for others I found sneaking the swab down the side and tickling a tonsil for a second then the other side and building up ten seconds that way. I was as very thorough with both nostrils.

Also my nasal swab avoider managed two swabs in school. Either that or has bribed a pal to impersonate them.

@NeuroticKindofNormal
I’m a teacher (in Primary though) and our weekly tests are just swabs, no throat swabbing at all. I have a sensitive gag reflex so was dreading it, but was very relieved when it was just the nose. It does make your nose feel “fizzy” and your eyes water a bit, but definitely doesn’t make you gag.

@Ginfordinner

They already have saliva tests in the US, so I don't understand why we dont.

We do have a saliva test, but it isn't currently used widely. It's due to be rolled out for mass testing in Hampshire at some point soon.

I think that's fair enough, OP. I had a throat swab done at a hospital a few months back and it was a breeze, but then came to doing one at home and found it impossible to get past my tongue. DP did it for me in the end but he also said he couldn't avoid touching the tongue, which risks it being void.

After that I'm really not sure what I'd do next time as I was only expecting it to be a bit unpleasant - not near impossible to do properly!