Think I have new strain of virus

[lifebytheby]

Has anyone in London/the south east had this new strain of Covid? I think I have it.

Feel very flu-y. Headache, achy muscles, tired, cough, sore throat, chest feels heavy and I'm breathing slowly.

I'm isolating and waiting for home test which I ordered off the gov website yesterday.

My colleague tested negative with exactly the same symptoms as me, headache and tiredness. I tested positive. You just can't tell which is why you need a test

The new strain is the same virus with the same symptoms. The difference is that it appears to spread much quicker. The science says that it doesn’t appear to be a more serious strain or less likely to be covered by the vaccine.

It was always known there were more symptoms. In the UK we went with the three as a way to identify who needed to test because it was felt it was unlikely that people would be positive with other symptoms and not also have one of the three.

I had headache, nausea, runny nose, sore throat, but I also had a slight cough. I did get a temperature and loss of smell too but not until several days in, which is concerning because I really did have only a very slight tickly cough when I tested positive.

I had none of the 3 "main symptoms"

@treening

The headache is fairly new and I've heard loads of people talking about having a really bad headache that painkillers didn't touch. I think it is a new symptom and it's a symptom of the new strain.

Incorrect. Loads of people I know who tested positive in May and June had a terrible headache.

Please don't speculate.

I'm not speculating. From the beginning of lockdown in March I worked on a booking team for covid tests and we had to record symptoms. People were not reporting headaches.

They were reporting loss of smell/taste back in March and we asked for it to be added as a symptom but the managers said no, government didn't accept it. Obviously now they do. But the point is there was a lot of that reported but hardly any headaches.

Now there are a lot of headaches reported which is coinciding with the emergence of the new strain.

And indeed the chap from Track and Trace said there were lots of people testing positive that were reporting headache and exhaustion as their main symptoms

Thanks for being a twat. I'm not on social media.

You're on social media right now:
Mumsnet

@titchy

Thanks for being a twat. I'm not on social media.

You're on social media right now:
Mumsnet

I’m glad someone else though that!

@Parker231

The new strain is the same virus with the same symptoms. The difference is that it appears to spread much quicker. The science says that it doesn’t appear to be a more serious strain or less likely to be covered by the vaccine.

That's my understanding too.

@MrsBrunch

The headache was not a symptom of the original virus. It was cough and/or temperature and then they added loss of smell and taste.

The headache is fairly new and I've heard loads of people talking about having a really bad headache that painkillers didn't touch. I think it is a new symptom and it's a symptom of the new strain.

No, covid has many symptoms. The three main ones are most common but headaches are also a very common covid symptom. The new strain has the same symptoms as the existing strain.

From the beginning of lockdown in March I worked on a booking team for covid tests and we had to record symptoms. People were not reporting headaches.

So did one of my friends and she says headaches were a commonly reported symptom.

😂

My cousin in California got covid start at September (lab-confirmed). Said the cough was mild & headache & fatigue were main symptoms. I have known her to generally get wiped out by mild bugs, mind. No fever or anosmia. She was able to work again about 4 weeks later.

From Zoe App. Note date = 1 April. Headache is right up there near top of list.

@Kissthepastrychef that’s really interesting ! I had covid a few weeks ago and my symptoms were runny nose, loss of taste and smell, headache, tight chest, severe nausea and unquenchable thirst.

I wonder why our symptom list is not the same... I carried on as normal with the runny nose and headache and then ordered a test on day three when I lost my taste and smell.... surely not having a comprehensive list of symptoms is contributing to the spread.
As I was travelling by bus for those two days before I suspected it was covid.

Having a headache isn't new at all, people have been reporting having a terrible headache for months, you can probably search and find loads of posts about it

There was something odd my cousin said on Facebook .. I can't remember what, but it was to the effect that she hadn't heard of X important thing about covid until March. So why wasn't it known about any sooner, she genuinely asked.

A bunch of us on Facebook literally supplied a dozen news stories links showing that X thing had been publicised as early as early January. It's funny how much we think we're on top of information but may not be at all.

Ok people let's be nice to someone Ill eh?

The new strain has same symptoms. But it's tested through genomic sequencing.

The issue isn't the different symptoms it's that the government still insists on saying the 3 main symptoms of cough, temp and loss of taste and smell.

I had headache, painful muscles, painful chest, temp, loss of smell and a sore throat like no other.

Hope you feel better in time for Christmas.

Teaga I had the thirst too. My ds suffers low blood sugar related to his condition and I even tested my blood sugar thinking I could be developing diabetes.

Sorry but you can't say you had covid before if you didn't get tested. Granted it was January but you can't be sure it was that.

So not everyone gets the ''no taste or smell'' symptoms then?

@MrsBrunch. Has it not occurred to you that people were reporting the symptoms they needed to, to get the test?

Headaches have been a symptom from the beginning.

Could be a cold, the flu or covid19. You can’t know for sure.

@itsgettingweird yep I was convinced I was getting diabetes aswell... that scared me more than covid as my ‘typical’ covid symptoms weren’t too bad. It was the headache, thirst and nausea that was horrible.... all my skin dried out and my lips all cracked.... it was really odd