Urgh double vaxxed, +ve LFT feeling rough

[BishBashBoshBush]

Waiting for my PCR results. Feeling so rough. Everything aches. I've taken paracetamol and slept most of the day. Feel like I've got the beginning of a cold and feel feverish but can't take my temp as the thermometer broke a while ago.
Urgh urgh urgh. Not really sure why I'm posting really!

I just slept for 12 hours apart from when the dog happily woke me to say hello at 7am.
He's super excited I've got a bed in the spare room, it's his chosen hang out.
I'm on day 5 and think I feel better but I'm wary. The oximeter from Amazon was rubbish. Worth paying more I think.
Should I still be doing lfts? DH is, he's still negative on daily lfts and 2 pcrs.
Turns out the dodgy astra zeneca batch (the one the EU said you couldn't travel on) he got was the best one!

Aww thanks @GiveUsACoffee I had no grand plans for this thread. Just wanted ppl to talk to whilst I was going through the worst of it. I'm really chuffed people are finding it a source of comfort

Hi everyone. Can anyone clear up my confusion around carrying on doing LFT?
I’ve finished 10 days of self-isolation and have been doing daily LFT, all of which have been positive. However the only symptoms I still have are a cough and loss of taste and smell, both of which can apparently last for weeks post-infection without being contagious.
I’ve read so much that I’ve tied myself in knots - is it possible to still test positive on LFT but no longer be contagious - ie the virus is still in me but no longer active?
Presumably the 10-day period is decided upon based on active contagious life of the virus?
DH cooked a lovely dinner last night and I couldn’t taste a single jot of it

@AvonCallingBarksdale T&T called my DH yesterday to check up on him and advised that if the only symptoms after 10 days are cough and lost of taste/smell he is ok to leave isolation. They said that if he had fever, sneezing or runny nose after 10 days then it would mean he is
still infectious so should continue to isolate. I think that means you are good to leave the house! (Note they didn't mention tests but I do know that if you do another pcr test after the 10 days it will likely show you having virus when not infectious anymore which is why the advice is you should not have another pcr test within 30 days of a positive test)

Thanks @breadwidow, that makes sense. Good news for your DH too

I’ve had emails today from Test and Trace for each of my two DC, saying they don’t have to self isolate after tomorrow. I obv get that we have to go back to normal at some point, but the idea that they could just swan back into their holiday clubs when I’m a COVID factory at home seems madness?
Don’t want to derail the thread, but I’d feel much more comfortable if they didn’t pass it on to other kids who may have CEV in their households.
I guess it’s all about making your own judgements now 🤷‍♀️

Yeah, it's madness. The results of that are going to be feeding in just as schools go back too. Cases last year were practically zero but we're heading into the school year with cases as high as they were just before the November lockdown. No masks, no social distancing, no isolation of contacts, a variant that's twice as transmissible as the variants this time last year. We do have vaccines now but there's quite a lot of breakthrough infections (as can be seen from this very thread) so we're setting up the perfect conditions for a vaccine resistant variant and if that happens then tweaking the vaccines isn't necessarily going to result in new antibodies and we could start seeing worse infections in people who've been vaccinated or previously infected (en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_antigenic_sin). It's almost certainly going to be a complete shit show.

I got 2 seemingly contradictory texts from t&t today. One directed to my daughter (the only one of us to be symptom free, though I'm still waiting on get pcr test results) saying she may longer need to isolate after Monday & another to me telling me to continue isolating & (contradictory bit) that 'members of your household must stay home and isolate for 10 days from the day you became unwell'. Practically for us it doesn't matter as even if my daughter can go out as she's only 6 she won't be as everyone else still isolating (my sons ten days are up 2 days before me and DHs but as he's 9 he'll be staying at home til next Friday too)

I agree @QueenStromba, although interestingly the vaccine team at Oxford are saying that, if the virus mutated so effectively that it evaded the vaccines, then it would render itself untransmissible. So they don’t seem concerned about new variants.

@breadwidow same as you, my kids are 8 and 5 so won’t be wandering around. But according to the new guidance, from tomorrow they could go back to the holiday club we booked them into and mix with other kids freely. I think we’ll make our own decision on that and keep them home until we’re both asymptomatic! Getting them to do LFTs is a bloody nightmare.

SAGE thinks vaccine escape due to antigenic drift is almost certain.

"Antigenic drift: A gradual or punctuated accumulation of antigenic variation that eventually
leads to current vaccine failure. Worst case is that this drift combines with significant
antigenic sin (vaccination resulting in an immune response that is dominated by antibodies
to previously experienced viruses/vaccines) meaning that it becomes difficult to
revaccinate to induce antibodies to the new strains. Genetic and antigenic drift are almost
inevitable. Antigenic sin has not yet been reported for SARS-CoV-2 so we consider this
possibility less likely.
Likelihood: Almost certain. Impact: Medium."

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007566/S1335_Long_term_evolution_of_SARS-CoV-2.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiHkvLJrLPyAhUGqaQKHdJ6DSgQFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw174-qYZ6tJ7x5En7JHhouO&cshid=1629041550221" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1007566/S1335_Long_term_evolution_of_SARS-CoV-2.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiHkvLJrLPyAhUGqaQKHdJ6DSgQFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw174-qYZ6tJ7x5En7JHhouO&cshid=1629041550221

But that’s different to the vaccines not working, isn’t it - it just means we need updated versions of the current vaccines, which we already know and which manufacturers have already produced. The idea we’ll need a new one from scratch, because the current ones provide no - or inadequate - protection isn’t likely. I’d be surprised if Sarah Gilbert and SAGE were on different sides on this one.

Got my pulse oximeter! 96%. That's okay right?!

If antigenic sin is a problem then we'll get diminishing returns from updated vaccines and they might not work at all. The vaccines (or previous infection) could even make you more ill when you catch a new variant covid because the immune system gets stuck producing ineffective antibodies instead of producing new more effective antibodies. Worst case scenario is that you become unable to produce effective antibodies against the new variant and the antibodies you are producing actually help the virus to infect immune system cells that it wouldn't normally be able to infect.

@BishBashBoshBush

Got my pulse oximeter! 96%. That's okay right?!

Yeah, completely fine. If it drops to 94 or below for extended periods (i.e. more than just a brief blip before rising again) then ring 111. If you get a reading of 92 or below then test again straight away and if still 92 or below call 999 or go to A&E.

@BishBashBoshBush yeah mine was 97/98 and the doctor was really happy with that

Ladies what should I do about the vaccine once I'm recovered ? Do you have antibodies for 6 months , does that mean I could not catch it again for sure. I'm due baby early Nov late October more likely x
So many people on her dbl vaxxed and feel like shit too??

@mrssunshinexxx wait till you've had your baby; the situation may (hopefully) look very different by then.
People retain antibodies for at least six months after natural infection, but there are also other layers and types of immune protection: t-cells among them. It's perfectly possibly, and not unlikely, that having Covid once will give the vast majority of people lifelong immunity (a bit like chicken-pox, where reinfection is extremely rare).
Just because antibodies may fade after 6-9 months, does not mean that you no longer have any natural immune protection against Covid reinfection. You've no need to worry for now.

@HBGKC thanks v much

Quick update. In a&e since 12. They are admitting me at least overnight but no beds. Hospital has no beds and massive staff absences. My breathing is OK at rest but I have multiple health conditions and exhausted.

Oh cat, hope you'll be OK . Sending love and support.

Thanks piggy.
Queenstromba. I presume you mean well but those posts are terrifying and perhaps a support thread not the right one

Agree @CatAlice re @QueenStromba (plus id like to see the links too as I've not seen this mentioned much in the media - the one you posted doesn't work for me - there is stuff on vaccine evading variants but seems a bit more positive with current vaccines providing some protection & it being about updating our vaccines ASAP eg https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/new-covid-variants-will-set-us-back-a-year-experts-warn-uk-government?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other)

Sending you best wishes @CatAlice - really hope you are on the mend soon and don't have to stay in hospital too long

Hopefully just one night of help will send you on your way home @CatAlice thinking of you x

@CatAlice take care and hope you are feeling better very soon

I’ve been following this thread and wish you all well and the swiftest possible recovery

I’ve also followed Bubbublish thread with her hospital stay etc. She seemed to be improving. Why has it disappeared this evening? I’m sure it was up this morning when I checked her progress?