Negative lft but feel like shit

[covidcontact]

My mom tested positive this morning on a lateral flow. I was with her News years day (I think she probably caught it while in the pub nhs)
Anyway, I feel crap today, bad headache and achey legs. Throat is abit funny. Just tested negative! Do I need to keep testing everyday ? My sis has tested negative this morning she has a sore throat and lives at home with my mom.

My first inkling was a headache, I dont normally get them and it felt different to the ones I would get when I do actually get them. PCR was positive, currently isolating!

I’m in a similar situation.

Every single person that I spent Christmas with has tested positive, including DP, I started to feel off it last Friday, and have been doing LFT’s since then, all negative. Went for PCR last night, still awaiting results.

Went to bed last night, not too bad, woke at 2am freezing but sweating, throat like swallowing razor blades, streaming nose, and awful fuzzy head.

I feel quite awful right now. One minute I’m freezing cold, seconds later I’m melting. But not hot to touch.

Hopefully PCR will come back soon.

A family member came to my house on Boxing Day complaining of a head ache. I just knew they had corona. Within 48 hours 7 out of 12 had positive lfts. Did pcrs and only 4 out of 7 came back positive but I know 100% that the 3 negative pcrs are definitely corona. I know because I'm one of them and I'm still coming up + on lfts . I have the exact same symptoms as the rest of my + family and lost my sense of taste and smell for 3 days. I have felt AWFUL. We have all chosen to stay at home for the full 10 days since the very first symptoms started . We should all be ok for this Friday/Saturday.

I wouldn't take the risk of spreading it and it does say that even with a negative test, if you have symptoms, you should isolate.

Our local site seems to update at 12.30pm. It’s definitely worth hitting refresh throughout the day.

Hi OP, I had similar symptoms to you for 2 days and tested negative on LFT. Then tested positive on 3rd day.

I've finally tested positive today, had symptoms since Sunday which is when ds1 tested positive and I was with him nye. Knew it was covid, had it in June and feel exactly the same as now

Ds had Covid in September and then since Saturday he has had the same symptoms but all his LFT are negative but he still feels dreadful. He received a PCR test yesterday which he posted off this morning so hopefully gets the result quickly.

He is a teacher who wants to get back to school as soon as possible but at the moment feels he needs to be in (he went in this morning but came straight home as he felt so awful)but without a positive test he feels guilty for not being work.

So strange isn't it ! To the people who have tested postive, do you have a cough and if so did it start straight away or did other symptoms come first ?

My dd tested positive on lf and pcr last week but no symptoms what so ever. I've been ill for the last week cough headache feeling rotten. Neg Lf and pcr. My eldest dd tested positive on lf today and I'm again awaiting my pcr result still feeling rotten. It just dosent make sense.

None of us have had a cough at all.

I felt dreadful for at least 4 days before I tested positive.

DC tested positive first and then I was the last one in the household to get it.

By the time I had a positive Lateral Flow I had started to feel better!

I was testing twice a day!!

1 omicron spreads v quickly so yes you could have caught it from her

2 cough is a less common symptom with omicron

3 when you say PCRs are only available for essential workers - do you mean it literally had those words? Or do you mean that it came up with the question "Are you an essential worker?" This makes it look like it's only going to let you continue to the booking stage if you say Yes, but in fact it's fine with you answering No, you can still book usually.

Hope you feel better soon OP.

We didn't have coughs.

We felt like we had a bad cold (adults) and sneezed a lot!
Felt like flu actually, achey etc.

@JanglyBeads sorry! I meant only postal pcr's are available for essential workers.

Okay next question, those who had coughs.. did any members of your family who also tested postive have a cough too ?

Similar situation here. Close contact with positive case on Monday 27th negative lateral flows so far but have a sore throat and headache. Maybe it's just a cold and it's coincidence?!

@covidcontact

So strange isn't it ! To the people who have tested postive, do you have a cough and if so did it start straight away or did other symptoms come first ?

I have had + lfts . But negative PCR desire my entire extended family having symptoms and/or positives . In the kids it presented more as stomach bugs and head aches and hot/cold flushed that lasted 1-3 days. In the adults it's been swinging between really snotty and mobbed up to a streaming nose. No cough at all then 2-3 hours of constant hacking away (some times productive, sometimes dry). A very dry feeling to sinuses and trachea at times. Pretty bad chest pains from coughing. Temperate up and down and feeling really groggy and unwell.

I honestly thought of turned a corner at lunch time. Felt almost normal. And I just spent an hour coughing so hard and suddenly that I thought I was going to pass out.

My son tested on a lft yesterday while mine was negative. We got pcr tests yesterday afternoon, I did a lft test this morning which was negative but 2 hours later my pcr came back positive 🤔

I’ve just tried to order a PCR but none available, even for essential workers.

Book a PCR early in the morning, I managed to book dd one by doing it at 5am this morning (couldn’t get one yesterday afternoon). Dd is negative in lateral flow but has symptoms.

Everyone on here says the LFTs are unreliable, but they’re really not (and this is backed up the stats which are readily available via a quick Google). The one time I got a positive test via an LFT I did have Covid. If you’ve had repeated negative tests then the likelihood is you’ve just got a cold.

Agreed, I have always had negative LFTs until last week when I had a sore throat/swollen glands. However, I had a faint positive LFT in the morning and a negative one in the afternoon. My PCR came back positive. I am on day 6 and my LFT tests are currently very dark lines.

My symptoms started with a sore throat and swollen glands, now a very runny nose and sneezing a lot. Very cold like.

Disagree with nononono, if you have had contact and you are feeling poorly, you probably have it. It took LFT’s awhile to catch up with me from starting to feel really quite ill.
Act as though you have it.
You probably do.
Shame about the lack of tests .
Just count your isolation from when symptoms started, don’t wait for a positive test.

Disagree with nononono, if you have had contact and you are feeling poorly

Each to their own, but I have done lateral flows almost daily (backed up by PCRs when I wanted a second opinion on the negative lateral flows because I had a cough or other coldy symptoms). The one time I did have Covid, the LFT was positive almost immediately.

But like I say, if you want a truer picture then I would suggest Googling and reading the scientific research on this rather than the anecdotal evidence (and I realise mine is just that too!) on here.

I agree with Ignaeo. It’s taking 2-3 days for lateral flow tests to show up positive after the onset of symptoms in all the people I have known recently.

Perhaps those who say that LFTs are unreliable are just not conducting them correctly? They’re really not hard to do though!

The reliability of LFTs depends in part on whether you follow the instructions carefully, which is why studies give varying estimates of their efficacy, from 40% to 90%. A recent paper demonstrated that LFTs, when used correctly, are likely to have a sensitivity above 80% and in many cases above 90%. After carrying out tests, the UK Health Security Agency said LFTs have a “comparable sensitivity” for Omicron as for other Covid variants such as Delta.

(Via Guardian)