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Original poster

Trauma from PCR Tests

38 replies

bananahoney · 27/01/2022 14:13

Hi All, im just looking for some support really, im a working single mum to a nearly 4 year old, she has had 4 PCR tests since covid began due to requests from nursery the last being just this morning. Two done by her dad and the last two by me.
She had a full day of vomiting yesterday and finally a 40 degree fever for half an hour that broke after the final vomit, so i did the right thing and booked a PCR for this morning. after a full nights sleep typically she is fine today though still not eating much. however as she is due to go to her dads at the weekend (in 2 days time) for the first time in a month and while im away, where a member of the family in the house is recovering from radiation for cancer i thought best to still put her through the PCR even though im convinced it was a stomach bug 24 hour thing.

Boy do i regret it.

She HATES them, this time i talked it up for ages as a game and she was much calmer than last time and i really thought she was going to let me do the nose swab but after it touched her nose she flipped out and we had half an hour in the back of the car trying different methods, i nearly drove off but in the end just got it done by pinning her limbs and head still in her car seat, She screamed so much. Its horrible i cried the whole way home and i worry so much that she will be forever traumatised by these tests.

Ive explained to her im sorry i didnt want to hurt or scare her but we need to make sure she wont make anyone else poorly. she got over it almost instantly and said she was just scared but this cant be good for children..

Please tell me im not alone in feeling this way, is there anything i can do to help aleviate any possible long term mental damage by the tests.

OP posts:
Spikeyball · 27/01/2022 16:59

"What's the age limit on not needing to do tonsils of kids?"

There isn't one. Some adults don't do tonsils.

With ds, teenage but with sn, I do a a few circles just inside the nose with chocolate buttons to eat before and after. He's never had void result. I do a couple of lateral flows a week to keep him used to it.

Indecisivelurcher · 27/01/2022 17:10

I was asking about the age on tonsils because my 7yo has had to have tonsils swabbed twice and no-one told me I didn't have to!!!!!

2boysand1princess · 27/01/2022 17:23

@Lalalablahblahblah

You know it doesn't have to go in far, right? Not tryibg to be patronising, just I think some people think you practically have to poke your brain out. Both my DC got + from me just wiping the insides of their nostrils with the swab. I doubt that would be enough to wake up a child? It wouldn't mine anyway.
When I tested my 3 DC I did the same. Just gently swiped the opening of the nostrils and I’ve never done the throat either. Instant positives straight away and pcrs positive too with same technique.
2boysand1princess · 27/01/2022 17:23

@Indecisivelurcher

I was asking about the age on tonsils because my 7yo has had to have tonsils swabbed twice and no-one told me I didn't have to!!!!!
My eldest is 11 and I didn’t do back if throat just did nose and got positive results
thewhatsit · 27/01/2022 17:23

@Ijustneedtosleep21

Also there's no way my DC's would stay asleep when something was pushed up their nose and I think that's actually more dangerous if they react
I tried it asleep the other day after repeatedly reading it on here. It didn’t end up badly per se but DC did wake up when I was doing it and start screaming at me Confused
LargeYorkshirePuddingAndGravy · 27/01/2022 17:31

No, we didn't get a void result.

MacaroniCheeseCat · 27/01/2022 21:27

DC1 (6) was utterly traumatised the first time I did a nose-only PCR test on him last year. He’s too big for me to pin by myself - though I did try in the end - and he ended up in a terrible state. I decided I wouldn’t put him through that again. (He is very anxious and possibly neurodivergent.)

What has worked for us is getting him to do it on himself, and practising with a cotton bud first - stroking the outside of his nostril, then putting it a little bit inside, etc. It does take about three times as long as it should but we now get an LFT done when we have to with no tears as a rule.

MargaretThursday · 27/01/2022 22:03

Thing is though that many children have medical procedures that they find traumatic. I've had to hold down my ds for blood tests, for taking antibiotics and for a general anaesthetic on several occasions.

Was he upset at the time? Very much so.
Was he traumatised? He still isn't very keen on antibiotics, but thinks having a blood test is absolutely fascinating and is rather pleased to need one. He'll tell you in great detail about the last one and how the nurse had to move the needle if you like... I was definitely more traumatised than him.
And when he had his last general anaesthetic he wanted to know all about it, and watch it go in and see how long he could stay awake for. He was put out when he woke that he didn't remember as much.

mynameiscalypso · 27/01/2022 22:09

@MargaretThursday

Thing is though that many children have medical procedures that they find traumatic. I've had to hold down my ds for blood tests, for taking antibiotics and for a general anaesthetic on several occasions.

Was he upset at the time? Very much so.
Was he traumatised? He still isn't very keen on antibiotics, but thinks having a blood test is absolutely fascinating and is rather pleased to need one. He'll tell you in great detail about the last one and how the nurse had to move the needle if you like... I was definitely more traumatised than him.
And when he had his last general anaesthetic he wanted to know all about it, and watch it go in and see how long he could stay awake for. He was put out when he woke that he didn't remember as much.

Agreed. To be honest, there are loads of things my DS finds traumatising - having a hair cut being the latest one - but it's not really trauma is it? They're upset and then you give them some chocolate buttons and they're fine within about 3 minutes. I don't like giving my DS a PCR test in the same way that I didn't like taking him for his vaccinations or giving him eye drops (which he absolutely hated) when he had conjunctivitis. But I do them anyway because I'm a responsible parent.
whatkatydid2013 · 28/01/2022 11:53

@MargaretThursday

Thing is though that many children have medical procedures that they find traumatic. I've had to hold down my ds for blood tests, for taking antibiotics and for a general anaesthetic on several occasions.

Was he upset at the time? Very much so.
Was he traumatised? He still isn't very keen on antibiotics, but thinks having a blood test is absolutely fascinating and is rather pleased to need one. He'll tell you in great detail about the last one and how the nurse had to move the needle if you like... I was definitely more traumatised than him.
And when he had his last general anaesthetic he wanted to know all about it, and watch it go in and see how long he could stay awake for. He was put out when he woke that he didn't remember as much.

It’s a little different forcing a procedure they have to have to diagnose them or make them well because they are ill enough to require it and forcing it to test for covid to reduce the risk of them passing it to someone else. If they are in school it’s probably going around anyway and you could always minimise other contacts. At this stage with the current plans looking to be that isolation will be scrapped in a couple of months I’m not sure I would keep trying to test the kids if they were getting that upset over it.
WaffleWaffles · 28/01/2022 12:28

I must have done my kids about 40 times now between them since testing started. My nearly 6 year old is now fully desensitised to it while my now 4 year old is fully traumatised due to shoving the swab up her nose way too far and making it bleed.

I hate testing and I dont test them anymore as school and nursery have been way over the top to have me test them this frequently.

I now just argue with the headmaster like all the other parents about this over testing.

I cant wait for testing to stop, so the kids aren't so worried about being ill. My little girl becomes so anxious and down right petrified if she feels a bit off now. God knows how this is going to affect her later in life.

PinkSparklyPussyCat · 28/01/2022 12:46

@Spikeyball

"What's the age limit on not needing to do tonsils of kids?"

There isn't one. Some adults don't do tonsils.

With ds, teenage but with sn, I do a a few circles just inside the nose with chocolate buttons to eat before and after. He's never had void result. I do a couple of lateral flows a week to keep him used to it.

DH had a PCR done at a drive through and gagged and coughed every time they tried to do his tonsils so they just did his nose instead.
Bobholll · 28/01/2022 16:21

@Indecisivelurcher - it clearly states in the test booklet of instruction to only do the nose for children. The people at the rest centre have always told me nose only as well. But I do have quite young kids so maybe that’s why!

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