Positive LFT yesterday, negative today. What to do?

[janeseymour78]

I started feeling rough 2 days ago. Symptoms as follows:

Night sweats/chills
Sore throat (tonsils so swollen talking is a challenge)
Feeling floored/unable to do anything
Loads of mucus to the point speaking is an issue
Almost zero appetite
Earache

I already had covid earlier this year and had nearly all of these symptoms. Only difference is I don't have the awful chesty cough.

So I tested yesterday convinced I'd test positive and an unmistakable line appeared. Today I tested again and there was no line at all.

Then I took my temp again and still 38.3 plus still feel awful. so now I'm not sure what to do with isolating and so on. I'd love a PCR test but they seem to cost £40 now?! Unless anyone knows any bargain PCRs...

Should clarify I had the awful chesty cough last time but not this time

I didn’t have a chesty cough (infact barely any cough apart from2 days) in July but did have several of your symptoms. I tested positive in day two till day 12. ( nhs so couldnt go back til negative)

Sounds like you have covid and you are feeling unwell so just rest and drink plenty of fluids. Take tablets if needed. If you are able isolate until you feel better. No temp. Not everyone can do this though.

What would you do any other time of you were running a temperature and feeling unwell? Take paracetamol; drink plenty; rest. Continue with normal activities once you feel well enough. What else are you supposed to do? What point is there in taking a PCR?

The first time I had it @Mybeautifulfriend22 I didn't test positive for a week. But once I did it was consistent every day.

The fact it's started positive and negative so fast makes me think the first test was flawed? In clearly very unwell anyway.

I feel guilty for being off work as we're short staffed but I can't function.

To confirm whether it's covid or not.

My friend is visiting from America at the moment and we are meant to meet this weekend for a catch up meal. I don't think I can do that if there's a risk I have covid.

It's covid. You don't need another test. Stop testing.

You have Covid - the test can't produce a positive result unless Covid is present. You feel unwell, so you can't go to work. The most sensible action would be to remain at home until you no longer have a fever, plus one day to recover. Or until you feel well and test negative two days in a row.

You could test on day 5 (so... Wednesday or Thursday?) to see if you're negative, and if you are you can probably go out and about without infecting people. Make sure you swab your tonsils as well as your nose.

It sounds like you have covid, and are too ill to work. So have something to drink, take some pain relief if needed, and get back into bed.

My friend did three lft covid tests on consecutive days. All negative.

Then on the middle day she had a pcr. Positive.

So it seems clear to me that lft’s are pretty hit and miss. If they were good we wouldn’t need pcr’s and they’d never have been invented!

so consider yourself positive and act accordingly. There is no point in further testing. It achieves nothing nowadays anyway. You’ve got it. End of.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks @Numbat2022 - if I test negative again on the next one, say Wed, then hopefully I can see my friend this weekend.

Still have the fever etc atm so not in a fit state to do anything let alone socialise.

This weekend is 5 days away. You'd likely not be infectious at that point. I'm going to hazard a guess your friend isn't clinically vulnerable or they wouldn't have travelled over. You're massively overthinking it all.

Was yesterday the first test you did? If so you could already be a few days in and some people do only test positive for a day or two. Assuming you didn't eat or drink right before you took the test then a strong positive is unlikely to be wrong.

It was @Jules912 and actually - I've just went back and looked at the test from hours ago - I can now see a very faint line.

It looks more like my tests did in the last day or 2 of having it last time.

If you're unwell you can't work irrespective of whether it's Covid. If it's something else would you really want to pass it on given the way you feel?

To top things off, when I looked in the mirror today (scary) I had:

conjunctivitis in one eye
White spots on my tonsils

In falling apart! I don't seem to recall either of these being covid symptoms?

Yup, they are. They're more a sign that you're run down and your body is fighting infection, rather than specific symptoms. You need to rest and maybe get some antibiotics if the tonsils don't clear up in a few days.

Hope you feel better soon. 2/3 of people are still infectious five days after symptoms. Give your friend the heads up so they can make the choice whether to meet or not if you're feeling better.