Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Covid

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

All the symptoms but testing negative!

30 replies

FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:21

Hi, I had a sore throat a few nights back. Odd, I thought but it went within a few hours. Then came along lots of sneezing and a racking cough which kept me awake all night. It's been like this for around three days now, but yesterday afternoon was when I felt the worst and into last night and this morning. The cough is tickly and phlegmy. I could've swore it was COVID as I have had it before and felt similar, but I keep testing negative. Is anyone else testing negative but feeling like this?

OP posts:
KangarooKenny · 15/10/2022 08:23

Before we’d ever heard of covid you would just have assumed you had a cold/virus.
Not everything is covid. And I didn’t have a sore throat or a hacking cough when I had it.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 15/10/2022 08:24

Yes, similar to you all the symptoms of Covid although I never had any shortness of breath and oxygen levels were always fine.

Diagnosed with a virus, apparently there are loads around. Was off work for over a month it was so hideous.

Parky04 · 15/10/2022 08:25

People have been ill with those symptoms before covid even existed!

ForTheLoveOfSleep · 15/10/2022 08:27

The common cold

Original poster
FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:30

I also feel hideous. More so than if it was a normal cold. With a cold I can usually get about my day, but my goodness this has left me sleepless, now on the sofa not wanting to move because I feel so terrible.

I have a really important day on Monday at work and if I'm still like this, how can I call in sick and drop all the important stuff for a cold?!

OP posts:
toulet · 15/10/2022 08:31

I had all the covid symptoms. Only got a positive on day 5/6

GrumpyPanda · 15/10/2022 08:32

I'm outside the UK and a local doctor who pushed through an incredibly influential local testing program was just interviewed saying more and more people keep testing negative atm but then turn out to be positive when actually PCR tested. She'd like more PCR testing restored for that reason. That said, she reckons ordinary tests still do a decent job catching most truly highly infectious cases.

Fizbosshoes · 15/10/2022 08:34

Most covid symptoms are not unique to covid?

Original poster
FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:34

@toulet and @GrumpyPanda that's why I am reluctant to leave the house and treat this as a cold. If I gave it to anyone at risk, for example, I wouldn't know, but also I would never forgive myself.

OP posts:
Original poster
FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:35

I mean if something happened to them.

OP posts:
FistFullOfRegrets · 15/10/2022 08:38

My friend was just as you describe. He tested negative. No one else in his house was unwell. Good news is, it only lasted a week & he was fine again.

I have read, but can't remember where 🤦🏻‍♀️That with the new strains you need to use 2 vials of the liquid & leave the stick in longer.

in your position is try that first, then contact work to see what they want you do, IF you feel up to going in, if you don't you call in sick. They'll cope, they'd have to if you won the lottery!!

hope you feel better soon x

toulet · 15/10/2022 08:39

This was the first time i've ever tested positive. What I found weird is that my symptoms were very similar to what I experienced with the 1st jab but with the jab I went through them in half a day whereas covid was a week.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 15/10/2022 08:39

It sounds like you have a stinking cold.

toulet · 15/10/2022 08:40

I did use 2 vials of liquid but thought I had a defective box because one vial wasn't enough & was just soaked up by the swab.

TimeForMeToF1y · 15/10/2022 08:44

What would you do differently if you had a positive test?

Would you isolate? If you're too ill to work you're too ill to work whatever illness you have. Do normal keeping clear of vunerable people

Weirdwonders · 15/10/2022 08:45

I had two negative tests on the first two days so stopped testing and assumed it was flu. Only tested again on day 5 when I lost smell and taste and it came up positive.

Original poster
FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 09:33

Hi @TimeForMeToF1y I would isolate, yes.

OP posts:
CrispThief · 15/10/2022 16:47

I have a similar experience, in that my current illness feels just like the confirmed covid at the start of the year but I'm not testing positive now.

The thing is, for me, I had virtually no "classic cold /flu" symptoms. It was extremely mild.... Except I got occasional fatigue and it exacerbated my period symptoms (cramps, feeling of craziness) and put my next cycle out of whack. Same thing happening now.

The only other thing that has affected my period like this is each time I had the vaccine.

So I want to know because I'm curious about what's happening in my body. It hasn't been "just like a cold" for me. In many ways it's milder, except I really don't enjoy the disruption to my menstrual cycle as that brings its own symptoms and issues.

BloodyHellKen · 15/10/2022 17:30

At various times I've had a really awful stinker of a cold, I've had flu and I've had covid. The symptoms were all variations on a very similar theme to a greater of lesser degree: sometimes a fever, coughs, sore throat, fuzzy head, feeling rough etc etc

OP it sounds like you could have flu or a real stinker of a cold....or maybe covid it doesn't really matter. The important thing is, if you are ill with something infectious is to keep it to yourself and not spread it about.

This is as true now as it always has been.

Original poster
FattyAirways · 16/10/2022 10:17

toulet · 15/10/2022 08:40

I did use 2 vials of liquid but thought I had a defective box because one vial wasn't enough & was just soaked up by the swab.

Would two vials not just dilute the sample more though?

OP posts:
SnoozyLucy7 · 16/10/2022 10:20

FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:30

I also feel hideous. More so than if it was a normal cold. With a cold I can usually get about my day, but my goodness this has left me sleepless, now on the sofa not wanting to move because I feel so terrible.

I have a really important day on Monday at work and if I'm still like this, how can I call in sick and drop all the important stuff for a cold?!

It’s probably flu.

AutumnLeaves5 · 16/10/2022 10:24

FattyAirways · 15/10/2022 08:34

@toulet and @GrumpyPanda that's why I am reluctant to leave the house and treat this as a cold. If I gave it to anyone at risk, for example, I wouldn't know, but also I would never forgive myself.

Whether it’s a stinking cold or Covid, no-one else will want it so you should take similar precautions. If you feel too poorly to work, it doesn’t matter what it is.

SatinHeart · 16/10/2022 10:28

Other colds are available. And of course flu!

PaulaTrilloe · 16/10/2022 10:29

I've had a racking cough, sore throat, temperature, sneezes and sniffles. I have self tested everyday.

I also do a lab test of swab and blood for antibodies -negative.

I've had a flu jab and COVID booster so maybe it's another virus or university term time heavy cold

Original poster
FattyAirways · 16/10/2022 10:30

Day four of feeling ill and I have a faint positive. Welcome back in my life, COVID!

OP posts: