I wonder if I have covid?

[Palmsun]

Two weeks ago I went into work and there was someone who was sick with a nasty headcold - she was full of snot and she was coughing and her throat sounded awful and she was so fucking cranky. Claimed it was nothing and claimed she did a covid test and it was nothing.

Then by Saturday the 17th of Feb, I started to experience something. My only exposure was her. I wasn't any where else and I wasn't around anyone else sick. It started off as a sort throat for me and as first it wasnt bad. Then it was a mild cough. As the days went on, more phelgm and mucus. I was taking cold remedies at home.

Then this weekend just gone, I came into day number 8 and 9 of what I think is a cold. I wasn't getting any better. If anything I was getting worse. My ears were sore. My throat was sore. My chest was sore. By body was aching. I added more over the counter medicines to my cold remedies. By Monday I was still not getting better.

I did two covid tests over the past week and they both turned out negative but then I don't know if got a proper swab either.

I had a wheeze yesterday and last night I felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest and just pissing into my nose with the amount of mucus. Just rivers of the stuff flowing down my nose and back my throat.

Basically I am too ill for this to me just a headcold.

A headcold should be improving by now.

It feels like a cross between a cold and a flu. I had no GI symptoms so I wouldn't really say a flu as such.

Hope you get better soon. Why does it matter if it's Covid? Noone tests anymore.

I got covid a few weeks back and I hadn't been near anyone obviously ill so I don't know how I got it.

Even if you get covid you can't for definite say it was from her and what would be the point of trying to do that?

We're allowed to go about our normal business just advised to try to stay at home.

I didn't get it from the wind. I know of everyday travel and rountine and I got this does from somewhere and she was the most likely exposure of what I have now. I didn't get it from the wind.

I can't understand how people are so fucking flippant when it comes to passing around illnesses.

Right. But what does it matter if it's covid or not? If you're so poorly I'm assuming you're resting anyway, so if you have covid what are you going to do differently to if it's cold?

........but then I don't know if got a proper swab either.

What does that mean? Were the covid tests in date? Did you use them as per the directions? It would seem odd that both failed to show up if in date and performed correctly.

I had covid for the 1st time last year, and the line came up almost instantly.

For the nasal congestion, get some sudafed from the pharmacy and order a neti pot which comes with saline sachets. It really clears out the sinuses and makes it much easier to breath.

I test

I've had something similar, it wasn't covid. More like mild flu.

What does knowing whether it's Covid or not change? You sound quite unwell - I assume that means you're at home and not working. That's all you can/should do until you feel better, regardless of which specific virus has caused your illness.

You also have no way of knowing for sure where you caught it - and as a PP says, that also doesn't matter.

Whatever it is, it sounds horrible, so I hope you feel better soon. But there's absolutely no point stressing about whether it's Covid or not - it's not going to affect how ill you are, or how soon you recover.

Sounds horrible and the weird push to spread illness doesn't sit well with me either.

I have been taking paracetamol and plenty of fluids and electrolytes since Saturday the 17th of February because I felt something come on me even then. I can usually recognise the early signs of a cold in me and it usually starts with an I credible thirst so the fact that I was exposed to someone else's illness and I was experiencing that, I knew I was coming down with something.

By Saturday of last weekend the 24th, I wasn't getting better and I added sudafed and ibuprofen along with paracetamol.

By Monday I was still not getting better. I was ill even on Monday. I tried to take a sick day too on Monday but I was told I was needed. In all fairness my boss was accommodating and shortened my day dramatically to 3 hours. I was very ill. I wasn't as ill as vomiting but I was sore and sick and in distress.

By yesterday on Tuesday I was hardly able to talk and I was nearly deaf with all the pressure in my head and the pain.

I had to write notes for my family.

I am only able to talk and stand up due to a bag of over the counter medicines.

This isn't right. All of this could have been slowed down and perhaps even prevented if my sick colleague didn't turn up to work sick in the first place. I know many people will have arguements about sick people having to go to work but even if they allowed the initial 24 or 48 hours to pass before mixing with people maybe it might not spread to as many.

If I was attacked physically and assaulted and in pain from an assault there's laws in place to make that harm an offence. But it's ok to harm other people in an indirect way as coughing sickness all over other people. It's just not right to spread sickness and illness.

I like to focus on nutrition with plenty of fruit and vegetables and for the past week I was including a lot of broth in my diet and garlic and ginger and lemon and honey and avocados and a lot of good foods to help support my body through this. So I am not eating badly and the fact that I am still experiencing problems and getting worse and not better is a huge red flag for me.

This evening's symptom has been a feeling of my own body trying to drying my throat and chest in fluids dripping from my nose. It feels as if I am being drowned under a river of my own fluids at this stage.

I never experienced this before. Not even with sinus infections that I had before in the past.

I was just wondering if COVID presented in this way now, that's all.

I know many people argue what does it matter if it's COVID or not. I live with an aging parent and I would need to know if it's COVID so I don't make her ill. Not only that, my employers are bastards and they are demanding I go to work. I was allowed one sick day. They are writing off my illness as just a head cold.

I am on day number 12 of whatever this is and it's only now I am finding fevers evening though I am drugged up with my medicines. The paracetamol says every four hours. I am topping up on paracetamol every 4 hours just to tackle the pain. Same goes for ibuprofen. I am cycling between the two meds every two hours so that I have something in my system.

Whatever this is, this isn't right. I'm utterly furious. This isn't the first time I became sick from work. I had another exposure of illness from work before the Christmas and another exposure last summer. Due to my work hours, I don't have the energy to do much outside of work and the majority of my life goes from home to work and I am not really partying it up. Basically I am constantly being exposed to illnesses in work and it's wrong.

I’m clinically vulnerable do our family still tests. DH became unwell a week ago Sunday, tested pos, and I started feeling sniffly last weds afternoon. By bedtime I was feeling proper crappy and tested a very fast and dark pos. Symptoms:

throat is raw and red
cough
knackered
generally feeling crap

DH’s cough worsened and he was coughing up dark green gunk, went onto antibiotics and steroids for that. I got to the green gunk and started antibiotics today, no steroids allowed.

The latest variant (if that’s what you have) is super catching so I wouldn’t just blame the girl at work. You could have picked up whatever it is anywhere. Hope we both feel better soon!

You can't take paracetamol more than once every 6 hours. The smallest the gap between doses can be is 4 hours, but you must never have more than four doses in 24h. It's very easy to overdose dangerously on paracetamol so be careful.

I do agree about it not really being ok to pass things on if people can possibly avoid it. I hope whatever you've got goes away soon.

Not only that, my employers are bastards and they are demanding I go to work. I was allowed one sick day. They are writing off my illness as just a head cold.

So I guess if they make other ill people come in, then germs will spread. How can you be annoyed with the people who go in sick? Sounds like you have been in too if you're on day 12 and only allowed one day off.

Dd (18) has what you describe op-with an awful cough for 5 weeks now and not getting better. She finally got in at the drs today as it's a long time to feel so rough, plus she has woken us all up coughing the last few nights-and she has her mocks coming up. Dr said 'everyone has this at the minute' 'it probably started as Covid' and there is nothing that can be done. She is asthmatic so she got an extra inhaler-and that was it. She is now back in bed coughing her head off with a temperature and feeling awful.

I still test if I'm unwell, and so do my friends. I couldn't live with myself if I gave Covid to someone who was really clinically vulnerable. I tested positive at the end of December and was much more unwell than when I had Covid previously. I needed to know if I was positive so thst I could keep away from my husband, who has COPD, and from my mother in law who is 93 and bedridden in a nursing home. This latest variant seems to be really nasty and it took me several weeks to get back to normal.

You sounds very dramatic OP. Illness is part of life and sometimes bad cold bugs take a while to get rid of. Its been a warm winter so not enough to kill off stuff.

I don't understand the need to know if it's Covid so you don't make someone ill. You are clearly unwell so shouldn't be going near the person you are concerned about protecting from Covid anyway.

'It's been a warm winter so not enough to kill off stuff.'

What does this mean please? Thought there were meant to be more pressures on healthcare in winter with winter viruses?

Sorry you feel so rough.

There are plenty of nasty cold and flu viruses going.around at the moment. If it was COVID I'm sure it would show up on the test.

Just a word of caution about the sudafed - my pharmacist said not to take it longer than around 3 days as then it can have the reverse effect eg give you the stuffiness you are trying to stop.

I test for example as may have a light case of covid with a bit of vomiting or something for a day. I might feel fine on day three (48 hrs after assumed mild d&v bug), but obviously if carried on as normal would likely spread to others. Also test if anyone in house has it.

I hope the OP has isolated themselves completely for the last 12 days if they feel so outraged that someone dare go out with a head cold.

@JustDiscoveredBueno

Right, but that's not OP situation.

I had covid a few weeks back, caught off my son. tbf I've had worse other viruses, so just because your symptoms are bad, don't assume it's covid, there are plenty of other viruses about and covid is milder these days since most of us have already been exposed prior.

It means that a colder winter kills off germs and we haven't had one.