Anxious I may have Covid symptoms

Dilly, you say:

'my friends, well they are in the Covid has been over dramatised camp.....'

They are being idiotic. My friend was like that until she lost five members of her family!

I'm always amazed at how people can believe exactly what suits them - despite all the evidence.

well done, you made the right decision.
let us know how you get on.

Dilly - your 'friends' are not really friends if they're encouraging you to turn a blind eye to what might be covid. They're encouraging you to put other people's lives at risk for your financial gain. Get a test.

Probably not Covid but I’m surprised anyone needs to ask if they should act on suspicion

I agree you did the right thing Dilly, even if you're only incubating a bad cold, its still best to keep it to yourself.

I gather the powers that be are hoping for lower cold and flu levels this year as people are time off and isolate instead of going into work and sharing their germs (just like we did in the old days).

Certainly get tested, for your own and other people’s safety.

I think when you get any viral symptoms now you have to consider if it is Covid and get a test and stay at home. Even if it isn't Covid you could pass whatever you have got on to others.
Hope it is just a minor thing and you feel better soon.

Covid symptoms can vary, but here's a typical case.....A dear friend of mine had Covid and recovered. It started in late March/early April with a scratchy throat and burning sensation in her nose. The sensation lasted for days and wouldn't go away. Then she began to lose her sense of smell and taste. After about a week, she developed a fever and a cough (maybe not all in that order).

The fever began as a low grade fever that gave her chills and body aches. Then fever went higher, cough got worse and then she had trouble breathing.....that's when she called the doctor. She refused to go to hospital (it was during the height of the pandemic when people were dying alone). She was very sick for about three weeks (told me she thought she would die one night). The high fever lasted for about ten days and wouldn't abate. Finally her fever broke and she began to recover after that. She was tested months later and still had antibodies.

Today she's fine, but ever since she heard you can get Covid more than once, she isolates and wears a mask because she has a baby granddaughter.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cancel just in case but sounds more like the common cold. I've had two since end of lockdown even being vigilant with who and where I go. I wear a mask as required.

You have nothing to lose by getting a test, even though it might be 'just a cold'. Covid19 present with a multitude of symptoms which Cp43 has described. My DGD had a cough which she rarely has, so booked a test for herself and her dad (she lives with him) which, in both cases turned out to be negative. As she attends 6th form college, she was reluctant to risk infecting her class-mates.

Even if someone just has a "normal" cold, if they go out and about it will spread, and then there will be lots more people wondering if they should be tested, and clogging up the system.

I caught a cold from granddaughter, who in turn got it from her nursery. Because she gets wheezy with a cold, she ended up being tested for Covid, and was negative. Since I almost certainly got it from her, and it seemed a typical cold, (sneezing, runny nose etc) I didn't try to get tested, but did stay away from other people on the basis that I didn't want to give them the bother of wondering if they should be tested.

Go onto the NHS site and they will ask your symptoms and advise you what to do based on your answers . I had one two weeks ago . Thankfully negative .

I agree that your current symptoms wouldn’t qualify for a test. However, I would stay at home. In the present climate it makes people uneasy...and if you’re ill, you need to be at home anyway to fully recover.

If you can get a test then do so but I think it is easier said than done, it does not sound like covid to me BUT I had it back in March with unrecognisable symptoms. I subsequently tested privately in May for antibodies which was positive so I knew I’d had it. My GP at the time was as much in the dark as I was, she said it was gastroenteritis I knew it wasn’t because you do not get to my age 68 without knowing a few things and I knew it wasn’t what she said, but fortunately I have a very good friend who is the senior registrar at a top London hospital and she advised me what to do. I took paracetamol, , Imodium for diorreah, milk of magnesia, seasick tablets for sickness and vertigo, antihistamines, because I had two rashes, calamine lotion on the rashes and the only thing I could keep down was the odd peanut butter on toast. Loss of smell and taste except for a nasty metallic taste in my mouth.
I did not have a cough or fever but as I get menopausal hot flushes I wouldn’t know the difference. It lasted about 10 days then suddenly I woke up one morning with a start and felt just 100% better like a weight lifting off my shoulders.

Perhaps your husband's mother feels the same?

Meanwhile I haven’t read any negative news about the two vaccine trials we have here so there is hope if not for this year then maybe by the Spring.

I think you'll be told your symptoms don't qualify you for a test as they are not the 3 main ones. This is because the tests are being carefully rationed, not because you definitely don't have it. If I was the government I'd have made the rule that anyone with ANY sort of cold symptoms should self isolate for a week, but only bother with the test if they have the main ones.

I had to have a test recently and found it easiest to get the home kit. You have to use the test the same day as it gets posted. It did it the Monday Morning and by Wednesday morning I had the result that I was negative. Quick and easy, good Luck

I don't think swollen glands are among the usual symptoms.

However, quarintine yourself until you have had a test done.

It is the only responsible way to behave.

The only way to find out is visit your gp and get tested. Do not listen to friends who say carry on. How would you feel if Heaven forbid it was Covid and you had infected some others and some one died. Better to be safe than sorry. It could just be flu of tonsillitis, but you are still carrying an infection.

I did not experience the loss of taste and smell. However being out of it for many days and not eating anything, it was hard to tell!
I had a cough lasting nearly 4 weeks but that did not start until around day 7 of other symptoms.
Everyone experiences different symptoms.
You should take your temperature - if it’s higher than normal, do not take the risk. You should not be risking infecting anyone with whatever it is you’re brewing.
Be sensible and help keep others safe.

I think they have to use a far more complicated method, JenniferEccles, involving PCR, although they are working hard on finding different methods. This is all new ground.

I wonder if scientists anywhere are working on a testing method for covid similar to home pregnancy tests where the result appears in minutes?

It would be a game changer.

Why ask here? Get a test. We are not doctors who can diagnos.

Oh and isolate until you know you are clear.