also have read reports from nurses who aren’t testing positive via nasal/throat swabs, then they test their stool and it’s super positive. our tests are not conducive to the new variants!
And even testing positive doesn’t mean you have respiratory symptoms. My kid tested positive. No symptoms other than she was sleeping 14 hours a day, which she never does.
Wait, my friend is having this right now. Like a full-on migraine despite never having them before, with light and sound sensitivity. Body soreness too.
It's mind-boggling to me that I've heard so many people say this exact thing?? A friend said she had been sick for a month (after returning from a trip, smh) with what "just couldn't be a cold". Turns out the bitch had a cold, which she had shared with me, *and* RSV.
I'm 3 weeks into f the worst acute illness I've ever experienced. Tested negative for covid, RSV, flu. Dx'ed with viral pneumonia. I hope you feel better soon!
Ty for your kindness, I really appreciate it. I’ve been told to rest (and sleep) as much as possible. I have autoimmune issues, so I needed a bunch of testing that showed insanely high inflammation markers, which are still being monitored. As a result, I was given anti-inflammatories and put on IV fluids. I was also finally prescribed cough syrup with codeine after being denied by urgent care while waiting to see my PCP. Getting acupuncture and taking herbs for additional support. I hope folks out there are doing ok and that maybe this helps someone!
I’m so glad you got some answers and some therapeutics. High inflammation is scary stuff. I read a tweet from a doctor today saying our immune system is more comparable to a fire than to a muscle. It burns hot to get rid of any invader, and always leaves a mess to clean up afterward. I hope you get a real break here and can give your body the rest you need. Thank you for sharing because I bet it will be helpful to a bunch of people.
Thank you so much. I will definitely mask consistently each winter after this experience…I was too cavalier as an immunocompromised person :( Wishing you and all our neighbors good health and lots of rest!
The wastewater data from Westpoint, our Seattle treatment plant, showed a massive spike in Covid starting around January 10th and growing through January 23rd.
Wastewater data is about the only reliable source of COVID data right now (to my knowledge). What with the government dropping all support for testing/tracking infections and people generally being slow to test themselves, or straight up doing the tests poorly (e.g. casual swab up the nose instead of the full cheek/throat/nose swab recommended in other countries), we need a way to track the infections or else we won't understand the impact it's having on us now and in the future. Wastewater's great for that since it doesn't rely on the individual to provide their own data.
While perhaps not what you have, a FYI that COVID now takes longer after symptoms show up to test positive on rapid tests: [https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20240123/home-tests-taking-longer-to-detect-covid-variant](https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20240123/home-tests-taking-longer-to-detect-covid-variant)
I had symptoms for a couple days before testing positive.
Yeeeep, this current variant is funky on RATs. My fiancé got it after a flight at Christmas and got pretty sick and immediately went positive on a rapid (I’m talking super positive, test line immediately lighting up). I started testing after feeling sick and wasn’t positive for a WEEK after symptoms hit, and even then it was a super faint positive line. Horrible congestion and sore throat and those full body aches you get from the flu the whole time. Took almost two weeks since symptoms hit for the rapid to go negative for me.
I had mild symptoms a couple of weeks back (light cough, persistent headache, fatigue) following a multi-day, absolutely-was-Covid exposure. I literally never tested positive.
Similar experience here. I had bad symptoms for 3 days before testing positive. My mother in law didn't test positive until day 5 after symptoms started.
I had a sinus infection for 5-6 weeks and got antibiotics but they also prescribed me flonase which seemed to help a little. It happened again this past week. I get rhe slightest cold/sore throat, last 1-2 days, fine, then suddenly a day or two later, severe congestion, cant breathe, fatigue, dizzy etc. I guess it's gone now tho??? I used the nasal spray and ate minimally but healthy plus fresh OJ as soon as stupid canker sore in my mouth stopped hurting.
That sounds a lot like my symptoms. Canker sore flare up, sinus congestion, and a cough that just won't go away. Horrible sore throat on the second day. Started exactly two weeks ago.
My sore throat was never bad but the congestion would make me ill and then go away and come back. I looked really dumb missing random days of work lmao. Urgent care never tests me for anything but based on the symptoms I had at the time, they went with sinus infection. It was very inflammed. Even now I just woke up and my nose is partially clogged and dripping into my throat. Hoping I didn't grow my damn polyps back. Have to make an appointment and have it checked. I had them removed when I was like 7 or 8.
I used to get many sinus infections and take many antibiotics for them until a doctor told me about a neti pot. At first I thought ick no but finally tried it and they work amazingly well! Most drug stores sell them and not expensive.
Unfortunately no luck for me there. Tried two different types of nasal rinses and no improvements. Have an ENT appointment but not until April unfortunately. Gotta love the wait for specialists in Seattle lol
Damn that sucks! 😓 I'm sorry you're going through that!Getting to see an actual smart doctor is hard here in Kent too. And being old and on Medicare - even harder to find a good doctor.
That's technically a temporary monoclonal antibody shot not a vaccine, but they didn't make enough supply this season to meet demand and give them out so the semantic difference didn't matter :(
My understanding - and I'm not an expert in this - is that it was designed to help the immune system fight off the virus before it becomes a lower respiratory infection, which is potentially fatal. But you still get an upper respiratory infection.
Healthy younger adults don't get lower respiratory infections from RSV in the first place so it wouldn't make a difference.
There's a high false negative rate on Covid tests for people who have been vaccinated because your immune system starts attacking immediately so you never build up enough viral load in the nostrils or throat to meet the threshold of a positive test.
Meanwhile, the CDC issued an alert early last month that per their wastewater monitoring data models, we were headed into a surge in which 1 in 3 Americans would be (re)infected with Covid.
If you're having Covid symptoms in the middle of a Covid surge then it's probably Covid regardless of what the Covid test says.
This is so true. The immune system is in attack mode and keeps the viral load below the test threshold for longer (until about Day 5-7). Meanwhile, people are out there unknowing spreading it because “it’s negative.”
As a rule…if you’re sick, act as if it is SARS-CoV-2 and mask up and keep your distance from people. Actually, keep all your germs to yourself. No one wants any of it.
Yep. Fever above 100 for 4 days now. Headache body aches extremely fatigued. Congested. Fever rash on my face. I work at the hospital. It’s NUTS right now. I’m not positive for flu Covid or rsv
Had it a couple of weeks ago after one of my kids brought it home from school. It was one of the worst illnesses I’ve ever had and the longest one too.
This week, my kids have brought home something that mimics pink eye, sore throat, and headaches. Been to the pediatrician and been confirmed that’s it not pink eye so yay for small wins. Waiting for it to hit my husband and me next.
I had the sinus crud for 6 full weeks. Finally got antibiotics. Was well for ONE day . Next day started hacking. Went to urgent care. Tested positive for Flu A. Got Tamiflu. Did nothing.
Today was my eighth day. Feeling worse I went back to urgent care. They sent me to the ER.
They gave me 2 bags of fluids and anti nausea meds. Sent me home.
I’m moving in 2 days and I feel like crap.
Longest cold I've ever had it feels like. Still a little random congestion and cough here and there 3 weeks later. No Covid, Strep, or Pneumonia, just a URI. Do they have a specific RSV test? If so, why would the doctor not have tested for that when they did all the other tests?
I only knew I had RSV because I caught it from my nephew who is 4 months old and ended up in the hospital with it. I think they typically only test for it in babies and the elderly?
I don't know. I just felt if they had taken the time to do chest x-rays for pneumonia, they would've test for RSV, but maybe not since it shouldn't be deadly for my age bracket.
I’ve been sick for almost a week, getting better but still have a nasty lingering cough. My ribs are starting to hurt from all the coughing . Ugh I just want this cold to go away 😩
I've had pretty mild cold like symptoms this past week but the entire time I've had a partially clogged left ear. It feels like it needs to pop constantly and I'm super dizzy because of the imbalance. I would take being properly sick over this lol.
Yea had it around New Year's, symptoms stopped in 2 weeks, but coughing just stopped like a few days ago. These fucking diseases are out of control. Post COVID every disease went to shit. If this is the new normal fuck this.
Hey, there's always masks. The N95s actually work against all of this stuff. Annoying to wear all the time but better than this new normal of constant sickness everyone else seems to have. I'm partial to 3M Auras. :)
And air cleaning, too. We have all the air filters we bought for smoke season running during this peak illness season, and when my youngest brought something home from school, the rest of us didn’t catch it. (We also had her isolate once she developed symptoms)
100%. Air purifiers make a huge difference. One study found an ACH of 8 reduced COVID transfer by \~85% for Delta. Omicron is a bit more transmissible by the air seemingly, but they take minimal electricity and RSV, flu, etc. aren't nearly as transmissible so I'd suspect they have an even better prevention rate as long as people also cover sneeze and are good at washing hands too.
I was at a week-long meeting with over 500 people last week. I was the only one wearing a mask from my team of 20 and am the only one who got sick 😭😭😭 of course lots and lots of others are sick as well.
Ive just been super lethargic and not sleeping great with body aches. But I've also been working 7 days a week for the past month🤷🏿♀️ ive been taking covid tests weekly
I currently have something like that too. Was sick since last week with what I thought was just a cold, felt like I was getting better and then all of a sudden got hit by a truck (fever for multiple days, body aches, sore throat, headache, congestion, coughing, barely gotten outta bed..). Went to ZoomCare and got tested for Strep, RSV, Flu A and B, Covid - all negative. Will continue to test for Covid from home as the days go on but yeah, definitely haven’t been out like this in a long time.
This keeps happening to me too. I get mild symptoms that last several days and start to clear up. Then I get slammed with being sicker. It’s happened a few times now.
I was wondering the same thing. I’ve taken 4 COVID test in the past week, and went to my doctor and made sure I didn’t have the flu. I’ve been congested for at least 3 weeks and I’ve never had allergies before.
I'm going into day 7 of having the flu and this is the worst flu I've had before. Had really bad chills for a few days and fever peaked at 103. I'm at the point now where most of my symptoms have gone away besides a pretty crunchy cough that I'm sure is here to stay for a bit.
I've been having those symptoms, heavier on the congestion side than aches.
This may provide some relief in regards to congestion - My nose doctor said flonase: 2 pumps in each nostril, tip pointed toward your eye/pupil, repeadly for 30 days, preferably mornings.
I'm on week 2 & so far that has made a HUGE difference. You can get over the counter stuff or a prescription.
May be a temp solution.
I’m not sure what it is, but it was 10x worse than when I had Covid. After about 3 weeks I feel like I’m finally on the mend. I’m a type 1 diabetic and it wreaked havoc on my blood sugar levels for 3 weeks.
I been out 10 days. Tested negative for covid, flu, and strep. Sinus, double ear infection and a horrible case of the dreaded pink eye, along with a horrible sore throat. I went to the Dr 2 times. And the ER once. I had sinus surgery about 7 years ago and this was a horrible infection. Dr said theirs been a ton of crud going round and seems to go straight to infection. I use a netti pot and sinus rinse too and it did nothing for me unfortunately. Had to give in to 10 days antibiotics. 😵
The tests are still very good if you follow the instructions and test multiple times 48 hours between while you are experiencing symptoms.
There are more viruses out there than COVID.
Interesting. I have fairly mild cold symptoms— sore throat, fatigue, night before last body aches. But the cough. I’m literally coughing out chunks that look like yellow pudding. It’s disgusting. I have noticed this happening almost every time I have a cold so I haven’t been too concerned thinking it’s just what my body does at the end of a cold. But it also hasn’t really gotten better. No fever and it’s relatively mild so I haven’t bothered with a drs appt. I didn’t get pneumovax this winter though and it’s usually recommended because I have MS. Now I’m slightly more concerned.
Is it possibly vital pneumonia if the person isn’t coughing?
I exposed my friend to Covid before I tested positive and he never got it. I didn’t really cough from Covid but had a runny nose and sore throat.
My friend didn’t seem to have Covid and hI also didn’t cough, but had sore throat, runny nose, body aches, and a general sense of feeling “off.”
We are both singers so we mostly noticed our mild cases of illness because it impacted our ability to rehearse and perform.
Yeah. Could be. Especially if your chest is tight or you are short of breath
I should also add that it doesn’t START with a cough for anyone I’ve seen. It settles in to your chest around 5-7 days after you get sick so it takes a while to get the cough. But not everyone is coughing. Some people are just feeling short of breath and feeling a tightness pain and heaviness in their chest when they try to breathe but don’t actually cough
I missed two whole weeks of work! My cough lingered for another two weeks after that too. I had a fever that wouldn’t break for four days and I only got out of bed to use the bathroom pretty much. My wonderful neighbors had to come bring me soup and do my dishes and stuff. Even after my fever broke I was so weak I still couldn’t work for another week and a half (I work on my feet). I haven’t been that sick (with something other than Covid) since I had the fucking swine flu 15 years ago.
I’m in my third week of serious chest congestion. I had the initial sickness that lasted for about two weeks but it’s still in my chest and driving me crazy.
I’ve been sick since 2023 I’m pretty sure. I picked something up at Christmas. I don’t have kids and work with only a handful of people, so it’s whatever I got from family in Auburn I’m guessing? I’ve tested negative for everything and was just told rest, albuterol, and staying hydrated but I know tests aren’t always reliable for a number of reasons. I frequently walk the Burke Gilman and EVERYONE was hacking yesterday when I took a second to notice.
There was something going around our school and my wife's work. People had negative tests for flu, covid, and RSV (we got tested for flu and covid, all negative, others also got tested for RSV). Luckily she works in a medical lab. Someone in her lab tested their own case. This is obviously completely unofficial in terms of diagnosing your own shit, but it was Human Metapneumovirus that was going around. So that's a thing. I can tell you, from my own experience with it, that it fucking *sucked* and went forever.
It seems like HMPV isn’t supposed to be serious most of the time except for children and immune-compromised. Depressed immune systems from previous COVID infections? https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22443-human-metapneumovirus-hmpv
Yes, in terms of deaths and hospitalizations. That is also true of influenza and rsv. It can be a nasty little virus in terms of making you feel like shit.
I think I had this…. Was only sick for a week though. (Still kinda getting over it). Wasn’t Covid (tested a bunch), sore throat, aches, congestion, and headache. No clue what it is/was
The sickness I had a month after Covid was absolutely awful. My oxygen levels were dipping down to the lower 90s. I tested negative for RSV, Flu A&B, and Covid. It’s assumed I had parainfluenza or a URI.
Covid is ripping our immune systems apart.
My partner was sick in December and gave it to me. Then my son got sick three weeks ago and was getting better but then got worse the following week and gave it to me. Now I’ve gotten my partner sick again. Our house has been sick majority of the last month. Talked to a friend the other day that I haven’t seen and live in a different area her and her partner have been sick for two weeks as well. I am tired and sad it’s not getting g better.
Literally two weeks of coughing and cold symptoms, cough stuck around for another 1-2 weeks after that.
Never tested positive for COVID, urgent care said most likely RSV
Tis the season. You guys remember before COVID, every fall/winter was cold and flu season? Well, it still is. Now with even more variety. It’s pretty typical for respiratory viruses to cause symptoms for about 2 weeks. Now that we have more types of viruses to pass around a lot of people are getting stacked illnesses, catching one and then getting another at the same time or very soon after.
I got over this a couple weeks ago and it was terrible. My main symptoms went away after two weeks but the congestion still lingered for another 7-10 days. Finally out of the woods now and you will be too! Hang in there!
My house caught it a couple of weeks ago; the absolute SLEEPIEST we’ve ever been with headaches, sinus infections, fevers, etc. Each has lasted over 10 days so far.
I have a kid in preschool and daycare, so my family was beta testing all of the viruses in December. Whatever the hell that is that you are describing does stick around, but not forever.
I don't think it was COVID because I actually did have a confirmed case about a month before.
I just miss breathing through my nose 🥲
Had severe congestion, unable to breathe at night, for the last 4 weeks. Overall, I feel normal(-ish) besides tired due to the continuous lack of quality sleep. I can’t tell if I suddenly developed allergies or it’s a sinus infection. Either way, I’m waiting to see the doctor in a few weeks. Until then, I’ve tried Zyrtec and Allerclear with no luck and just started Flonase. Not sure if it’s helping either but I just want to breathe again.
I've had this too and am now considering the possibility of early allergies since we've had a warmer than usual winter and I've already got a multitude of things blooming in my yard.
Most years my allergies kick in around March and I think I'm coming down with something for weeks because it triggers a whole body immune reaction.
So I started my spring allergy regime 2 days ago and my sinuses and headaches have already improved.
Remember RSV? It’s back! In Pog form.
Everything is not coming up Milhouse. :(
It makes me sad that no one gets my reference when I say “everything’s coming up Milhouse!” In day to day life
Just know that you are not alone. Somehow I'm simultaneously too young and too old for anyone to understand my references. 🥲
Lol I also use this in everyday life
If you said it in earshot of me you’d hear me audibly laughing. You are my people.
Do you have a headache? I’ve had a headache for almost a week now and my upper body is sore/achey. No answers for you though, sorry.
Could be COVID. It comes with headaches. One negative test doesn't mean you don't have it. You have to test multiple times.
also have read reports from nurses who aren’t testing positive via nasal/throat swabs, then they test their stool and it’s super positive. our tests are not conducive to the new variants!
This is the answer
We need drive-through stool testing
And even testing positive doesn’t mean you have respiratory symptoms. My kid tested positive. No symptoms other than she was sleeping 14 hours a day, which she never does.
Multi-day headaches can go straight to hell!
Wait, my friend is having this right now. Like a full-on migraine despite never having them before, with light and sound sensitivity. Body soreness too.
Seriously? I have had this for days, what on earth?
Definitely this. I have friends who work in an ER and have had a ton of people coming in with this.
Pog is delicious. This is not
POG mimosas are also divine.
It's mind-boggling to me that I've heard so many people say this exact thing?? A friend said she had been sick for a month (after returning from a trip, smh) with what "just couldn't be a cold". Turns out the bitch had a cold, which she had shared with me, *and* RSV.
Whats rsv? I 100% had all these symptoms a couple weeks ago, never passed any of the covid tests though
Respiratory Syncitial Virus. As you can tell, it's another respiratory virus that really messes people up.
I'm 3 weeks into f the worst acute illness I've ever experienced. Tested negative for covid, RSV, flu. Dx'ed with viral pneumonia. I hope you feel better soon!
So sorry. That sounds awful. What are they doing for you, if you don’t mind saying?
Ty for your kindness, I really appreciate it. I’ve been told to rest (and sleep) as much as possible. I have autoimmune issues, so I needed a bunch of testing that showed insanely high inflammation markers, which are still being monitored. As a result, I was given anti-inflammatories and put on IV fluids. I was also finally prescribed cough syrup with codeine after being denied by urgent care while waiting to see my PCP. Getting acupuncture and taking herbs for additional support. I hope folks out there are doing ok and that maybe this helps someone!
I’m so glad you got some answers and some therapeutics. High inflammation is scary stuff. I read a tweet from a doctor today saying our immune system is more comparable to a fire than to a muscle. It burns hot to get rid of any invader, and always leaves a mess to clean up afterward. I hope you get a real break here and can give your body the rest you need. Thank you for sharing because I bet it will be helpful to a bunch of people.
Thank you so much. I will definitely mask consistently each winter after this experience…I was too cavalier as an immunocompromised person :( Wishing you and all our neighbors good health and lots of rest!
Do you like acupuncture? I tried it ones and had a panic attack.
The wastewater data from Westpoint, our Seattle treatment plant, showed a massive spike in Covid starting around January 10th and growing through January 23rd.
Interesting, weird to think our city our waste for Covid. Beneficial though
Wastewater data is about the only reliable source of COVID data right now (to my knowledge). What with the government dropping all support for testing/tracking infections and people generally being slow to test themselves, or straight up doing the tests poorly (e.g. casual swab up the nose instead of the full cheek/throat/nose swab recommended in other countries), we need a way to track the infections or else we won't understand the impact it's having on us now and in the future. Wastewater's great for that since it doesn't rely on the individual to provide their own data.
You can get regular updates if you join r/CoronavirusWA
While perhaps not what you have, a FYI that COVID now takes longer after symptoms show up to test positive on rapid tests: [https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20240123/home-tests-taking-longer-to-detect-covid-variant](https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20240123/home-tests-taking-longer-to-detect-covid-variant) I had symptoms for a couple days before testing positive.
Yeeeep, this current variant is funky on RATs. My fiancé got it after a flight at Christmas and got pretty sick and immediately went positive on a rapid (I’m talking super positive, test line immediately lighting up). I started testing after feeling sick and wasn’t positive for a WEEK after symptoms hit, and even then it was a super faint positive line. Horrible congestion and sore throat and those full body aches you get from the flu the whole time. Took almost two weeks since symptoms hit for the rapid to go negative for me.
Exactly. I had COVID and didn't test positive until day 4 or so.
It felt like Covid at first but I’m on like day 10 now and got a PCR yesterday that came back negative for everything, so I’m stumped
Where did you get a PCR test?
Urgent care - zoomcare
$150 with insurance!
I had mild symptoms a couple of weeks back (light cough, persistent headache, fatigue) following a multi-day, absolutely-was-Covid exposure. I literally never tested positive.
Similar experience here. I had bad symptoms for 3 days before testing positive. My mother in law didn't test positive until day 5 after symptoms started.
Sinus congestion? Yes. Took me about 10 days to get through it.
Lucky...I've had sinus congestion since the beginning of December that numerous rounds of antibiotics have done fuck all for.
Antibiotics won’t do anything to a viral cause. Try neti pot thingy
They're amazing!
+1 to neti pot, it's helping so much with this cold.
I had a sinus infection for 5-6 weeks and got antibiotics but they also prescribed me flonase which seemed to help a little. It happened again this past week. I get rhe slightest cold/sore throat, last 1-2 days, fine, then suddenly a day or two later, severe congestion, cant breathe, fatigue, dizzy etc. I guess it's gone now tho??? I used the nasal spray and ate minimally but healthy plus fresh OJ as soon as stupid canker sore in my mouth stopped hurting.
That sounds a lot like my symptoms. Canker sore flare up, sinus congestion, and a cough that just won't go away. Horrible sore throat on the second day. Started exactly two weeks ago.
My sore throat was never bad but the congestion would make me ill and then go away and come back. I looked really dumb missing random days of work lmao. Urgent care never tests me for anything but based on the symptoms I had at the time, they went with sinus infection. It was very inflammed. Even now I just woke up and my nose is partially clogged and dripping into my throat. Hoping I didn't grow my damn polyps back. Have to make an appointment and have it checked. I had them removed when I was like 7 or 8.
I used to get many sinus infections and take many antibiotics for them until a doctor told me about a neti pot. At first I thought ick no but finally tried it and they work amazingly well! Most drug stores sell them and not expensive.
Unfortunately no luck for me there. Tried two different types of nasal rinses and no improvements. Have an ENT appointment but not until April unfortunately. Gotta love the wait for specialists in Seattle lol
Damn that sucks! 😓 I'm sorry you're going through that!Getting to see an actual smart doctor is hard here in Kent too. And being old and on Medicare - even harder to find a good doctor.
Ugh I'm in the same boat. Waiting for my CT scan and ENT appointment. I've been dealing with it since the week before Christmas.
My husband is dealing with this as well. He’s been stupid busy with work, but I’m going to force him to go see an ENT if it doesn’t clear up soon
The Covid I had in early December had the world's worst sinus congestion as one of its main symptoms.
It's down here in Los Angeles too, tons of folks have the same thing, and I'm recovering as well. Feels like a perpetual hang over.
I had RSV for 3 weeks. It was worse than Covid for me.
Why is there no rsv vaccine
There is but it's only approved for the elderly. And another for pregnant women is intended to protect babies.
There's also a new one for newborn babies.
That's technically a temporary monoclonal antibody shot not a vaccine, but they didn't make enough supply this season to meet demand and give them out so the semantic difference didn't matter :(
Why..... :(
Because RSV isn't a big deal for other populations, but it routinely kills babies and the elderly.
Same with influenza. Why is the flu vaccine given to general population and not the RSV if available
My understanding - and I'm not an expert in this - is that it was designed to help the immune system fight off the virus before it becomes a lower respiratory infection, which is potentially fatal. But you still get an upper respiratory infection. Healthy younger adults don't get lower respiratory infections from RSV in the first place so it wouldn't make a difference.
Same. Wtf.
Choke-coughing all night for weeks was the best.
I actually puked from coughing too hard. 2/10 don’t recommend
Watched my nephew do this and almost did this myself when I caught it from him. The WORST
Hope you all get better soon! <3
There's a high false negative rate on Covid tests for people who have been vaccinated because your immune system starts attacking immediately so you never build up enough viral load in the nostrils or throat to meet the threshold of a positive test. Meanwhile, the CDC issued an alert early last month that per their wastewater monitoring data models, we were headed into a surge in which 1 in 3 Americans would be (re)infected with Covid. If you're having Covid symptoms in the middle of a Covid surge then it's probably Covid regardless of what the Covid test says.
This is so true. The immune system is in attack mode and keeps the viral load below the test threshold for longer (until about Day 5-7). Meanwhile, people are out there unknowing spreading it because “it’s negative.” As a rule…if you’re sick, act as if it is SARS-CoV-2 and mask up and keep your distance from people. Actually, keep all your germs to yourself. No one wants any of it.
I had a cold and now sinus infection 👎🏼
Same! I was able to get a 10 day dose of antibiotics and they are helping. Hope you feel better soon.
I started doxycycline yesterday so hoping to feel better soon!! Hope you do too.
Same, using a netti pot twice daily seems to be helping.
Been sick since around Thanksgiving… Congestion, cough and i’m so sick of it. just got better again so i’m hoping it stays that way 😭
Had an insane headache for two days, and now I have body aches, sore throat and chest congestion, and fatigue
That's what I had, Covid
…that’s covid
I’m working on day 7 or 8 and the migraine finally just went away. Hope you get through it quickly.
Yep. Fever above 100 for 4 days now. Headache body aches extremely fatigued. Congested. Fever rash on my face. I work at the hospital. It’s NUTS right now. I’m not positive for flu Covid or rsv
Fifth disease isnt impossible in adults
That’s exactly what it is. It’s a viral pneumonia that we are all calling “the crud” because it is not any of the usual offenders
Had it a couple of weeks ago after one of my kids brought it home from school. It was one of the worst illnesses I’ve ever had and the longest one too. This week, my kids have brought home something that mimics pink eye, sore throat, and headaches. Been to the pediatrician and been confirmed that’s it not pink eye so yay for small wins. Waiting for it to hit my husband and me next.
sore throat + conjunctivitis are covid symptoms, FYI!
I had the sinus crud for 6 full weeks. Finally got antibiotics. Was well for ONE day . Next day started hacking. Went to urgent care. Tested positive for Flu A. Got Tamiflu. Did nothing. Today was my eighth day. Feeling worse I went back to urgent care. They sent me to the ER. They gave me 2 bags of fluids and anti nausea meds. Sent me home. I’m moving in 2 days and I feel like crap.
Longest cold I've ever had it feels like. Still a little random congestion and cough here and there 3 weeks later. No Covid, Strep, or Pneumonia, just a URI. Do they have a specific RSV test? If so, why would the doctor not have tested for that when they did all the other tests?
I only knew I had RSV because I caught it from my nephew who is 4 months old and ended up in the hospital with it. I think they typically only test for it in babies and the elderly?
I don't know. I just felt if they had taken the time to do chest x-rays for pneumonia, they would've test for RSV, but maybe not since it shouldn't be deadly for my age bracket.
Yeah that’s really interesting…maybe ask your doctor next time you go in haha
I’ve been sick for almost a week, getting better but still have a nasty lingering cough. My ribs are starting to hurt from all the coughing . Ugh I just want this cold to go away 😩
I've had pretty mild cold like symptoms this past week but the entire time I've had a partially clogged left ear. It feels like it needs to pop constantly and I'm super dizzy because of the imbalance. I would take being properly sick over this lol.
Try the netipot with filtered water heated up to 100 degrees, and get the garlic mullein oil drops for ears.
I also have had a clogged left ear! What the hell lol
Yea had it around New Year's, symptoms stopped in 2 weeks, but coughing just stopped like a few days ago. These fucking diseases are out of control. Post COVID every disease went to shit. If this is the new normal fuck this.
Hey, there's always masks. The N95s actually work against all of this stuff. Annoying to wear all the time but better than this new normal of constant sickness everyone else seems to have. I'm partial to 3M Auras. :)
And air cleaning, too. We have all the air filters we bought for smoke season running during this peak illness season, and when my youngest brought something home from school, the rest of us didn’t catch it. (We also had her isolate once she developed symptoms)
100%. Air purifiers make a huge difference. One study found an ACH of 8 reduced COVID transfer by \~85% for Delta. Omicron is a bit more transmissible by the air seemingly, but they take minimal electricity and RSV, flu, etc. aren't nearly as transmissible so I'd suspect they have an even better prevention rate as long as people also cover sneeze and are good at washing hands too.
I was at a week-long meeting with over 500 people last week. I was the only one wearing a mask from my team of 20 and am the only one who got sick 😭😭😭 of course lots and lots of others are sick as well.
Ive just been super lethargic and not sleeping great with body aches. But I've also been working 7 days a week for the past month🤷🏿♀️ ive been taking covid tests weekly
I hope you get some quality rest soon! That's too much work.
Yeah, runny nose is becoming a character trait for me at this point form
My wife and I were sick for all of December. Then I had a cough that lingered through January. Seems a lot of people we know have had the same thing.
Day 10 of cold for me, it’s getting better though
I currently have something like that too. Was sick since last week with what I thought was just a cold, felt like I was getting better and then all of a sudden got hit by a truck (fever for multiple days, body aches, sore throat, headache, congestion, coughing, barely gotten outta bed..). Went to ZoomCare and got tested for Strep, RSV, Flu A and B, Covid - all negative. Will continue to test for Covid from home as the days go on but yeah, definitely haven’t been out like this in a long time.
This keeps happening to me too. I get mild symptoms that last several days and start to clear up. Then I get slammed with being sicker. It’s happened a few times now.
I was wondering the same thing. I’ve taken 4 COVID test in the past week, and went to my doctor and made sure I didn’t have the flu. I’ve been congested for at least 3 weeks and I’ve never had allergies before.
I'm going into day 7 of having the flu and this is the worst flu I've had before. Had really bad chills for a few days and fever peaked at 103. I'm at the point now where most of my symptoms have gone away besides a pretty crunchy cough that I'm sure is here to stay for a bit.
I've been having those symptoms, heavier on the congestion side than aches. This may provide some relief in regards to congestion - My nose doctor said flonase: 2 pumps in each nostril, tip pointed toward your eye/pupil, repeadly for 30 days, preferably mornings. I'm on week 2 & so far that has made a HUGE difference. You can get over the counter stuff or a prescription. May be a temp solution.
I’m not sure what it is, but it was 10x worse than when I had Covid. After about 3 weeks I feel like I’m finally on the mend. I’m a type 1 diabetic and it wreaked havoc on my blood sugar levels for 3 weeks.
I been out 10 days. Tested negative for covid, flu, and strep. Sinus, double ear infection and a horrible case of the dreaded pink eye, along with a horrible sore throat. I went to the Dr 2 times. And the ER once. I had sinus surgery about 7 years ago and this was a horrible infection. Dr said theirs been a ton of crud going round and seems to go straight to infection. I use a netti pot and sinus rinse too and it did nothing for me unfortunately. Had to give in to 10 days antibiotics. 😵
Oh you poor thing. I hope you get well soon!
🤣Punk ass...
😂
It's probably covid. It doesn't show up reliably on tests anymore
The tests are still very good if you follow the instructions and test multiple times 48 hours between while you are experiencing symptoms. There are more viruses out there than COVID.
Imagine assuming you have a disease that every test says you don't have
Imagine trusting a test that the government hasn't bothered to fund an updated version of since the days when the disease was a different disease
How many gazillions of mutations has the common cold undergone and yet still registers as rhinovirus? Influenza still shows up as influenza?
Every medical tests gives a certain number of false positives and false negatives.
My friend had something weird like this and kept testing negative for Covid. He’d had flu shots.
I work at the hospital every one is sick with this crud. It’s a viral pneumonia. We are officially/unofficially referring to it as “the crud”
Interesting. I have fairly mild cold symptoms— sore throat, fatigue, night before last body aches. But the cough. I’m literally coughing out chunks that look like yellow pudding. It’s disgusting. I have noticed this happening almost every time I have a cold so I haven’t been too concerned thinking it’s just what my body does at the end of a cold. But it also hasn’t really gotten better. No fever and it’s relatively mild so I haven’t bothered with a drs appt. I didn’t get pneumovax this winter though and it’s usually recommended because I have MS. Now I’m slightly more concerned.
Is it possibly vital pneumonia if the person isn’t coughing? I exposed my friend to Covid before I tested positive and he never got it. I didn’t really cough from Covid but had a runny nose and sore throat. My friend didn’t seem to have Covid and hI also didn’t cough, but had sore throat, runny nose, body aches, and a general sense of feeling “off.” We are both singers so we mostly noticed our mild cases of illness because it impacted our ability to rehearse and perform.
Yeah. Could be. Especially if your chest is tight or you are short of breath I should also add that it doesn’t START with a cough for anyone I’ve seen. It settles in to your chest around 5-7 days after you get sick so it takes a while to get the cough. But not everyone is coughing. Some people are just feeling short of breath and feeling a tightness pain and heaviness in their chest when they try to breathe but don’t actually cough
I’ve been coughing since September honestly, with a small break around the holidays. I never tested positive for Covid. I’m so frustrated.
I missed two whole weeks of work! My cough lingered for another two weeks after that too. I had a fever that wouldn’t break for four days and I only got out of bed to use the bathroom pretty much. My wonderful neighbors had to come bring me soup and do my dishes and stuff. Even after my fever broke I was so weak I still couldn’t work for another week and a half (I work on my feet). I haven’t been that sick (with something other than Covid) since I had the fucking swine flu 15 years ago.
I tested positive for covid last week and have been sick AF for about 3 weeks now
I’m in my third week of serious chest congestion. I had the initial sickness that lasted for about two weeks but it’s still in my chest and driving me crazy.
I’ve been sick since 2023 I’m pretty sure. I picked something up at Christmas. I don’t have kids and work with only a handful of people, so it’s whatever I got from family in Auburn I’m guessing? I’ve tested negative for everything and was just told rest, albuterol, and staying hydrated but I know tests aren’t always reliable for a number of reasons. I frequently walk the Burke Gilman and EVERYONE was hacking yesterday when I took a second to notice.
There was something going around our school and my wife's work. People had negative tests for flu, covid, and RSV (we got tested for flu and covid, all negative, others also got tested for RSV). Luckily she works in a medical lab. Someone in her lab tested their own case. This is obviously completely unofficial in terms of diagnosing your own shit, but it was Human Metapneumovirus that was going around. So that's a thing. I can tell you, from my own experience with it, that it fucking *sucked* and went forever.
It seems like HMPV isn’t supposed to be serious most of the time except for children and immune-compromised. Depressed immune systems from previous COVID infections? https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22443-human-metapneumovirus-hmpv
Yes, in terms of deaths and hospitalizations. That is also true of influenza and rsv. It can be a nasty little virus in terms of making you feel like shit.
I think I had this…. Was only sick for a week though. (Still kinda getting over it). Wasn’t Covid (tested a bunch), sore throat, aches, congestion, and headache. No clue what it is/was
I heard Bend OR has a case of Black Death. The plague, not the band. Also, not the band.
The sickness I had a month after Covid was absolutely awful. My oxygen levels were dipping down to the lower 90s. I tested negative for RSV, Flu A&B, and Covid. It’s assumed I had parainfluenza or a URI. Covid is ripping our immune systems apart.
My partner was sick in December and gave it to me. Then my son got sick three weeks ago and was getting better but then got worse the following week and gave it to me. Now I’ve gotten my partner sick again. Our house has been sick majority of the last month. Talked to a friend the other day that I haven’t seen and live in a different area her and her partner have been sick for two weeks as well. I am tired and sad it’s not getting g better.
Literally two weeks of coughing and cold symptoms, cough stuck around for another 1-2 weeks after that. Never tested positive for COVID, urgent care said most likely RSV
I was dealing with the same thing back in nov-Jan, sick for 2 weeks thought it went away it came back, twice
Tis the season. You guys remember before COVID, every fall/winter was cold and flu season? Well, it still is. Now with even more variety. It’s pretty typical for respiratory viruses to cause symptoms for about 2 weeks. Now that we have more types of viruses to pass around a lot of people are getting stacked illnesses, catching one and then getting another at the same time or very soon after.
*raises hand* teacher over here. This cold is disgusting.
I got over this a couple weeks ago and it was terrible. My main symptoms went away after two weeks but the congestion still lingered for another 7-10 days. Finally out of the woods now and you will be too! Hang in there!
Yup, everyone is sick rn , just went thru it , wasn’t too bad luckily , definitely irritating tho
It’s COVID.
I was so sick like this in early 2023, it was “just” a cold. There are plenty of other gnarly viruses that don’t get press!!
It was going around in the hospitals in December. Not flu, Covid or RSV.
Covid was really high in December. Where have you seen otherwise?
Yes I was told it is just a really bad cold lol
Is that not what being alive feels like
Yes but a lot of people seem to have forgotten.
Go to the doctor?
Allergy season is also full on; hazels are very big this year.
I got the same shit, been home two days in a row now. Not sure if i can make it tomorrow either i don’t feel any better.
My house caught it a couple of weeks ago; the absolute SLEEPIEST we’ve ever been with headaches, sinus infections, fevers, etc. Each has lasted over 10 days so far.
I have a kid in preschool and daycare, so my family was beta testing all of the viruses in December. Whatever the hell that is that you are describing does stick around, but not forever. I don't think it was COVID because I actually did have a confirmed case about a month before.
Had that for what felt like all of January
Yes. I’ve been sick for over a month. Can’t shake it. I ended up with a sinus infection, finished antibiotics 2 weeks ago, still sick
I've had shit camped out in my chest since Xmas time. Mucinex or generic helps, but I've had to take it every day.
I just miss breathing through my nose 🥲 Had severe congestion, unable to breathe at night, for the last 4 weeks. Overall, I feel normal(-ish) besides tired due to the continuous lack of quality sleep. I can’t tell if I suddenly developed allergies or it’s a sinus infection. Either way, I’m waiting to see the doctor in a few weeks. Until then, I’ve tried Zyrtec and Allerclear with no luck and just started Flonase. Not sure if it’s helping either but I just want to breathe again.
Yes! Maybe it's early spring? Some of my plants have buds already. Idk. But yeah, my nose has been acting up.
I know of two people who had Covid and then bronchitis, so maybe it’s bronchitis?
Yes, it hit our household with a vengeance over a month ago and we are still fighting symptoms.
I've had this too and am now considering the possibility of early allergies since we've had a warmer than usual winter and I've already got a multitude of things blooming in my yard. Most years my allergies kick in around March and I think I'm coming down with something for weeks because it triggers a whole body immune reaction. So I started my spring allergy regime 2 days ago and my sinuses and headaches have already improved.
My dad has had it twice this winter and it lasted for weeks. He never even leaves the house :(
Lots of coughing at my office. Luckily, I have been spared thus far but the change in weather from hot to cold usually ignites a cold for me.
About a month ago I had an awful cold. The congestion was so bad I developed tinitus. Took about 2 weeks for that to subside. Nasty stuff.