Covid Finally Got Me

[canyonwalker]

It's been a minor point of pride for me that I've been a Covid Virgin, a Covid Dodger, a... Novid... for almost 5 years. But probably not anymore. I had a positive Covid test this morning.



This comes after several days of getting through what I thought was a cold. I tested 4 days ago with a negative result when I started suffering a cold— or cold-like symptoms— after working a trade show in Las Vegas. Over those 4 days my symptoms first worsened and now have been getting better. It's possible, perhaps even likely, though, that first test was a false negative. Also, late last night Hawk tested positive after experiencing worsening symptoms since yesterday afternoon. That's what pushed me to re-test this morning.

I'm in an uncomfortable situation right now trying to anticipate what happens next. It could be any of these three:

1. I'm on Day 5 of Covid, my previous negative test having been a false negative. My symptoms have already improved over the past 2 days, and I will continue to get better. 😌


2. I'm on Day 1 of Covid, a new infection just as I'm getting over a common cold, and I'm about to get way worse. 😰


3. It's also possible today's test is a false positive, all I ever had was a cold, and I'll continue to heal up in a few days (as #1 above) and I deserve to keep my Covid Dodger status. 😅 I will test again tonight or tomorrow.

For now I'm taking a wait-and-see approach. I'm not yet making a doctor appointment to get a Paxlovid prescription like Hawk is. Her choice makes sense as she's at the start of the illness and her symptoms are worsening. Mine seem already to be mostly over. I'm catering to possibility #1 above (or maybe #3). But if I start feeling worse— if it looks like I'm actually in case #2— I'll seek medical care, too.

Comments

[ckd]

Sympathies and best wishes to you both.

I've had one definite case (multiple positive antigen tests, plenty of symptoms) and two possible cases (positive on a molecular test, immediately treated with Paxlovid, but without any positives during the test-out-of-isolation process nor any symptoms so it's impossible to distinguish between "false positive" and "true positive, caught early enough because of the molecular test to be stomped flat before it settled in" afterwards).

[some_other_dave]

Ah, bummer! I was hoping your cold wouldn't turn out to be CV-19.

But the good news is that it's not nearly as hazardous and a lot more treatable than back in 2020.

[canyonwalker]

I agree, it's like we've got the JV strains of Covid now. Or to paraphrase George H.W. Bush, a kinder, gentler Covid.

[solarbird]

More treatable, yes. Less hazardous, only as a result of that and vaccines.

It's even picked up some new tricks, like triggering macular degeneration in some people. So get that paxlovid started as soon as you can.

[solarbird]

At this point, these tests are returning high rates of false negative results - particularly early on in infections - with very few false positives. Your first test was almost certainly a false negative.