I found out late bout ‘hayfever’ of was in fact Covid
MILD SYMPTOMS MIMICKED MY NORMAL ALLERGIES AND MEANT I ENDED UP HAVING TO TAKE A TEST ON A SUNDAY MORNING. MY EXPERIENCE MAY HELP YOU
IF you’re a hayfever sufferer like me, you probably spent a large portion of the summer months playing an anxious game of mental tennis.
Could this runny nose be the deadly virus or is this the harmless hayfever I’ve come to know and despise?
Most of the time the latter was true, and after spending countless hours feverishly researching the differences between hayfever and Covid symptoms online, I got better at recognising allergies.
Throughout summer I managed to steer clear of coronavirus, as did the people around me, and for that I feel privileged and truly grateful. However, this would not last.
Hayfever can, at its worst, cause a sufferer to feel physically unwell – like having a cold. Symptoms can range from a blocked nose and stuffy head to wooziness and a mild cough.
It is also a common misconception that hayfever, also called allergic rhinitis, is only caused by pollen from plants in the summer months, when in fact it can be suffered all year round.
So, as someone who experiences allergies from February to October, I wasn’t surprised this year when the battle with snot and sneezing continued until late last month.
However, a daily dose of antihistamines relieved the symptoms and it had been unusually mild last week, so I wasn’t concerned it was anything else. On top of that, I don’t really leave the house to go anywhere other than the shop for food or to buy essentials, and any socialising I have been doing took place outside on walks, or within my household bubble.
I’d also spent enough time reading about coronavirus to know exactly what the big red flags are: having a fever, a new continuous cough and a loss of sense of smell or taste.
I had none of these, yet I found out I DO have coronavirus.
Its almost impossible for me to pin down exactly when my Covid “symptoms” started because I didn’t and still don’t really have any.
Last week, I had the classic blocked nose and sneezing, itchy and sticky eyes every morning, tingling sinuses after I’d been outside and a mild stuffy feeling in my head – these weren’t new symptoms.
It wasn’t until the morning of Sunday, October 25, that I woke up and my gut feeling told me something wasn’t right. There’s no other way I can really explain it, I had a gut feeling that there was something “off” and so I decided to do a bit more research into what could be the problem.
I thought I might have a more serious allergy to dust or mould, maybe even to a particular food or detergent.
That’s when I came across a host of lesser-known coronavirus symptoms suffered by people all over the world that aren’t included in the Government’s official list.
These include a blocked nose, watery and sticky eyes, sneezing, a phlegmy cough, stomach upset, confusion, dizziness and skin rashes, among many others – a couple of which I had experienced.
Immediately I went on to the Government website to book a Covid test and tried to calm the inevitable panic rising in my chest that threatened to overflow.
Booking a test was easy, although at one point the system asked whether I had experienced any of the main symptoms to which I had to say yes, untruthfully. Otherwise, the system would have prevented me from booking a test, so I’m overwhelmingly glad now that I did.
Other questions on the form include information about where you live, when the symptoms started, whether you’re an essential worker and contact details.
Given that the Government’s han
dling of this pandemic has been widely criticised as shambolic, I was surprised at how simple, efficient and uncomplicated the booking system was.
I managed to get a slot at my local test site, Nottingham County Hall, within the hour (at 9.30am) so I quickly jumped out of bed and went for the appointment. It wasn’t where I expected to be on that particular morning but the experience wasn’t half as scary as I expected, thanks to the great staff and overall organisation. On arrival, I was given the choice between a self-assessment test or to have someone do it for me. I opted to do it myself and was directed to a designated parking spot to take the test.
All of the staff on site were incredibly friendly and helpful. I’d heard a lot about coronavirus tests from friends and acquaintances who’ve had to take one, in particular the fact that most people gag while they do it. The actual test involves taking a 10 to 15 second swab of the back of your throat where your tonsils are, before sticking the swab up your nose for a further 10 seconds. After hearing all the stories I was a bit nervous, but after taking a couple of deep breaths I got on with it and it was over in the blink of an eye.
And that was it, I handed my test over to the officials at the site and went home to anxiously await the results – it was all over in less than 10 minutes.
Officials said I could expect to wait at least 24 hours for the results to come through, but by 7am on Monday morning I had the answer that everybody dreads: a positive test.
Even though catching coronavirus can happen to anybody, getting that positive result felt like a slap in the face.
It felt like I had personally failed on some level and I still can’t stop thinking about the potential that I have infected other people who are more vulnerable than me. Had I known that the symptoms I was experiencing could have been a sign that it was coronavirus instead of common allergies, I would have acted sooner. But when you’re accustomed to having them all the time, it is genuinely impossible to distinguish those from Covid-19, especially if you are someone who might be more asymptomatic.
According to a text from the NHS Test and Trace team, who messaged within hours of getting the result, I and my household had to self-isolate for 10 days.
I’m devastated that I have Covid, more for the people who I may have unconsciously infected than for myself, and I would urge anyone who suspects they might have it to take a test.
More awareness needs to be raised about the vastly varying coronavirus symptoms that people experience, especially young people like me, in their 20s and 30s.
Thankfully, I’ve been avoiding public spaces where I can, as well as sticking to social distancing, but I did go out running around my local area a couple of times last week, and hung out in a friend’s garden.
Questions are constantly whizzing around my head about who I’ve been in contact with and whether they could be infected with coronavirus. I also have no idea where I caught it from.
I feel incredibly lucky I have so far had a very mild run-in with the disease where others have had their lives devastated by the impact of the pandemic.
Here’s to hoping that sharing this story will spur other people into being more cautious and getting a test, even if you aren’t sure whether your symptoms are the “right” ones.
Here’s to hoping that sharing this story will spur other people into being more cautious and getting a test. Noah Martin