Experiences of Teh Plague

[Cudzoziemiec]

Hope your mum and stepdad are okay, Barakta, but as you say, they're both medics so it's really on them.

I've just been given my sip of Pfizer the appepfizer. "See you next year" the enjabbulator said, so I guess it's an annual ritual now. It'll probably be the last bit of the NHS left standing by 2025.

The process was much less efficient than previous times. Not only a much longer wait between booking and appointment but, despite (or because of) being given a time, a 20-minute queue.

[Ruthie]

Second time around for me now 

[Wowbagger]

I hope it's not too grim for you, Ruthie.

[Wobbly John]

First time for me last week. It presented as a very mild cold, but as I had a LFT kit, I tested.

4th jab was about 3 weeks ago (bivalent)...

Had issues with extremities feeling cold and dehydration (peeing more than I could drink, but no headache or dark pee - 2kg weight loss).

According to guidance, I would have still been working if I hadn’t taken a test (no raised temperature and well enough, testing not recommended, but if you do and it is positive, then 5 days off).

[hellymedic]

According to guidance, I would have still been working if I hadn’t taken a test (no raised temperature and well enough, testing not recommended, but if you do and it is positive, then 5 days off).

That scares the sh!t out of me and causes me to keep my distance from other humans...

[Jakob]

Well, first time officially positive. Started feeling crappy Sunday, was down and out most of Monday, but tested negative. Mostly recovered Tuesday and then today got worse and I tested again and it's very clearly positive.
Currently just like a bad headcold. Light coughing, runny nose, light fever.

[Duckfoot1606]

On my second bout now, started feeling a bit off colour on Tue, tested yesterday and got an instant positive from a flow test. Symptoms are a dry (but not sore) throat, snivels with occasional sneeze and a headache. Oh well, I suppose I should be pretty much bombproof for Xmas.

A

[Jakob]

Increasingly convinced the Monday/Tueday was a 'regular' 24-36 hour cold, as I had almost recovered Tuesday before a new set of symptoms set in Wednesday (and I tested positive).
 Sorta functional today, but still get tired and woozy if I stand/move too much. Still haven't qualified for sick pay, so this is expensive although my boss hinted at 'working something out'.

[hellymedic]

Omicron and its descendants are very slow to show on rapid antigen tests and can bounce up and down symptomatically.
GWS anyway!

[John Stonebridge]

Had my Covid [4th] & flu doubler jab yesterday - the nearest location I could find wasn't near home or work so I ended up driving to work and from there to Ocean Terminal, then home, with a trip to the recycling centre thrown in.   

No wonder Edinburgh taxi drivers are so eye bulgingly angry, Id hate to do that every day. 

Feeling a bit spaegie today but paracetamol is helping. 

Maybe by next year I'll be expected to pay -> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-63659754

[Jakob]

It's now settled into a chesty cough, that comes and goes. Limited to herbal remedies, as AME's has a poor opinion on flying and cough medicine.

[CrinklyLion]

Arse. Round two.

It was 7 months after the last dose before I felt able to go for a bike ride, and having lost any vague resemblance of fitness I may ever have had I still haven't got back up to 20 miles, can't ride up hills, and am epically slow as in far, far slower than I've ever been since any of you have known me. i'm really really hoping that the shorter gap (six weeks or so, compared with five months) between booster and infection helps out this time....

[andrewc]

Bah!  GWS Crinkly.


I'm feeling a bit under the weather with a slight chesty cough for the last couple of days.   I used one of my stashed covid tests which was negative,  but I'll repeat that shortly just in case.

[Kim]

Arse. Round two.

It was 7 months after the last dose before I felt able to go for a bike ride, and having lost any vague resemblance of fitness I may ever have had I still haven't got back up to 20 miles, can't ride up hills, and am epically slow as in far, far slower than I've ever been since any of you have known me. i'm really really hoping that the shorter gap (six weeks or so, compared with five months) between booster and infection helps out this time....

Bollocks, and indeed, fuck.

Fingers crossed...

[Polar Bear]

There seems to be an awful lot of it about again.  We had our first dose only a month or so back and we have a number of friends and family who have it or have recently had it.

Thankfully it seems that for most it's a few really weary days and the worst is over within a week but it has a long tail.  When I say long, for me it was about 3 weeks before I felt myself again.

Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery Crinkles.

[CrinklyLion]

I really hope so.

Last time was a fortnight (Easter Holidays) of being really unwell, then about 12 weeks (entire summer term) of being ill/knackered/running on fumes (during which I basically got work done, cooked to feed my and Cub, and did pretty much *nothing* else because that took everything I had) then the best part of six weeks summer holiday spent almost entirely asleep. I realised that I was just about back on form work-wise in September when the worst New-Year-New-Term-Ticket-Tsunami I've ever had hit me - our team of 4 f/t + 2p/t, one of which is me, got through over 600 helldesk tickets in a fortnight. More than half were mine. I figured I must be approximately better because a few months back I couldn't have coped with that workload or the 15-18 hour days it took just to do the firefighting and get it heading in the right direction.

It's literally three weeks since I attempted my first non-utlity ride, and my first ride over 10 miles, since pre-covid. The idea of trying to trudge through another six months of feeling that shit all over again would be grim.

[Lightning Phil]

There seems to be an awful lot of it about again.

These days many simply aren’t testing, or if they do and are positive they come into work anyway if they don’t have a temperature as per current Government guidelines.

[rogerzilla]

Anecdotally, it's rife among our employees and at the local hospital but the tests aren't picking it up until about the 6th day after symptoms start.  My mother has it (she is fine).  I have a bit of a cough but test is very negative.

[Ruthie]

I really hope so.

Last time was a fortnight (Easter Holidays) of being really unwell, then about 12 weeks (entire summer term) of being ill/knackered/running on fumes (during which I basically got work done, cooked to feed my and Cub, and did pretty much *nothing* else because that took everything I had) then the best part of six weeks summer holiday spent almost entirely asleep. I realised that I was just about back on form work-wise in September when the worst New-Year-New-Term-Ticket-Tsunami I've ever had hit me - our team of 4 f/t + 2p/t, one of which is me, got through over 600 helldesk tickets in a fortnight. More than half were mine. I figured I must be approximately better because a few months back I couldn't have coped with that workload or the 15-18 hour days it took just to do the firefighting and get it heading in the right direction.

It's literally three weeks since I attempted my first non-utlity ride, and my first ride over 10 miles, since pre-covid. The idea of trying to trudge through another six months of feeling that shit all over again would be grim.

Ah shit Crinkles.

I have proper Long Covid, have done since March last year. Then tested positive again on November 11th. Needed steroids for my chest again, but now I seem to be back where I was a month ago. So it hasn’t really made the chronic stuff worse. I hope it’s the same for you xxxx

[CrinklyLion]

Yeah, I have a friend who has been dealing with long covid since getting it (from work) pre vaccines, but who has been slowly and gradually getting a bit better over the past year, Just got a second round, but said that they're more or less back to where they were a few weeks ago. Fingers crossed, eh?

[Kim]

Anecdotally, it's rife among our employees and at the local hospital but the tests aren't picking it up until about the 6th day after symptoms start.  My mother has it (she is fine).  I have a bit of a cough but test is very negative.

Your irregular reminder that the lateral flow tests had poor sensitivity back when the circulating variants were still the ones they were designed for... 

[rogerzilla]

Had a rough night with a massive fever - was shivering for 90 mins.  That seems to have subsided now.  There is another weird virus doing the rounds, possibly some kind of flu.

[T42]

Anecdotally, it's rife among our employees and at the local hospital but the tests aren't picking it up until about the 6th day after symptoms start.  My mother has it (she is fine).  I have a bit of a cough but test is very negative.

Your irregular reminder that the lateral flow tests had poor sensitivity back when the circulating variants were still the ones they were designed for... 

Yebbut IIRC they depend on part of the S protein that isn't under any evolutionary pressure.  Which seems a bit phunny to me because that would put that part of the S protein under evolutionary pressure, though it would be milder than that of an effective vaccine.

Anyway, MrsT has just recovered after being under the weather for a week/10 days, though she put it down to getting the flu soon after being vaccinated against it.  Natch, we didn't think of Covid & LFTs until yesterday.

[rafletcher]

Anecdotally, it's rife among our employees and at the local hospital but the tests aren't picking it up until about the 6th day after symptoms start.  My mother has it (she is fine).  I have a bit of a cough but test is very negative.

Your irregular reminder that the lateral flow tests had poor sensitivity back when the circulating variants were still the ones they were designed for... 

I guess it depends on where you get your information from, or how you define "poor".

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-11-11-oxford-university-and-phe-confirm-lateral-flow-tests-show-high-specificity-and-are#:~:text=It%20has%20an%20overall%20sensitivity,in%20symptomatic%20and%20asymptomatic%20individuals.

Meanwhile we haven't had a case a work for several weeks, looks like the local wave has passed.

[Basil]

#1 Son has finally got it.  I am very surprised that he avoided it for so long.  Particularly as he works in the Library of Birmingham and is in constant contact with the public.

Says he's fine and is enjoying his week off.