Yes! Stay strong fellow mutant! I think my fam had it in late Feb, nasty but we were lucky… 'net-hugs
Your isolation reminds me of a great Paul Di Filippo story where a agoraphobic music reviewer holes up in his apartment for years… decades… his groceries are delivered, his review records are delivered and all is well. Until one day… he steps on his favorite record (Magic Carpet Ride?) and has to venture out for a replacement. Times Square is transformed from hells kitchen to a neo fascist corporatist disneyland (pretty accurate I’d say!) I think it was in the collection Ribofunk?
Everyone is different,and probably those administering the test vary as well. My reaction was “unpleasant but no big deal” too, except that I felt I was about to have a nosebleed for four or five minutes afterward (it never happened).
Really depends on the test: the ones we’ve done are not terribly invasive. I felt like I was going to sneeze the whole time, but weirdly never did, and the feeling ended the second the swab came out. My wife did have to stop and sneeze once.
I’ve been tested twice, I think my wife twice now. The locations are (modest) walking distance for us (we drive), though scheduling can be a drag (and probably way moreso for someone without a smartphone or computer).
PROTIP: force yourself to relax your eyes/eyelids. Clamping them closed - an entirely normal reaction - tightens up the cavity and makes the process much worse.
I’ve been nasally violated thrice so far this year. I /probably/ won’t get another one this year, but I expect to get a few next year. The first one (resulting from medical research programme I’ve been part of for several years) was sweet as a nut. The second one (resulting from a visit to a restricted facility) was less pleasant, but still fine. The third was as a result of catching the flu, and getting jabbed with a nose full of snot wasn’t fun at all, and I screwed my eyes up. The guy poking me sympathised and gave me the advice to try and relax.
FWIW, all three occurred within a radius of about 1km in a city:
1st one was in the back of a campervan that came to me.
2nd one was in a medical/GPs clinic I walked to from work.
3rd one was in a drive through thingy, and I was the only car there the whole time.
edit: the worst bit, I find, is afterwards and the persistent feeling that there’s a blob of something caught in the back of your nose/top of your throat. No amount of blowing, sneezing, or coughing will dislodge that sucker. The feeling fades over about 20 mins.
I got tested back in November at a clinic (result was negative, it was a sinus infection, and I recovered in about a week.) It felt odd, intrusive and almost ticklish, but it wasn’t painful, and it’s over quickly. So yeah, the test isn’t pleasant, but it’s nothing to be scared of either.
Could have used that advice on Saturday. I have a relaxation routine for dentistry, but never thought to apply it to Covid testing. In hindsight, I’d go back willingly.
I was worried about that (blood thinners) but the nurse said she’d never had that issue with one of her patients. I know that feeling well but came nowhere close to it from the swab.
The light explosion behind the eyelids was fascinating. I sometimes get optical migraines, but the swab experience gave multicoloured chaos, predominantly yellow and red. My migraines give pure white amorphous shapes, sometimes tinged in blue, and the edges seem pixelated. In contrast, after a decent yoga session, my whole visual field is quietly black. A few times it has been the most intense blue, no flashes, no noise, just a deep, deep blue.
Is this the same swab test that is done for flu? If so, it’s not so bad for me. Haven’t had a COVID-19 test, but every time I’ve had the flue one I’ve been so miserable I really didn’t notice much.
