Got my antibody test results

Nurses COVID

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Back in mid-December to mid-January I had what I thought was a strange cold. I had a cough that was productive with an expectorant but only minimal nasal drainage or congestion. It would get better for a few days, then come back bad again for 4 or 5 days. It cycled like this 3 or 4 times. I had some deep congestion in my chest where I could hear and feel some wheezes while exhaling after a deep breath. After about 4 weeks it was finally gone. I haven't had a single day where I felt under the weather since, but I've been curious if that could have been coronavirus.

So I went to Labcorp and got myself tested for antibodies last week. I got the results yesterday and I was POSITIVE for the antibodies. So here I sit with confirmation that either I had it back in January, or I had it later and was asymptomatic. Either way, I am negative for the virus itself now. So I'm wondering if anyone else has had the antibody test and if so were you unexpectedly positive?

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

I wouldn't put too much trust in the results just yet. There are too many false positives and too many false negatives at this point.
In addition, we don't know yet whether a person can get reinfected.

I would wait until they refine the tests and the testing procedures, and until we have time to see whether people actually do acquire immunity.

https://www.CDC.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/resources/antibody-tests-guidelines.html

https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/questions-and-answers/#immunity

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9 hours ago, bossfrog said:

Back in mid-December to mid-January I had what I thought was a strange cold. I had a cough that was productive with an expectorant but only minimal nasal drainage or congestion. It would get better for a few days, then come back bad again for 4 or 5 days. It cycled like this 3 or 4 times. I had some deep congestion in my chest where I could hear and feel some wheezes while exhaling after a deep breath. After about 4 weeks it was finally gone. I haven't had a single day where I felt under the weather since, but I've been curious if that could have been coronavirus.

So I went to Labcorp and got myself tested for antibodies last week. I got the results yesterday and I was POSITIVE for the antibodies. So here I sit with confirmation that either I had it back in January, or I had it later and was asymptomatic. Either way, I am negative for the virus itself now. So I'm wondering if anyone else has had the antibody test and if so were you unexpectedly positive?

Same here, I was deathly sick back in late dec-feb. I have NEVER been this sick before. My sickness seemed like it lasted for months, Coughing, congestion, rhonci, fever, chills, I thought to myself I really got a BAD case of the flu. I will tell you it was an awful experience that I do not care to ever experience again. I have not done the antibody testing but I'm thinking I should. I'm convinced I had covid.

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Specializes in OR SCRUBULATOR, Nurse Practitioner.

I travelled to Africa and the middle east back in February. I remember seeing tons of people wearing masks in the airport, and did not know what was up, but I was so excited to go on my vacation, I didn't give it much thought. When I got to the airport I had a stuffy nose, by the time we got to our stopover, I had lost my voice completely. We landed in Africa and the hot humid weather remedied my illness within a few hours. I felt great! Had the most relaxing 5 days. Then we went to the Middle East, spent another 5 days and returned to America. The dry air on the plane seemingly reactivated the illness I had left America with, and by the time we landed in the wintery northeast 20 hours later, I was full on sick. I could not sleep at night because of a horrible dry hacking cough. I couldn't take a deep breath in the day, so I couldn't do activities that made me pant. I had a horrible headache that wouldn't quit. My daughters had diarrhea and fevers. My husband had GI and flu-like symptoms as well. My daughters and I had what we presumed was a bacterial eye infection. My youngest had a random rash on her abdomen, back and groin.

In mid-March, we were notified that symptoms of fever, headache, cough, and GI disturbances indicated exposure/infection and we were not to come to work. By then it was too late. I had already come to work because I was afraid of getting in trouble. My manager had just had a conversation with me that all staff was being monitored on the amount of days they called out sick, so I came to work hoping they would send me home. It was so busy, they never did. I took ibuprofen for my fevers and headaches, and changed my scrubs when my breakthrough sweats soaked them. My coworkers jokingly referred to me as patient zero. Things quickly became scary at my job, as it did at many of the hospitals around me, and I took a leave of absence for fear of being made to work in a unit I was not trained to work in, without PPE and with unnecessary exposure. In May, I reluctantly took the antibody test. I hoped it would be negative, but I knew it would be positive. It was. ?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
On 5/29/2020 at 9:32 PM, StacyAtheNurse said:

I travelled to Africa and the middle east back in February. I remember seeing tons of people wearing masks in the airport, and did not know what was up, but I was so excited to go on my vacation, I didn't give it much thought. When I got to the airport I had a stuffy nose, by the time we got to our stopover, I had lost my voice completely. We landed in Africa and the hot humid weather remedied my illness within a few hours. I felt great! Had the most relaxing 5 days. Then we went to the Middle East, spent another 5 days and returned to America. The dry air on the plane seemingly reactivated the illness I had left America with, and by the time we landed in the wintery northeast 20 hours later, I was full on sick. I could not sleep at night because of a horrible dry hacking cough. I couldn't take a deep breath in the day, so I couldn't do activities that made me pant. I had a horrible headache that wouldn't quit. My daughters had diarrhea and fevers. My husband had GI and flu-like symptoms as well. My daughters and I had what we presumed was a bacterial eye infection. My youngest had a random rash on her abdomen, back and groin.

In mid-March, we were notified that symptoms of fever, headache, cough, and GI disturbances indicated exposure/infection and we were not to come to work. By then it was too late. I had already come to work because I was afraid of getting in trouble. My manager had just had a conversation with me that all staff was being monitored on the amount of days they called out sick, so I came to work hoping they would send me home. It was so busy, they never did. I took ibuprofen for my fevers and headaches, and changed my scrubs when my breakthrough sweats soaked them. My coworkers jokingly referred to me as patient zero. Things quickly became scary at my job, as it did at many of the hospitals around me, and I took a leave of absence for fear of being made to work in a unit I was not trained to work in, without PPE and with unnecessary exposure. In May, I reluctantly took the antibody test. I hoped it would be negative, but I knew it would be positive. It was. ?

Would you have worn a mask or time anything differently had you known more about the pandemic before traveling? Isn't it interesting that the CDC wasn't warning international travelers?

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Specializes in OR SCRUBULATOR, Nurse Practitioner.
5 hours ago, toomuchbaloney said:

Would you have worn a mask or time anything differently had you known more about the pandemic before traveling? Isn't it interesting that the CDC wasn't warning international travelers?

Had I known, we would have tried to get our vacation rescheduled. But I suppose that I’m saying that in retrospect. I honestly don’t even remember being concerned about COVID. I don’t remember it being something that I thought pertained to me. I do remember wondering why so many people were wearing masks in the airport. I also remember thinking it strange that they fever checked us in the airport. At the time I believe it was still in China, and I was only asked if I had traveled to China recently, but nothing more. I’m surprised I didn’t infect more people at my job if I was at work while I was sick, but that may be because I work in a unit where everyone has to wear a mask at all times anyway.

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
8 hours ago, StacyAtheNurse said:

Had I known, we would have tried to get our vacation rescheduled. But I suppose that I’m saying that in retrospect. I honestly don’t even remember being concerned about COVID. I don’t remember it being something that I thought pertained to me. I do remember wondering why so many people were wearing masks in the airport. I also remember thinking it strange that they fever checked us in the airport. At the time I believe it was still in China, and I was only asked if I had traveled to China recently, but nothing more. I’m surprised I didn’t infect more people at my job if I was at work while I was sick, but that may be because I work in a unit where everyone has to wear a mask at all times anyway.

I understand.

My spouse and I had read about the virus in late December and then more in January. Certainly there wasn't any information coming from the CDC or NIH that would have caused concern at that time.

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