Have you done a test yourself?

amother

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 3:55 pm

I was tested today and I had to do it myself.
it was a really really unpleasant experience.
I gagged and had tears in my eyes.

just wondering if everyone else is being asked to do it themself?
when I asked for them to do it, they said they cant.
was really gross.
even had a bit of bleeding later on from my nose.

amother

Crimson

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 3:58 pm

My daughter has to do it herself.

I am wondering if it is to help prevent the spread or because we live in a litigious society and, as you said, you were crying/gagging/bleeding.... which is unfortunate a by factor of the test and the individual's, who I can assure you did not want to administer the test, were being accused & blamed.

ces

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 4:05 pm

I prefer to do it myself, I control how far it goes. Why would you go back so far that you were bleeding?

amother

Scarlet

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 4:09 pm

That's so strange! I haven't had any reason to test myself, but I've brought my kids to be tested in various places and the doctor or nurse always does it. It makes much more sense for the person who is trained to do it to do so rather than relying on the patient.

amother

Coffee

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 4:10 pm

I've had to do it myself. Through a testing program at work, we're asked to do it ourselves so they can test more people with less chance of exposure. It was unpleasant as you mentioned, although I didn't have bleeding. I will say that it was better then when I got tested previously and someone else swabbed me; at least this way you have control over it and can feel what you're doing.

amother

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 4:26 pm

they made me do it in my thraot and up my nose.
I cannot do it down my throat myself, its like self inflicting injury.

and up my nose was also very painful.
its possible I didnt do it 100% correct, thats the reason I would prefer someone to do it, also when its so unpleasant its so difficult to do to yourself.

icedcoffee

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 4:35 pm

I've heard of this but can't imagine it. They put it waaay farther up my nasal cavity than I even knew existed. If you told me to put it the farthest it'd go, I definitely wouldn't have gone that far. It probably wouldn't even have occurred to me that it physically could go that deep. On the other hand, I've read that the self-administered tests are virtually as reliable as the professionally administered ones, so I guess people manage to do it!

daagahminayin

Wed, Sep 02 2020, 5:01 pm

I did it this morning. Was a bit uncomfortable but manageable. It made me sneeze!

amother

Slategray

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 12:58 am

CVS had me do it myself.
I don't think I did a very good job, considering the discomfort I felt the next day when I went to a different testing location and they did it for me.
I'm not sure if there are different requirements for different tests, but one doctor told me that she always has her patients do it for themselves, she's not worried about them not getting far up enough.

The best is the saliva test - I hope that becomes the way to go - it's just as accurate with no discomfort - just becomes a bit of a drool party as you have to fill the vial Very Happy

amother

Papaya

Sun, Sep 06 2020, 7:49 am

Makes no sense!
I watched a PA do it on my very nervous son. She barely went up his nose, just at the tip and she didn’t go in his throat either. She said they don’t test like that anymore. My son who was petrified beforehand said this was “a joke “.

amother

Orchid

Wed, Sep 09 2020, 8:14 pm

O

I had it done to me throat nose it didn’t hurt
The next time they did it with me sitting in the car it hurt

challahchallah

Wed, Sep 09 2020, 11:54 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

yea, it said like 2.5 cm.

I had to do a test myself also and they said 2.5cm (same as you). Honestly, it’s not that far—just under 1 inch! I think you may be overestimating how far in that is. If you need to do it again, I’d recommend using a ruler to position your fingertip at the 2.5cm mark, and then you know you can stop when your fingers meet the entrance. I also didn’t find the throat swab to be a big deal, but I was careful not to press hard. I’m so sorry you had a bad experience, try to figure out how to do it in a less painful way if you need to do it again.

asmileaday

Thu, Sep 10 2020, 1:10 am

amother [ Papaya ] wrote:

Had the exact same experience with my son.

miami85

Thu, Sep 10 2020, 9:00 am

I have had it done once on myself, my kids twice and I swabbed them, it wasn't pleasant but they said it wasn't so bad.