The impact of COVID-19 on menstruation

New research is indicating that those who’ve had a COVID-19 vaccine may be impacted.

There’s also some research indicating that women who’ve had COVID-19 may also be impacted. This can included lighter, heavier, irregular or missed periods. Even if they were asymptomatic. A 2021 study of 177 women showed that 45 out of 177, or 25% had changes in volume. Out of these 45 people, 36 of them experiences significantly lighter periods and 9 had a significantly heavier period.

Those with severe COVID-19 were also noted to have a menstrual cycle that was longer than 37 days. The findings indicated that 34% of people with more severe illness had long cycles, compared to 19% who had a milder version of COVID-19. Researchers are of the view that it could be impacts on the body directly, or stress induced, but not enough research has been done into menstrual cycles and COVID-19.

Then there’s the impacts from the vaccine. It’s important to note that in normal times it can take a vaccine over a decade to reach the market and COVID-19 vaccines were less than a year under emergency medical approval processes. We already know that women have been adversely affected with blood clots from the AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines, neither of which are an mRNA type. We also known that there are differences in how sexes react to the vaccines.

There are some reports of women having similar reactions with the vaccines as those who actually had the virus. Reporting of conditions has been minimal and could be better and right now the only publicly available source of information is VAERS or the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System, which is U.S. oriented with no Canadian option available.

On both fronts, medical researchers believe the impacts are short-lived and will not constitute a long-term condition. For the post-COVID study, women reported their cycles returning to normal after one or two months. But without a doubt, more research is needed to understand any long-term consequences, especially for women in pre-menopausal phases or those planning to get pregnant.

Note: This article does not constitute medical advice or recommendations in any way. When considering the vaccine, always speak to your doctor or pharmacist for more information. Do not rely on social media or search engines.

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