A national study published in the professional journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists confirms the relationship between COVID-19 vaccinations and menstrual irregularities or irregularities.
The first reports of such side effects in women vaccinated with CODIV-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna appeared in the spring of 2021 with the start of mass vaccinations. We have already written that experts in the US, UK and EU countries have begun research trying to determine whether vaccinations can actually cause these violations. However, until now, it has not been possible to trace the relationship: complaints of this kind were considered unproven or coincidences; regulators and manufacturers have traditionally said “after is not due to”. To date, none of the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers cite any menstrual problems as a side effect.
British doctor Victoria Mail, fertility specialist at Imperial College London, has reported more than 30,000 similar reports from British women. She was one of the first scientists not to dismiss women’s complaints and wrote an article in the weekly peer-reviewed scientific journal BMJ calling for research into the potential effects of these vaccines on women’s health. “If there is a connection, then it is most likely the result of the immune response to vaccination, and not a specific component of the vaccine,” the doctor suggested. At the same time, in his article, Dr. Mail notes: “It is imperative that there is no evidence of a negative effect of the COVID-19 vaccine on fertility. In clinical trials, unintended pregnancies occurred with the same frequency in the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups; in assisted reproduction clinics, fertility rates and pregnancy rates are the same in vaccinated and unvaccinated patients. “
Nevertheless, skepticism remains: it is known that an irregular cycle is the first signal of problems in the field of women’s health. The reports of cycle failures vary: some report a delay in their period, some complain of more severe bleeding than usual. There are VAERS side effects records and reports from postmenopausal women who have their periods again unexpectedly after vaccination. Dr. Keith Clancy, of the University of Illinois, tweeted about her own experience of unusually heavy and premature bleeding after the Moderna injection. Hundreds of women have noted under her post, talking about similar symptoms. Clancy, along with her colleague Catherine Lee of the University of Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Clancy collected more than 140,000 complaints from American women who said they noticed changes in their cycle after vaccination.
However, individual stories, even when there are several tens of thousands, are not enough to prove that it is vaccines that cause changes in the menstrual cycle. The normal cycle is a complex hormonal process that can vary widely, depends on the individual characteristics of the organism, and can change even under the influence of stress or taking dietary supplements.
A scientific article published on January 5 confirmed that women’s menstrual cycles did indeed change after being vaccinated. In a national American study, 3959 women aged 18-45 took part (of whom 2403 were vaccinated, 1556 were not). 55% were vaccinated by Pfizer / BioNTech, 35% by Moderna, 7% by Johnson & Johnson / Janssen. All women had a normal cycle length (24–38 days) prior to vaccination / participation in the study, and the participants were followed up for six months. Data from those who were vaccinated were collected during the three months before the vaccination and three months after the vaccination, and then the information was compared with the data of unvaccinated women over the same period.
It turned out that the vaccinated women did show a small change in cycle length compared to those who were in the unvaccinated group. Menstruation in vaccinated people came with a certain delay (on average a day later, which is insignificant). It is noted that this effect was temporary and everything returned to normal within 1-2 months. In the unvaccinated group, no significant changes were observed within six months.
One of the drawbacks of this scientific work is its small representativeness – the data was provided by Natural Cycles, the developer of a pregnancy monitoring application, into which you can download data on the length of your cycle.
At the same time, this is one of the first studies to confirm that women’s complaints about menstrual irregularities after vaccination are real and really deserve attention. Future studies using the database will investigate other aspects, such as whether periods were more heavy or more painful after vaccination.
“The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics believes that if the“ delay ”lasts less than 8 days, then this is the norm; any other change in the cycle or the nature of menstruation should be reported to your doctor,” says gynecologist Lilia Perat. – It may be a consequence of stress, or it may be a warning of a serious illness. Unfortunately, there is no data on cycle changes in volunteers during vaccine clinical trials, and it is difficult to verify the relationship of vaccination with stories that are published on social networks. Do not forget that the virus, which many carry without knowing it, can affect the cycle. Understandably, the excitement of parents who have to make a decision to vaccinate their children, especially girls, whose cycle is just being established and who have yet to become mothers. But there are very few studies that would examine the effect of vaccination on women’s health, this publication is one of the “first signs”. Therefore, now, when a patient comes to a practicing doctor with such a problem, we proceed primarily from her medical history.
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