Have you heard that COVID-19 might affect your menstrual cycle?
No, I’m not talking about COVID-19 vaccines.
I’m talking about COVID-19.
More specifically, the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Can COVID-19 Affect Your Menstrual Cycle?
Wait, how would the COVID-19 lockdowns affect your menstrual cycle?
“Seven-hundred and forty-nine participant responses were included for final analysis, over half of which cited a change in their menstrual cycle. Over one third of participants experienced a change in bleeding patterns (35.6%). Secondly, the study aimed to identify the main contributing factors to such changes in the menstrual cycle. The greatest contributing factor to reported changes was stress.”
How lifestyle changes within the COVID-19 global pandemic have affected the pattern and symptoms of the menstrual cycle
Many people suspect that stress is the cause.
“A majority of menstruating women have experienced changes to their cycle over the last year, surveys suggest. One of the main culprits? Persistent stress”
Pandemic periods: why women’s menstrual cycles have gone haywire
What kind of stress?
“Specific stressors reported included work stress (499/48%), difficulty accessing healthcare (254/25%), change in financial (201/19%) situation, difficulties with home schooling (191/19%) or childcare (99/10%), family or partner conflict (170/16%), family illness or bereavement (156/15%).”
The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women’s Reproductive Health
Unfortunately, the pandemic has given many of us plenty…
Can COVID-19 Vaccines Affect Your Menstrual Cycle?
And now, in addition to the all of the ways that the pandemic has caused menstrual irregularities, there are some who believe that getting a COVID-19 vaccine has affected their period.
In fact, some who are unvaccinated believe that they began having problems with their period after simply being around someone else who was recently vaccinated!
While that idea that those who are recently vaccinated are shedding spike proteins and causing others to develop problems with their periods is ridiculous, whether or not someone who was recently vaccinated could themselves have menstrual irregularities is an open question.
“We have not heard of disruption of menstruation cycles following receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine, nor would there be a biological theory to explain why this would happen.”
Questions and Answers about COVID-19 Vaccines
What is not in question is that anti-vaccine folks are taking advantage of the issue to try and scare others away from getting vaccinated and protected.
“So far, there have been only anecdotal reports of menstruation changes following the COVID-19 vaccines, and experts emphasize there is no sign of danger in getting the vaccine, nor is this a reason to skip getting vaccinated.”
Some people are reporting abnormal periods after a COVID-19 vaccine. U. of I. professor is looking for answers.
And no safety signals regarding menstrual changes have been reported by the CDC or European Medical Agency (EMA).
More on COVID-19 and Your Menstrual Cycle
- Shedding and COVID-19 Vaccines
- Do COVID-19 Vaccines Cause Blood Clots?
- COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Update
- I’m Not Anti-Vaccine, I Just Don’t Believe in the COVID-19 Vaccine
- COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Monitoring Systems
- COVID-19 Vaccination Questions and Answers
- About Those Urgent COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Warnings
- The Very Worst of the Anti-Vaccine Movement
- The COVID-19 vaccine and menstrual irregularities.
- No, We Don’t Know if Vaccines Change Your Period
- Experts cool claims about impact of vaccines on menstrual cycles
- Social Media Influencers Are Spreading Wild Rumors About COVID-19 Vaccines and Periods
- Survey – Menstrual experiences with COVID-19 vaccines
- PRAC recommendations on safety signals
- Menstrual Cycle Change During COVID-19. Sharing some early results.
- How lifestyle changes within the COVID-19 global pandemic have affected the pattern and symptoms of the menstrual cycle
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women’s Reproductive Health
- Pandemic periods: why women’s menstrual cycles have gone haywire
- Another routine the pandemic has disrupted: Your period
- Effect of Perceived Pandemic Stress and Sleep Variation on Menstrual Cycle Occurrence, its Severity and Premenstrual Syndrome: A Cross Sectional Study
- SARS-CoV-2: Future Potential Impact on Timing of Menarche and Onset of the Regular Menstrual Cycle in Adolescents
- Analysis of sex hormones and menstruation in COVID-19 women of child-bearing age
- People Are Sharing Abnormal Period Stories After the COVID-19 Vaccine — Is There a Link?
- Periods in a Pandemic – Menstrual hygiene management in the time of COVID-19
- Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 and menstrual health and hygiene
- Women’s menstrual cycles and fertility are affected by being around people who have received COVID-19 vaccines
- Questions and Answers about COVID-19 Vaccines