Period 4 days late. Not pregnant. Pfizer? Or diet?

[HomerSimpsonsDonut]

Hi all

Looking for some advice (Google only gets you so far!)

I am currently not TTC and we are careful.

My period is now 4 days late. I have a fairly long cycle but it is regular. Done two pregnancy tests, both negative.

I've recently received my second Pfizer vaccine and read online that a lot of vaccinated women have had delayed periods, periods after menopause, etc.

BTW I am in no way condemning the vaccine - I do not believe in conspiracies etc but I wondered if anyone else had been affected too?

However I have recently made big changes to my diet (started 16 hour fasting a couple of weeks ago) and eating a lot less calories, around 1300 a day. Is it more likely to be the diet that has affected my cycle?

Not sure what my AIBU is really, I just know people are very honest and open on here and would appreciate some advice, if possible.

Thank you 😊

Did not mean to turn on voting, sorry!

I would guess diet. Are you eating any more artificial sweeteners, Stevia etc than usual?

Very likely to be diet.

Am 7 weeks late. Not pregnant. Just assumed missed a period due to second dose of vaccine.

@nanbread no, I've massively cut down on processed foods. No sweetened yogurts etc, just a lot of natural food, if that makes sense!

@whysorude that is interesting to hear - do you know why the vaccine might cause a delay?

3 weeks late. 7 weeks since last period. Second dose 5 weeks ago.

It could be the diet or the vaccine and I'll guess you'll probably never know. Are you only eating 1300 calories every day? That's awfully low unless you're very small. That's my BMR - the amount I burn if I stay in bed all day!

I just assume receiving the dose interfers with that month's cycle. Am not particularly worried about it though.

There is an article on the BBC website.

The body is on the lookout for factors that might make pregnancy a bad idea - physical/mental stress, lack of sleep, extreme exercise, reduced calorie/fat intake, travel especially big changes in time zone, disease or infection. All of these can disrupt ovulation and menstruation.

I think More or Less cited 0.1% of women vaccinated reporting periods being impacted in the cycle after the vaccine.

Your change in diet is at least as likely to have caused this change.

@Palavah thanks for the info - I appreciate it. I'm eating very healthily but it is a shock to the system I suppose to dramatically change a diet

@emmathedilemma yeah, eating 1200 usually and 13/1400 as a maximum. I'm 5ft 7 and 13 stone. Desperately trying to lose weight as I feel awful about myself at the moment. I'm eating healthily though, non-processed foods etc. Ive dieted before (Slimming World) but nothing this extreme.

After my first Pfizer vaccination my period was 11 days late. It's never late, my cycle is short and very regular. Recently had second dose, so waiting to see if it has had any effect.

It's the diet, and this is a wake-up call that you need to eat more calories.

Every month that your menstrual cycle is disrupted by malnutrition is an incremental increase in your risk of developing osteoporosis.

You may think this sounds harsh- but I've seen the effects of early onset osteoporosis and you do not want that life.

www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-jun-03-he-menstrual3-story.html

Join myfitnesspal, put in your weight and activity level and work out a safe sustainable weight loss plan. Even if you literally did nothing except lie in bed, with occasional trips to the toilet, you would still lose weight on 1200-1400 calories a day. I suspect you do more than that, yeah?

This is a random BMR calculator I picked. Based on the data you have given so far, I have these figures for how lifestyle should affect your calorie needs.

@PurgatoryOfPotholes thanks so much for this. I'll start to increase the calories, I've downloaded myfitnesspal but it is saying I need just over 1400 cals to lose weight 👍 I think that seems a good enough amount. Hopefully my period will make an appearance soon!!

Thank you for listening.

Please pay very careful attention to how much you lose each week when the scale is moving in the direction you want it to go, as well as when it isn't. Biology is far more complicated than anyone can go into on a single thread, but 1% of your current weight is the absolute maximum you should aim to lose in a week, and as your weight drops, that percentage decreases too. Suffice it to say, you shouldn't set it to a goal of 2 lbs a week!

I'd say vaccine too. I only had light spotting on my cycle post Pfizer, so hoping it is normal this time around. Quite concerning really.

Not in anyway saying your situation is vaccine related, but after my first Pfizer shot I came on two weeks early. I am regular as clockwork so it was definitely the vaccine interrupting my regularly scheduled programming.

ok, at that weight and height I agree with @PurgatoryOfPotholes if you don't put petrol in a car you don't expect the engine to run, your body is the same!

Vaccine made My periods go weird too but if you're suddenly consuming a lot less calories it's likely that.

I had covid & my period was 5 days late, also took a pregnancy test as my boobs were sore but no bleeding. I'm 100% regular, they went back to normal & then I had my vaccine a wk before I was due & I was 3 days late again.

No diet changes, not sure what to think.

My period was four days late and much more painful than usual, but this was the second month after the vaccine and I had AZ. I haven't reported it anywhere so I'd imagine the percentage reported it is much lower than what has happened. How many women would bother to report it officially.

The body is on the lookout for factors that might make pregnancy a bad idea - physical/mental stress, lack of sleep, extreme exercise, reduced calorie/fat intake, travel especially big changes in time zone, disease or infection. All of these can disrupt ovulation and menstruation.

I've been very ill in the past (much sicker than I was with covid) & I've also had a number of operations but they've never impacted my cycle.

I didn't report anything @Gwenhwyfar

How old are you OP?