Anyone experienced period changes after having COVID?

[EL8888]

I had COVID last month, low to medium badly it seems from the people l know. Since then l have been dizzy and drained. My period was due last Sunday or Monday but so far nothing. Anyone wise had this? I know one option is a pregnancy test but after over 2.5 years of trying to conceive then lm not thrilled by that. Because realistically it’s not pregnancy sadly -both my fiancé and I have issues

Yes people seem to get this.
Consider if you may have a vitamin deficiency.
B12? Are you veggie or vegan.
Covid seems to deplete vitamins. (D, magnesium zinc etc)

@HSHorror l don’t think so. We eat well and l take lots of vitamins especially b vitamins. We are about to do IVF so have been getting ourselves in good condition

It’s pretty common for periods to be thrown off by illness. It’s not covid specific. Your bodies been busy battling a virus, it can throw your cycle. It’s been fairly commonly reported as a thing after covid!

@HolmeH it’s literally never happened before in 20 odd years and l didn’t gave it that badly compared to some

I have suffered from extreme and debilitating breathlessness and fatigue before my period ever since contracting a virus that may or may not have been covid (contracted abroad before covid was a thing here), doctors sent me for numerous tests which were all inconclusive.
I also read with interest the numerous anecdotal reports in the press from women who are convinced that covid triggered an early menopause, and I’m convinced this is happening to me too. But no answers either way . All I can say is my life changed overnight.
I think disrupted cycles will be the thin end of the wedge, and women will feel the physical repercussions of covid for years to come.

To be fair, it’s never happened to me after illness either but it doesn’t mean it’s not a thing.. it is. Illness can cause late ovulation. So can stress or not eating enough, both of which illness can cause..

Either that or you are pregnant!

@Fridainexile - this comment is really insensitive considering OP is talking about starting fertility treatment. There is zero evidence covid can possibly cause menopause. There is also no evidence that any virus can cause it, evidence remains extremely inconclusive & unlikely. My masters is biology with immunology comes in handy here, if it’s any reassurance OP! Please do not worry that this is a thing!

It may well even be menopause. I had fertility tests 2 years ago, scored better than my friends 17 year old daughter believe it or not. The week before l got COVID l went to an appointment and was told my fertility was shot

I've heard of quite a few cases of delayed periods from people I know.

I had Covid but my period wasn't late, in fact a few days early 🤷‍♀️

Just judging from Mumsnet, it seems to be very common for Covid to disrupt your menstrual cycle - but only temporarily. The vaccines similarly appear to have a temporary effect on some people’s menstrual cycles (again, going on Mumsnet posts!).

I saw a qualified dietitian when I kept getting mini doses of Covid back. She said that I should exercise less and focus on rest and eating well, so that my body did not divert energy away from tissue repair. Possibly pre menopausal woman might have lower/less periods as your body is busy elsewhere, repairing tissue, so it is assuming that a pregnancy would be unwise right now, and is preventing it?

If it’s not going to be stressful, I think I’d do a test. Early pregnancy is VERY draining. My main early preg symptom was — this is TMI to the max — a particularly, unusually damp fanjo 🤦🏻‍♀️ so if you have a moist lady garden too, I’d get a test. Good luck.

@Fridainexile have you had your Ferratin (iron) levels checked? Fatigue and breathlessness are the two main symptoms of low iron. Plus palpitations. Have a blood test if you can. The U.K. have crazily low levels of “healthy” Ferratin, but basically if it’s under 70 you’re going to feel crap. And if it’s under 40, you’ll start losing hair.

@MacbookHoHoHo thanks but, yes.
I had multiple blood tests including ferritin. No noticeable issues in the results, and I requested copied for my own reference too.
As another poster up thread suggested , I too had repeated mini versions of my virus, (or whatever it was) lessening in severity each time, mostly before a period. The lockdown has been a godsend really as I can take long periods of rest during the day, which has helped enormously.
I hope I didn’t offend you btw op, and sorry if I upset you with my comments.

@Fridainexile ok great!

@EL8888 can you speak to who you’re under for IVF? They may be able to do some tests to either put your mind at ease or at least identify if there is anything else that needs looking into further.

@Fridainexile

I have suffered from extreme and debilitating breathlessness and fatigue before my period ever since contracting a virus that may or may not have been covid (contracted abroad before covid was a thing here), doctors sent me for numerous tests which were all inconclusive. I also read with interest the numerous anecdotal reports in the press from women who are convinced that covid triggered an early menopause, and I’m convinced this is happening to me too. But no answers either way . All I can say is my life changed overnight. I think disrupted cycles will be the thin end of the wedge, and women will feel the physical repercussions of covid for years to come.

I am exactly the same, @fridainexile and have been for a year. I feel amazing right around ovulation and then two weeks later, I have a covid relapse where my breathing worsens considerably.

I have spoken to my respiatory specialist about it and she said hormones can affect the airways. She studied hormonal changes and their effects on women's with cystic fibrosis.

I have PCOS (the reason I believe my covid was so bad in the first place) but it was very much under control prior to CV19. Now it's back to it's worst.

Fuck knows whats going on. No Dr can tell me a thing, other than "you may have to live with it." Bugger that.

@PatsyStone39 I feel quite emotional about someone having the same experience. It makes life so very difficult.
I really hope we both find answers.

@fridainexile I feel the same. And It's nice to know it's not in my head. That in fact my cycles are playing a huge part in my breathing.

I've been good for weeks, but i'm due to bleed on Sunday and already I can feel i'm much shorter of breath and the airway/throat burning is back.

I got the Dr to prescribe me inhalers yesterday, so i'll see what little help they are.

Do you feel you get a little better/go a lot longer between relapses now?

ps There's a study being conducted by two female Dr's at Kings in London, looking at the effect of estrogen on covid. It seem's that there's a large percentage of women of menopausal age who are presenting with long covid, compared to men and younger women. I'm looking forward to see the results! @Fridainexile

@PatsyStone39 I’m managing it , mostly through knowing I simply can’t ‘push through’ as I would in normal circs. I can’t even climb the stairs the day before my period arrives, it’s as if I’m having an asthma attack (I’m not asthmatic). Before this , I was very physically fit. I can at least say that now the relapses are in the few days before I bleed, rather than for the whole two weeks after ovulation. I think little by little I get stronger each day. But like you, it’s been over a year.

@fridainexile Yep, that's me too...totally exercise intolerant from being a fit gym bunny. I bought a treadmill at Christmas and I try to walk little and often, but between my chest and just feeling absolutely knackered, it's a chore!

And i'm the same in that, it's really only now at a bleed that my breathing incapacitates me. It's exactly like an asthma attack. I pant when I try to talk. It's like the airways being squeezed. But asthma was apparently ruled out, according to my resp specialist. Nothing in the x-ray's or bloods indicated it. It's a mystery. But we will get there in the end!

@Walkaround

Just judging from Mumsnet, it seems to be very common for Covid to disrupt your menstrual cycle - but only temporarily. The vaccines similarly appear to have a temporary effect on some people’s menstrual cycles (again, going on Mumsnet posts!).

Well, the thread I have seen about the vaccination possibly messing around with period dates, it will remain to be seen whether those posters have periods affected, going forward. If I remember correctly, the thread I am thinking of, was started only about two weeks ago.

It's not like an asthma attack.
Though i did restart asthma meds and it helped.
Asthma is often a wheeze and allegy/illness/exercise cause.

I have pcos so generally high oestrogen and that didnt help.
I am low on progesterone though.
It's almost like you get dehydrated (and i notice i no longer get pre period dodgy tummy now more constipated).

Do menopausal women have heavier periods? So maybe its the blood loss. I read electrolytes vary across cycle too.

A lot of covid people had issues with reflux so maybe it affected vitamin absorbtion (b12 needs the stomach acid etc)

Yep, mine's been all over the place since, despite the previous decades of being regular as clockwork. Might have coincided with peri starting, not that I've got any other symptoms, but going from every 29.5 days almost to the hour from the age of 11 and a half to 24, 32 and 68, 41, 28 and 18 (that was a fun month), along with 5 days duration to anything between 1 and 12 in the months after catching it could be a thing.

If I were you, I'd still POAS just to pre-empt the GP saying 'Go POAS', though.

I'm 41 , previous 6 days a week gym class goer who has been knocked for six from long covid despite having very few covid symptoms except for fatigue . Think I caught it last March working at the Cheltenham racing festival but no tests available in

A year in - my fatigue and aching joints get considerably worse in the run up to ovulation . Gp is very sympathetic and supplements of vitamin B complex, vitamin D and anti histamine daily helps . To try and stop the oestrogen fluctuations GP is starting me on the combined pill back to back for 4 months at a time . Hoping it helps - I don't bleed anyway since having endometrial ablation at 35.

I also get weird rashes on my back and allergic reactions to certain foods that were never an issue pre covid . Had to cut out high histamine foods like spinach , tomatoes, cashews, red wine and beer .