Women are just imagining problem periods after the vaccine

[PenelopeP1tstop]

It's a blog post by a doctor on the Zoe COVID study. She's basically saying that all women who've experienced changes and issues are imagining it. Or rather, it's real but it's not down to the vaccine

What do you think on reading it? I KNOW the vaccine delayed my period and then, when it came, it was really heavy. I know this wasn't down to a painkiller I may have taken or a spot of stress I had

https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-vaccines-menstruation?mccid=0bcd25dee2&mcceid=b394a53244#part2

I've heard people say it's the stress of the vaccine causing it and I find that so annoying.

I'm usually as regular as clockwork and my period was a week late after the vaccine. I felt absolutely no stress about having the vaccine, I was happy to be getting it. I have lots of other stresses in my life and it never impacts my period.

Why don't people just believe women know their own bodies ffs?!

oh PS incident reporting here coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

I hate this kind of gaslighting of women. We know our bodies.

I got the vax in dec. In January I had a terrible period. I remember googling it because I use a menstrual cup and I lost 250ml a day for the first 3 days of my period and I took my obs at work to make sure I was ok. Thankfully it tailed off after that but I assumed it was because it was the first period after my baby and stopping breastfeeding (for the vaccine). No idea until 6 months later that it could be related.

I would assume it is like any illness that causes delayed periods etc because of your immune system. The vaccine is target to g your immune system so wouldn’t be unexpected that it could cause temp changes to your cycle in the same way an illness can.

I’ll get flamed - but I’m on the fence. Only from personal experience. I had an unusually late period the month before I had my vaccine, not normal for me at all. No idea why. Obviously if it had been the next month I would have put it down to the vaccine from everything I’ve heard 🤷‍♀️

I read that article and was rather unimpressed too. I appreciate that women have irregular and different periods all the time, but the things large numbers of women are reporting after the vaccine simply can't be all coincidence. I think maybe people don't necessarily connect it to a vaccine they had 2-3 weeks before until they hear other vaccinated women talking about it, which is why all these reports are coming out now.

I'm 42, regular as clockwork. No effect after 1st vaccination, 2 weeks late after 2nd, very heavy/painful like going back to my teens/20's, my periods have changed in the last few years but in the respect of getting lighter and shorter, always regular still though, always have been, except when pregnant. Next period was due last week, accounting for the 2 week delay, and hasn't arrived yet, no chance I'm pregnant, no contraception and no sex.
I've had issues bleeding through the mini pill and implant/injection before, but when I'm not on hormonal contraception, my periods are regular, no matter what.
The changes I have experienced in my periods, which is probably due to my age, have been gradual, this wasn't.
The only change is the vaccine, which had no effect the first time. But, the first time I wasn't unwell, had no reaction apart from a bit of a sore arm, the second time I had a bit of a temp, felt grotty, like you do when your immune system is reacting to something, and that's not normal for me. Even with norovirus and a bad dose of flu a few years ago, my period arrived with annoying regularity!
Of course, this could be a 'new' thing for me, due to my body starting to change, that my periods are affected by being unwell, only time will tell that if I come down with something in the future.

It didn't worry me, but tbh this has annoyed me. It wouldn't stop me getting the vaccine again, however that the many women who have reported these changes are being dismissed, is not a good way to get trust for these things is it?
Report side effects, be told you're imagining things.
I don't think that the vaccine itself causes the change, rather the effects it has on the body, and that affecting hormones that control menstrual cycles, but it should be taken seriously and looked into, not dismissed.
We're 7 months into this vaccine being rolled out, it's very, very early days to be dismissing things out of hand when people are reporting it.

Imperial College London want to do a study on the impact of covid-19 vaccines on menstrual cycles (advertised since yesterday!). As they want participants who have had either no jab or one jab, this would exclude a lot of post-menopausal women who've had both vaccinations and experienced bleeding.

The Zoe article in the OP is dismissive, like all other reports on the matter. Stating that women forgot to take the pill being one example.

"over 657,000 app users who menstruate had been vaccinated. However, fewer than 0.1% had logged an irregularity in menstruation within 3 months of receiving a vaccination."
Did all 657,000+ women log back into the app and confirm side effects/whether their menstrual cycle had changed?

From reading this, OP - I think the Zoe App is going in to the same mental rubbish bin as the government, media, SAGE and the rest.

@gamerchick

Well my Fitbit tracker doesn't know what the hell to do with it anyway. Never seen fertile time merged with period before. It's just give up

@gamerchick - (probably tmi) me neither, but after my first AZ jab, my period was delayed, then I ovulated on day 4 of my period, so instead of having a tailing off with slightly brown discharge for a week, I went straight from bleeding to having tonnes of clear discharge and a sudden and massive increase in libido - then another period the normal amount of time after ovulation (ie far earlier than the normal length of time from one period to another). I’ve now had my second jab and it caused some abdominal discomfort for a couple of days after and, again, my period is now looking like it will be delayed. As with the last one, I have all the symptoms that I should start bleeding any time (swollen breasts, etc), but its appearance is delayed. Last time it was heavier and more painful than normal, but not hugely so. I do not for a second believe this is unconnected to the vaccine. I also don’t believe periods are brilliantly understood by doctors - nobody could ever tell me why I had no periods at all for 3 years and then they just randomly started up again three years later.

I'm on week 3 of my period, which started a few days after my first dose of Moderna. I have never had a period longer than 5 days before so this is unusual for me!

Did all 657,000+ women log back into the app and confirm side effects/whether their menstrual cycle had changed?

I'd be interested to know this too. I've had the app downloaded for months but I don't always remember to log any symptoms. Unless they have actually asked all those women whether they have had changes to their periods, they can't come out with a figure like 0.1%. It's like saying only 0.1% of the population goes to the doctor with a headache, therefore only 0.1% of the population has headaches.

@NeverDropYourMoonCup

If anybody has a bleed after a year or more of no periods, they need to make an appointment with the GP to discuss post menopausal bleeding, not attribute it to a vaccine and do nothing about it.

If you're over 50, then yes, a bleed after a year of no periods should be investigated. However, if you're under 50, then no, it is quite common for a period to return and why under 50s are advised that they need to be period free for two whole years to be post-menopause.

It's the same on the government yellow card pages. There's a section about menstrual changes and it basically says oh it's really common for women to have changes so we're keeping an eye but don't think it's a problem.

It's the same old same old, like the poster a few weeks ago who had period changes and doctor just said some women have heavy periods, paying no attention to the poster saying this was unusual for her. Or my sister who was in hospital due to her endometriosis causing enormous pain recently who also got a doctor who said well some women have heavy periods

There is definitely a concerted effort to downplay any side effects, from Facebook banning groups created by people who've experienced side effects to this sort of thing. I get why, the people in power want everyone to have the vaccine and for this to be over. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be creating another problem down the line.

@Passthecake30

I’ve had a period a year after the last one. I did feel that my body was rumbling up to one though, as I’ve had ovulation twinges/ewcm for a few months. I’m under 50 and I understood that was quite normal?

Yes, this is correct and quite normal.

(If you're under 50, you need to be period free for two whole years to be classed as post menopause.)

I didn’t even need to read that blog to know exactly what it was going to say which is why I didn’t!

Sure...my post menopausal friend was imagining it when she started bleeding again, and the heaviest periods she'd ever had.

All in her head, that was.

@TaraR2020

Sure...my post menopausal friend was imagining it when she started bleeding again, and the heaviest periods she'd ever had.

All in her head, that was.

Except the article isn't saying that at all

“if you’re experiencing any unexpected bleeding, missed periods and heavy and uncomfortable periods, they’re real and they’re distressing events."

I agree it needs more research but I think the fact symptoms are reported for all 3 vaccines suggests it's more likely a non-specific response to inflammation/fever etc

There is evidence from both the flu and HPV vaccines that they can affect the menstrual cycle temporarily - but there are no long-term side effects.
And there's "masses of evidence" they don't affect fertility, Dr Male said.
While these changes shouldn't be of concern, Dr Male and others spoken to for this article emphasise the need for studies into the effect of the vaccine on periods, so that people know what to expect.
"There's an issue here about how often women's health is ignored," she said.
"Imagine if you didn't know that fever could be a vaccine side effect?" gynaecologist Dr Jen Gunter wrote on her site The Vajenda.
"You might be concerned that something untoward was happening to your body, when all you were experiencing was a typical post-vaccine fever. That is exactly the same with menstrual irregularities."

Mine went wonky after both jabs, in our imaginations my arse

Mine came 4 days early twice in a row. Normally I'm 28days to the minute.

V odd.

My 20 yr old daughter, who had first jab in April, as CEV. Her periods are regular. She had 2 bleeds in 1 month and then next period was 6 weeks later. She's as regular as clockwork normally and not on birth control. So the jabs definitely affects periods.

Me, at 45yrs old, they're wacky as anything normally 🤣

Missed my first period (bar pregnancy) since the age of 12 after 1st dose AZ. Then two very heavy periods 2 weeks apart. Back to normal now. It is not imagined or a coincidence. This is real and happening to so many women. They never learn do they? The constant tried and tested method of brushing aside 'women's issues' is so backwards. We're not all lying, stressed, hysterical...

I KNOW they affected my periods. The only time I have ever missed a period before is when I was pregnant. The first dose I didn’t have one but my next one was as normal. And I’ve not had one yet since my second dose and it’s been about 6 weeks so hopefully it’ll be the same as last time.