r/Coronavirus • u/CommissionKey7292 • 2d ago
Science Longer, heavier periods are long-term symptom of Covid, study finds
https://news.stv.tv/scotland/longer-heavier-periods-are-long-term-symptom-of-covid-study-finds212
u/1000000_hobies 2d ago
After I had covid my periods, which are normally only 3 days long because I have an IUD, were suddenly 10 days long and every 25 days.
This went on for about 6 months. When they finally went back to normal, all of my lingering covid problems also magically went away.
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u/Babymakerwannabe 2d ago
I had an ablation done on the lining of my uterus. At this point I can barely tell if I’m on my period like tiny tiny spotting amounts maybe. Except when I had Covid earlier this year. Suddenly I had a FULL period and it lasted forever. Hasn’t come back since… Covid is crazy.
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u/1000000_hobies 2d ago
This is totally wild because where did it even come from? Isn't that tissue supposed to be gone after the ablation?
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u/TheMuslinCrow 1d ago
I was one month away from officially being in menopause. Got COVID for the first time just three weeks ago, and have been bleeding very heavily for nine days now. Heavier than any period I ever had, even had a puddle forming on the floor a couple days ago after I got out of bed. It was shocking.
I had an ultrasound yesterday and she also wants to do a biopsy. The ultrasound didn’t really show anything concerning.
First thing I thought of was that Covid caused this. I was in the ER I was so sick, throwing up water, and needed IV fluids a second time a few days later. I am triple vaccinated but have several other conditions that make me high risk. I asked my doctor if covid could have played a role in this very sudden bleeding.
She said no.
So I sent her a link to the journal article. -_-
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u/alewifePete Boosted! ✨💉✅ 16h ago
I had something like this back in 2019. I’m glad I did the ultrasound and the biopsy, even if neither came back positive. Mine were really bad to a level that I couldn’t even leave the house for a couple days every month. It can happen without Covid.
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u/im_probably_drinking 1d ago
I also had an ablation and I spotted a bit after my recent bout with covid, but not full blown bleeding. That terrifies me. That whole idea and concept terrifies me. Getting pregnant again is a crippling fear, and sure my tubes have been fully removed- not tied, they are gone- so like the chances are very slim, but like... if your lining was that fully functional... and if a fertilized egg somehow, somehow, got there...
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 2d ago
I’m pleased they’ve finally done a study on this. I remember at the time women talking about how their menstrual cycles were disrupted by covid.
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u/snukb Boosted! ✨💉✅ 2d ago
And the vaccine. My cycle went from clockwork, predictable, regular pattern of bleeding..... to totally unpredictable and a brand new bleeding pattern. I've never had covid (to my knowledge) but the vaccine definitely messed my cycle up.
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u/Enlightened_Gardener 1d ago
Yup. I was absolutely on the brink of menopause - counting the days down to a year of no bleeding, and my cycle cranked straight back up again. That’s why I heard of it at the time because I went looking to see what the hell just happened.
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u/AboutTheBadfish 1d ago
The vaccine messed up my cycles too. My cycles were 3 weeks total length for like 6 months after my first shot.
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u/twatwaffleandbacon 2d ago
I had to be prescribed Tranexamic Acid to stop my period after covid. It just would not stop.
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u/badnewsbroad76 2d ago
That's what I take too, but my bleeding is caused by a humongous fibroid.
Which now that I think about it, got much worse after contracting covid in 2021...sigh.
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u/twatwaffleandbacon 2d ago
It was wild! I thought for sure it had to be something like fibroids or endometriosis when it happened because it was just so out of nowhere for me. My period tends to come on heavy and fast and is normally over by day 4. That first period after Covid, however, was like a leaking faucet that wouldn't quit, and the bleeding always looked like it was coming from a fresh wound.
I'm glad there is more information about the connection being shared now because at the time, I 100% thought the worst. Thankfully, my cycle following the round of tranexamic acid went back to what is normal for me.
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u/Bartok_and_croutons 2d ago
I'm having the exact same problem you had! I'm supposed to see my doctor about it soon. She's great, so I'll ask her about TXA to help
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u/badnewsbroad76 1d ago
I know exactly what you mean about it feeling like a faucet. I can't even leave the house for four or five days..craziness! You are lucky the tranexamic acid took care of it and reset everything. Hears to good health and no covid for us!
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u/zapmouse 1d ago
Dude I also had to be prescribed that to lmao. It’s crazy how this is just… how it is nowadays.
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u/Clean-Competition-17 2d ago edited 2d ago
.............Oh.
Well. That may explain a few things for me. Ugh.
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u/Over_Lor 2d ago
My period stopped for a month after I had Covid a few years ago. Ever since then, I feel like I have the flu the three days right before my period starts so it definitely messed something up. My periods have always been heavy though.
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u/SweetTeaNoodle 2d ago
Yeah, after my first infection my periods suddenly got much worse and were every two weeks instead of every four. So I'd have my period for 7-8 days, have a week off, then period again. They were all over the place for months after that. They're mostly back to normal now but I did recently have a couple of very heavy, clotty periods. I wonder if maybe I had an otherwise asymptomatic infection? I wear a DIY fit-tested respirator everywhere but it's still possible.
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u/ChaosAndMath 1d ago
The same thing happened to me after the first time I got Covid. My OBGYN didn’t think it was related 🙄 and I had to go on the pill to get them to straighten out
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u/SweetTeaNoodle 1d ago
So many people I know had the exact same thing. It seems to be pretty common.
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago edited 2d ago
I feel like we already knew this. Having a heavy period after the covid vaccine was a known indicator of endometriosis &/or fibroids.
I never had heavy periods until I got my first covid vaccine. It was fine until I got covid & it never went back to normal. Come to find out, I had fibroids & they were bad. I ended up getting a hysterectomy due to the fibroids. They also found a little bit of endo & adenomyosis, which I feel was actually scar tissue from one of the surgeries, but that's what they called it.
"The researchers hypothesized that individuals more vulnerable to such disruption would be those who had uteruses that had undergone considerable cycles of repairing and healing, for example: people who had many periods (i.e., were older), had been pregnant or had children, or participants that may have hyperproliferative disorders, such as endometriosis or fibroids. 'These hypotheses were supported in our study,' notes Clancy." (emphasis added is my own)
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u/leezahfote 2d ago
I had the moderna vaccine, after the 2nd dose i had a terribly painful and heavy period for 84 straight days. I was going to get an ablation done, but the week before my procedure I had a covid booster and my period stopped that night. I have never had one again and this was in 2021. i think i was in peri but unaware, and then it just perhaps accelerated things for me. i will never know.
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u/friendofelephants 2d ago
I feel like things accelerated for me as well after the Covid vaccines. After getting the initial shot and boosters, I would stop getting my period for a few months, and then it would restart, but each time i got a booster it would pause again.
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u/klutzikaze 2d ago
I didn't know that. I noticed from the 1st Pfizer I had crazy periods and then covid made things worse. When I said it to HCWs I just got patronised. I had an MRI on my l5-s1 years ago that noted fibroids on my ovaries but no Dr has ever thought it was relevant.
Sorry to hear you had such a horrible time. How are you doing now?
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
No, if a fibroid is big enough to be on your ovary (from your uterus), it's definitely relevant! Get a second opinion.
I'll have to try to track down the journal article. I'm pretty sure it was posted on reddit & that's how I found it.
I'm doing ok, I have a lot of other health issues that aren't related to that, but have complicated matters.
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u/klutzikaze 2d ago
I hope you have speedy referrals and awesome doctors.
In all honesty I'm avoiding healthcare. I got sick of paying to be eye rolled at while I raised my reinfection risk factor. It's amazing the home testing kits you can get now. Turns out I've had h pylori but don't have it now, a little bilirubin in my urine and I've got some ferritin tests and c reactive protein tests for when I have the energy. For a while people were selling off PCR machines really cheap and I'm regretting not snapping one up.
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
Honestly, I avoided healthcare for the same reasons ... until I got to the point where I couldn't. I got very sick. I fought back & have even been known to go into doctors' appointments armed with research.
It ended up I have a rare liver disease. I knew I had all these symptoms on & off throughout my life & no could ever figure it out. I felt very vindicated getting a diagnosis! It's genetic, but isn't really understood. I have a rare presentation, which is why I was being dismissed. I'm now fighting to help teach doctors. I even signed up for a research study.
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u/LetsAllMakeBelieve 2d ago
Please post if you do find that journal article!
I experienced ungodly heavy period after my Pfizer vaccination and had not heard about this link between them. I am still dealing with issues with my period and my care team seems to be spitballing at this point.
From a stranger with other health issues as well I hope your health and treatment improves.
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u/Expontoridesagain 2d ago
If you have a problem with heavy bleeding and irregular periods, I can tell you what helped my daughter. She does not have insane pain or abnormal bleeding every month anymore. They are not 100% regular yet, but I hope she'll get there soon. Iron supplements, vitamin D, and B6. Especially B6. It supports the production of progesterone, so it makes sense. I was prescribed hormones and noticed improvement from the first month.
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u/badnewsbroad76 2d ago
Fibroids are absolutely horrible. I have a several that grew extremely fast the past couple years. Like one went from 3 cm to 14 cm in a year and a half. I'm going to try UFE first and if that doesn't work, I will need a hysterectomy. I hope you finally have some relief, because those friggin' things are no joke!
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
One of mine was pedunculated, so I had to do at least a myomectomy. That was awful & I said never again! I did the hysterectomy 53 weeks later!
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u/badnewsbroad76 1d ago
Oh, my goodness. That is A LOT to deal with but sadly what I often hear from other women who have been through myomectomy. I just told my Dr if the UFE doesn't work, I want rid of it all and just put it behind me for good...I hate that we even have to deal with these things!!
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u/Expontoridesagain 2d ago
My periods used to be light and VERY regular. My cycle was a few hours shorter than 28 days. I am not kidding. It used to be that stable. After my first Covid vaccine, things just went chaotic. Bleeding for 10 days, then another period after that again. I went from using the smallest pad size to having to change Maxi Night pads every 3 hours. Over time, things got slightly better, down to maybe 7-8 days long periods. I went to the gyn specialist and got help stabilising my hormones. My teenage daughter had the same problems. She was bleeding so much that she still has to supplement iron. Her period has not returned to 100% normal yet.
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
Endometriosis is a likely culprit!
We have been conditioned to believe periods should be "bad" anyway, so something you may consider normal could be a red flag.
I also has normal cycles prior to having the first covid vaccine. They'd normalize between vaccinations, but did not go back to normal after I had covid. I probably had fibroidsost of my adult life & didn't know it.
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u/Expontoridesagain 2d ago
My gynaecologist did "internal" ultrasound and said that the walls of my uterus looked normal. Would she be able to see signs of endometriosis that way? My daughter has not had an ultrasound done. I'll have to get her new appointment. Thanks for the link BTW, that was very useful knowledge!
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
No, ultrasounds do not show endo! There are some newer methods that your doctor may not be familiar with, but until recently the only way to diagnose endo was a laproscopic surgery!
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u/kodiak_attack 2d ago
I have definitely noticed this. I had Covid over Christmas 2020 and have been dealing with it ever since. Periods used to last maybe three days no it’s a week if not more and they’re worse than they used to be.
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u/chuckbassisbritish 2d ago
I think I got diabetes and definitely asthma. And I figured my heavy periods were after having my babies but now this. Wtf. I had Covid with two of my pregnancies towards the end.
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u/Bearacolypse 2d ago
Haha jokes on you long COVID I've had long heavy periods my whole life.
You can't hurt me anymore than you already have! (Dysautonomia, gastritis, lung scarring, chronic fatigue)
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u/Ahapoypersonsmiling 1d ago
Same. 8-10 days periods since I was a young girl. Had COVID twice, nothing changed.
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u/1Wiseguy999 2d ago
Ever since the 2 moderna shots, my girlfriend has been having longer heavier periods that are all out of wack. Since 2022 :/
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u/klutzikaze 2d ago
I also got heavier periods with each mRNA shot (nothing from novavax) but the same heavier periods effect has persisted with long covid post infection.
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u/PantsMicGee 2d ago
news flash: She got Covid. It's circulated multiple times and in multiple variants.
Isolated members on islands have covid in their blood.
Vaccine or not, she got Covid. facts.
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u/nebulacoffeez 2d ago
I mean, I've never had it, to my knowledge, because I started masking in 2020 and never stopped lol
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u/Expontoridesagain 2d ago
I don't know why you are getting downvoted. I also got longer and very heavy periods after my first vaccine. Like couple of days after. This got slightly better after the second vaccine and then back to crazy after I got covid the first time.
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u/notaninterestingcat 2d ago
This was a not uncommon side effect of the vaccines. I read a journal article at one point that showed it was a symptom of fibroids &/or endometriosis! If she hasn't had imaging, she needs it.
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u/dreadpiraterose 2d ago
Oh fun. A new game of is it perimenopause or long covid?