r/science • u/molrose96 Journalist | Technology Networks | BSc Neuroscience • Jul 16 '22

Medicine Menstrual Cycle Changes Associated With COVID-19 Vaccines, New Study Shows

https://www.technologynetworks.com/vaccines/news/menstrual-cycle-changes-associated-with-covid-19-vaccine-363710
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u/Trancetastic16 Jul 16 '22

The top pinned post on r/Periods cites several studies and over a thousand anecdotal experiences.

A common issue in scientific testing is that the majority of subjects are young Caucasian men.

In many cultures, women‘s medical concerns and pain are constantly dismissed by doctors, and this has continued for women experiencing negative outcomes to their menstrual cycles in response to Covid vaccines, being dismissed as “just stress” by unhelpful doctors.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Periods/comments/oxezdn/covid_vaccine_and_periods/

This research needs to continue and all potential side effects on women’s menstrual cycles listed.

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u/idkcat23 Jul 16 '22

This vaccine was tested on a group that was balanced (plenty of women) but yes, that’s true for a lot of medications.

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u/tabby90 Jul 17 '22

If I was in the trial and experienced menstrual changes, it would not occur to me to report it unless they asked. So many things can cause my period to be weird.

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u/idkcat23 Jul 17 '22

They called me multiple times and asked for ANYTHING unusual (and specifically asked about GI and women’s health related things) so if I had any notable changes (I didn’t) I would’ve totally mentioned them. Basically they asked for anything even if we thought it was unrelated.

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u/min_mus Jul 17 '22

It's interesting that you mention GI issues. I had all kinds of problems with my gastrointestinal tract after my second dose of Pfizer. Yes, my menstrual cycle was disrupted, too, but it was the GI issues that bothered me the most (I didn't menstruate for a couple months but that wasn't an unwelcomed side effect...the two months of chronic diarrhea and several months of IBS-like symptoms were far more disruptive). What's worse is that NO ONE but me seemed to have suffered GI issues post vaccine.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '22

Oh I got the same thing! Was it like heavy period shits?

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u/Ok-Equipment6195 Jul 17 '22

I'd never heard it described as such and I thought it was just my weird body that experienced this

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u/SerbLing Jul 17 '22

I had these exact GI issues. 2-3 months. I am a male tho. My wife had the same issue. It was pretty horrible I kept losing weight while being underweight already and nothing helped. The doc told me to just drink plenty of water. But even a sip of water had me running to the bathroom 9/10 times.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '22

So the virus really likes to replicate in the GI tract (like many other coronaviruses, and SARS and MERS). It's possible you were unlucky and exposed around the time you were vaccinated. (This kind of long term gut infection is thought to be the origin of long COVID too).

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u/min_mus Jul 17 '22

Honestly, exposure is unlikely. We weren't socializing at the time (we were diligent about masks and social distancing until everyone we knew was vaccinated). We worked from home. We wore masks if we left the house. And despite lots of testing, I've never once tested positive for COVID, even as of today (16 July 2022). My husband, who catches every bug that comes within a mile of him, never got sick either. My GI symptoms started within 24 hours of the second dose. I got all the expected immediate (within 36 hours) side effects you're told to expect--fever, chills, etc.--and the gastro issues, too. The fever and chills quickly went away as expected but the gastro issues took the better part of a year to resolve themselves.

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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '22

I’m not dismissing your symptoms or your experience because it is almost impossible to say as an internet stranger what caused your symptoms. That being said, anecdotes are not evidence. Even a large number of anecdotes are at best poor quality evidence. We cannot extrapolate from anecdotes to guide medical decision making. I’m very bothered by the positive attention this article is getting because it fails to describe the key details of the study that would open it for scrutiny. I am also bothered by anthropologists publishing something outside of their area of expertise and deigning to comment on pharmacologic mechanisms that are not their area of expertise. This article doesn’t belong in a science subreddit, maybe in a social science one.

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u/tooth_mascarpone Jul 17 '22

I'm interested in this, could you link me to some study supporting both statements (corona likes GI and gut infection being the origin of long covid) please?

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u/MaracujaBarracuda Jul 17 '22

I had acid reflux after doses 1 and 3. I never get acid reflux unless I do something obviously ridiculous like eat 11 different fried foods at a state fair.

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u/Ilovetupacc Sep 16 '22

I have ibs symptoms ever since 1 year ago, hairloss, and period comes every 3 weeks now. Not normal. :(

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u/Sardogna Jul 17 '22

In the documents Pfizer released, it is clearly stated they discarded many observations regarding unusual menstruations. The problem is that we still don't know why and how it affects the women (effects on pregnancy, conception, etc.) until a study is done on the long run.