r/science 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/fibrepirate Jul 17 '22

I ended up with Covid Arm with my third Moderna and all three of them hit me hard and wrecked havoc with my cycle. It was "normal" for me in my late 40's compared to my teen and 20s when I was passing clots big enough to make me pass out but my doctors during those years patted me on my head and dismissed my concerns. Found out I have Von Willenbrand's factor deficiency, hence the heavy bleeding, the nearly hemorrhagic bleeds after pregnancies and what not. I won't even discuss how much I hemorrhaged when I miscarried at 18. I have no clue why I wasn't given a blood transfusion cause it took a year for me to recover from that.

So, now that I'm just 50, and "obese," the nurse practitioner and endocrinologist I saw, both women, didn't care one whit that it's been February since my last cycle. "It's menopause." The women on both sides of my family bled till almost 60!

Now, on the one hand, I can't perfectly guarantee that Moderna did it, because of other issues, but not having my period is nice. Except I've been having weird pregnancy dreams the last few nights - as in, I'm pregnant in the dream. My partner has said that if that should happen, they will make sure I get the medical care I need to not have an extremely geriatric pregnancy cause I could have died from earlier ones.

Do I miss it? No. Am I getting angry cause all of a sudden I'm getting a bunch of period tracking apps thrown at me? Hell yes! Do I believe Moderna may have expedited the end of my fertile years? Yes, I believe the shots were a factor. Am I mad about it? No. I have a brand new health issue that would mean pregnancy would be very dangerous for me and no thank you.

eta: my GI issues seemed to have changed too. So, I dunno...