It is perfectly normal for the menstrual cycle to change slightly from month to month, but stress can cause things to become unbalanced. If you are usually a very regular person, you can even see small differences. There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic is recognized as one of the main forms of stress.
Aside from the illnesses caused by the illness itself, pandemics are intense personalities that can disrupt a woman’s life, such as losing a loved one, managing a remote school for children, or divorcing. This has been challenging so far. So it’s not entirely surprising that some women have experienced menstrual irregularities in the last few months-from skipped periods to longer cycles, changes in bleeding patterns.
Vaccination with COVID-19 can temporarily increase the interval between menstrual periods in women with a difference of about one or two days. This is something that many women go unnoticed and don’t have to worry about from a health standpoint. It’s not surprising that vaccination can affect a woman’s duration, as there is a link between the immune system and menstruation.
The COVID-19 vaccine enforces a strong and desirable immune response. In doing so, the body produces cytokines-small proteins that stimulate the immune system to fight foreign invaders. However, cytokines can also affect the internal “clock” that keeps various body processes performing as planned. Therefore, it makes sense to postpone the timing of women’s menstruation a bit this month.
The Federal Institute has funded the study as part of a larger project to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and changes in menstruation. The aim is to bridge the knowledge gap and educate the women before vaccination.
During the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, some women reported changes in the duration of their menstrual cycle which they believe may be related to vaccination, either on social media or, in some cases, through the federal vaccination reporting system. According to a report published in MedPage Today in June 2020, this can occur when a woman is infected with a new coronavirus or is suffering from ongoing stress in a pandemic.
However, changes in menstruation were not monitored during clinical trials with the vaccine. A new study was published in the journal Obstetrics & AMP on January 5th. Gynaecological researchers analyzed anonymous data from a fertility tracking app where the user can enter information about the menstrual cycle and consent to use it for research purposes. Edelman’s team focused on just under 4,000 women, of whom about 2,400 were vaccinated with COVID-19 (mainly Moderna or Pfizer). Compared to the three months before vaccination, these women had a slightly longer menstrual cycle after the first and second vaccinations.
On average, it was less than a day longer which is a little more time during the period. The woman had no extra bleeding days. In contrast, unvaccinated females showed no change in mean cycle length over 5 months. this type of cycle length variation is within what is considered “normal” and is less than 8 days. “Most women probably won’t notice the change within a day.”
However, this is the average of this study, which means that some women will have a slightly longer delay and this may be a concern for some of the women in this study, it was suggested that vaccination, including some “common chemicals”, could temporarily disrupt a woman’s cycle, given the link between the immune system and menstruation.
And now, with some data, it can be said that receiving COVID-19 vaccination may delay their next period a bit. This study only looks at the length of the menstrual cycle and does not look at other types of menstrual changes such as increased bleeding or its frequency. The findings also do not address the relationship between COVID-19 vaccination and childbirth. But all the data collected by researchers so far is encouraging with no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination interferes with fertility.
References
- https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=269754
- https://journals.lww.com/greenjournal/Fulltext/9900/Association_Between_Menstrual_Cycle_Length_and.357.aspx
- https://www.medpagetoday.com/obgyn/generalobgyn/87333?xid=nl_mpt_SROBGYN_2020-07-04&eun=g427466d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=OBGynUpdate_070420&utm_term=NL_Spec_OBGYN_Update_Active