Women massively complain about irregularities in the cycle after vaccination against COVID-19: is it dangerous

When you come to get your coronavirus vaccine, you will most likely be warned about possible side effects: high fever, headache, or pain in your arm. All this should pass in a day or two. But the fact that women in addition may change the menstrual cycle, there is nothing in the leaflets yet, writes Air force.

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At the same time, women around the world began to wonder: could premature, strong or overly painful periods be the result of vaccinations.

When Professor Keith Clancy of the University of the American State of Illinois tweeted that she had unusually bad periods after being vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, she immediately received dozens of responses. The women confirmed that they had similar experiences. As a result, Clancy, along with her colleague Catherine Lee, launched a questionnaire in which she asked participants to share their observations.

We do not yet know if the vaccine is causing these changes, since the issue has not been specifically studied. It is possible that after vaccination, women simply watched their bodies more closely than usual. Or they might have attributed the change to the vaccine by learning about the experiences of others.

However, according to Dr. Victoria Meil, a reproductive immunologist at Imperial College London, some women who have already gone through menopause and those taking hormonal drugs to stop their periods have reported bleeding. Therefore, Dr. Meil ​​suspects that some kind of physical reaction is still occurring.

Although this link has not been proven, it was logical to assume that the vaccine changes the menstrual cycle. At the same time, there is no reason for concern, experts emphasize. While periods can be unexpected and hard, they said, it is not indicative of long-term health risks.

Impact on periods 'very likely'

The lining of the uterus (endometrium) is part of the immune system. Immune cells, found in almost all parts of the body, play an important role in the formation of the endometrium, maintaining its function and destruction. Every month it thickens in preparation for pregnancy, and if the egg has not been fertilized, the unsuitable layer of mucous membrane is rejected. It is he who comes out with blood in the form of menstruation.

After vaccination, numerous chemical signals circulate throughout the body that could potentially affect the functioning of immune cells. They, in particular, can cause earlier detachment of the endometrium, and with it unexpected signs of menstruation, explains Dr. Victoria Mail.

A link between vaccination and changes in the menstrual cycle is highly likely, agrees Alexandra Overgne from the University of Oxford. According to her, the period of ovulation (the release of an egg towards a potential sperm) can change due to inflammation in the body - when, for example, a person has a fever. But vaccines can also trigger a similar response in the body: The immune system goes into overdrive and begins producing antibodies and other cells to fight the disease.

On the subject: How many Americans get COVID-19 after being fully vaccinated: recent data

There is no connection with miscarriage

But these phenomena are not associated with the risk of miscarriage, Victoria Mail emphasizes. During pregnancy, other processes occur in the uterine lining, in particular, with the participation of the placenta, which connects the fetus to the mother.

According to Dr. Meil, numerous data show that pregnant women after vaccination did not become more at risk of miscarriage.

But other studies show that infectious diseases, including Covid-19, do increase the risk of losing a child or giving birth prematurely, says Alexandra Auverne of the University of Oxford.

All consequences are temporary.

Influenza and human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are known to have a temporary side effect, such as a shift in the menstrual cycle, but there are no long-term effects.

In addition, according to Victoria Mail, there is ample evidence that this does not affect fertility in any way.

However, while there is no cause for concern, Dr. Meil ​​and other scientists we interviewed say more research is needed on the effects of vaccinations on the menstrual cycle so that people can know what to expect or fear.

“The problem here is that women's health issues are often not given the importance they deserve,” Meil ​​says.

“Imagine you weren’t told that fever could be a side effect of vaccination,” gynecologist Jen Gunter wrote on her educational website. - Surely in this case you will begin to worry and bewilderment, although you just have the usual post-vaccination fever. This is exactly the situation with changes in the menstrual cycle.”

The situation is similar with postmenopausal women and transgender men taking drugs to stop menstruation. Their unexpected bleeding can cause serious anxiety, being a potential symptom of cancer. Therefore, it is also important for them to know that after vaccination, such a harmless side effect is possible if the link between vaccination and menstruation is scientifically confirmed, explains US scientist Catherine Lee.

But anyone noticing unusual bleeding should consider seeing a doctor, says Susan Ward, vice president of Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

Misinformation about vaccines

Meanwhile, the idea that vaccines can affect the course of menstruation has been picked up by mythmakers on social media.

Anti-vaccine groups and conspiracy theorists began to present the true stories of women as proof that vaccines are harmful and part of a plan to sterilize the whole world, conceived by some world elites.

Over the past few weeks, posts have been actively circulating on social networks and causing a stir that a woman's menstrual cycle can change from just being near vaccinated.

In one such video, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views since mid-April, a “reproductive health practitioner” warns viewers that “women’s menstrual cycles are subject to significant changes, even if they themselves have not been vaccinated.”

Other vaccine deniers and adherents of holistic medicine in equally popular social media posts argued that protein spikes can be passed from vaccinated people to others. This is physically impossible.

Most Covid-19 vaccines instruct the body to create a small fragment of the virus spike so that the body learns to fight it. The spike protein is then degraded or destroyed. The mechanism for transmitting instructions itself—messenger RNA—is also very fragile. This is why vaccines are so difficult to store and transport.

Neither vaccine prevents parts of the virus from replicating, let alone being passed on to other people. The only thing that replicates is your immune cells, which produce antibodies to fight the virus.

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