COVID-19 Vaccines & Women's Health: (Part 2) Has your menstrual cycle changed since taking the vaccine? No, you are not crazy.

Author: S. Gordon-Jeffery

Research series

On Tuesday, September 14, I did 'part 1' of a research series looking into how and if it were possible for the COVID-19 vaccine to affect a woman's menstrual cycle. I mentioned that besides the anecdotal evidence shared by women to the Jamaica Observer that their periods have changed, there were over 4,000 women in the United Kingdom who also noticed changes to their period cycle. If you haven't read the article yet, you can look for the link below under 'Additional Resources'. 

In the previous article I also introduced you to two scientists who were currently researching the complaints of women across the United States, that something different is happening with their periods after taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Let me give you a bit of a progress report on that. 

Viral Response

After Dr. Kate Clancy posted online about her experience and asked women to share, thousands of women responded. She and a colleague, Dr. Lee, quickly set up an online survey for the women to take to document the changes they noticed. 

According to Dr. Lee, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Washington University School of Medicine, Division of Public Health Sciences:

"We started talking back and forth as that tweet was taking off on that day and I drew up that initial survey and went through some rounds of revisions and got it submitted for ethics approval pretty soon after." (Hightower, 2021)

The researchers initially hoped for about 500 participants in the study but were surprised to see that more than 1,000 responded within a short period of time.

"When we were going through ethics approval, Katie and I had a discussion about how many people we anticipated would participate and the number we put in was 500 and that was being optimistic," said Kate Clancy, PhD, Director of Graduate Studies, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois. "We hit 500 I think in the first couple of hours and in fact, were in the thousands within 24 hours." (Hightower, 2021)

Since the survey was launched a couple months ago, over 130,000 women in the U.S. have participated. 

So what have they learned so far? 

Let me put this information in bullet points for you to understand:

• Majority of the respondents did not have menstrual changes after the vaccine - a large number of women surveyed reported no changes to their cycle post vax
• A significant number of women however noted their periods are much heavier than usual
• Some women report their periods are lighter
• Dr. Clancy noted as important the fact that there were reports of 'breakthrough bleeding' among women who were postmenopausal --women who had stopped seeing their periods years ago were now experiencing unexpected bleeding

Here's what Dr Clancy said on the matter of 'breakthrough bleeding':

"So, people who have menstruated in the past but are not currently expecting to get a period are getting surprise periods after this vaccine. Those numbers are actually on the higher side, which again indicates this is not a random sample, this is not a perfectly controlled prevalent study, but it does definitely tell us this is happening and in particular, in those populations, there can be some real medical consequences as well as mental health ones because of the surprise of it." (Hightower, 2021)

Interestingly, thousands of women have reported changes to their period cycle post-vax on the CDC's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) website, but the agency denies that there could be a link to the vaccines. 

In a statement posted in July, it said:

"Many things can affect a woman’s menstrual cycle, including stress-related hormones, changes in schedule, problems with sleep, and changes in diet or exercise. Infections may also impact a person’s menstrual cycle; a recent study from January 2021 documented changes in people’s menstrual cycle related to COVID-19 infection, including a change in flow or cycle length. No studies have been published on changes to a person’s menstrual cycle as a result of COVID-19 vaccination. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a vaccine safety system co-managed by CDC and FDA, has received reports of menstrual cycle changes, including heavier periods, early or late onset, and painful cramps. CDC recommends that those concerned about their menstrual cycle or those who have experienced any unusual menstrual cycle-related side effects after receiving COVID-19 vaccination, talk to their doctor and share their concerns." (Hightower, 2021)

As you can see, the CDC does not believe these women, but Dr Clancy and Dr Lee do.

"I think that’s one of the things a lot of people responding to the tweet that Kate did at the beginning of the project kept saying...they were worried something went wrong, they were going to their doctor and or they told their family they thought something was different with their period and they were dismissed or really sort of gaslight by clinicians or friends and family and so that’s sort a really common experience that we’re hearing because it’s not listed as a side effect," said Lee.

Sad isn't it? Imagine you're shouting this truth at the top your lungs and no one is listening. 

Take a read of this next piece of info from Dr. Lee, maybe this can explain why no one believes the women:

"[Changes in menstrual cycle]... isn’t listed as a side effect in part because nobody thought to ask about it during the trials, so they only list the trial they expect to happen, or that get reported by a lot of folks who get vaccinated, and this sort of fell between the cracks of the vaccine trials, if it’s a side effect for people in response to the vaccine, it just wasn’t considered during those processes." (Hightower, 2021)

You're telling me that nobody cared to do a trial on how these vaccines would affect the reproductive health of half of the human race? Does that make sense? 

For women, our period cycle is a big part of who we are. For most of us, it comes at a certain time each month according to our own internal clock/rhythm. We know something is off for us when: it comes too heavy with clotting and cramps; it comes light one month; it comes too late or early. We even know if the colour is different, whether it's a bright red or darker.

Just recently, a study was done that proved how sensitive a woman's cycle can be to minor changes in her lifestyle. According to the study women who worked longer shifts at work reported having irregular periods:

"Female shiftworkers compared to non-shiftworkers are more likely to report menstrual irregularity and longer menstrual cycles." (Baker & Driver, 2007)

This was due to disruption in normal sleep patterns in the women who had these complaints. It was also noted that low quality sleep can lead to other menstrual related disorders which include mood swings and reproductive issues. (Baker & Driver, 2007)

If we consider these findings though unrelated to COVID-19 or the vaccines, we should also carefully consider this: If our sleep patterns can affect our menses and there's a study about that, why didn't the scientists who created the COVID-19 vaccines do observations for menstrual cycle changes when they were doing vaccine trials? One possible reason could be because they used more males than females during the trial phases. Another could be that scientists are more biased towards studying male physiology.

Let's test these two theories shall we and see where it leads us.

COVID vaccine trials and error

More males than females in scientific studies

Yes, believe it or not, women are very much underrepresented in vaccine trials. Here's what the World Health Organization (WHO) had to say about the matter:

"Historically, women have been under-represented in clinical trials, including vaccine trials, resulting in (white) males often being considered the point of reference, with optimal dosages determined for the male body as opposed to confirming whether the same dosage is also optimal for females...lack of attention to equal representation and sex and gender dimensions may result in differences in frequency and severity of adverse reactions, which are often not well understood in females or not captured before approval and marketing." (World Health Organization - WHO, 2021)

Where the COVID vaccines were concerned the general ratios were diverse among the pharmaceutical companies' trials. Pfizer reported that 49.4% of participants were women.  As for AstraZeneca, they revealed that between 57% - 67.5% of the participants were women because health care workers and social care givers were initially targeted. (WHO, 2021) 

Male physiology bias

The WHO did note however, that though the gender ratio for these trials were an improvement to previous drug trials of the past, there was little reporting on how the vaccines affected the participants in relation to sex or gender. AstraZeneca for example, though reporting they had a larger proportion of female participants, did not detail adverse effects, whether mild or severe, of the vaccine on these women as opposed to their male counterparts. 

It would seem that the vaccine makers under reported the side effects on their female participants, and never bothered to consider how women in the general world population would be affected. 

Could it be possible that if these adverse effects were reported the vaccines would not have been authorized for emergency use or in Pfizer's case full approval? I wonder... 

Expert opinion

What are the experts in some countries saying about the link between the COVID vaccines and disruption in the natural period cycle?

Doctor Faysal al-Kak, an obstetrician (ObGyn) at the American University Beirut (AUB) Medical Center in Lebanon, said that some of his patients experienced "delayed or early starts... have reported symptoms including spotting, severe cramping, heavier than usual flows and prolonged menstruation. This was common across all vaccines and after the second and first dose". (Serrieh, 2021)

Lebanon has so far received both AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines, and is on a massive drive to vaccinate children, the elderly and the refugee population living there. So, apparently, both Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines have evoked a reaction in the menstrual cycle of some women. Dr. al-Kak while admitting that women are being affected dismissed the changes as temporary, and instead sought to explain why it was happening.

According to Dr. al-Kak:

"Looking at the mechanism of action of vaccines in general, which is basically to build up an immune reaction and protection against the pathogen or germ – which implies the release of immunogenic defense substances – this process will affect the changes happening across the menstrual cycle and ovulation at the lining of the endometrium [the cavity of uterus]". (Serrieh, 2021)

So let me explain, most women have a 28-day menstrual cycle which includes the release of hormones, thickening of internal uterine lining followed by ovulation, and then either menses (shedding) or fertilization of an egg. Interestingly, immune cells also play a role in the different stages the uterus goes through to either prepare for pregnancy, or a period if the egg is not fertilized. 

When an egg is fertilized the body's immune response changes to accommodate the survival of the embryo so that it can develop into a fetus. Increased production of estrogen and other chemicals send signals to the immune system to say "Hey, there is a child growing inside here. It is not a hostile, foreign enemy, so don't kill it, allow it to grow!"  

Dr al-Kak notes that "all these processes [ovulation, shedding or pregnancy] require local inflammatory reaction and thus release of inflammatory substances" and agrees that vaccines, which rely on an immune reaction i.e. release of inflammatory substances to work, could cause changes to the menstrual cycle. It is therefore not impossible for the vaccines to affect the "stability of the endometrial lining and ovulation, leading to weakening support and early shedding of endometrial lining causing premenstrual spotting and earlier menses [period], and midcycle spotting." (Serrieh, 2021)

You are not crazy

Women, you are not crazy! What is happening to you is real and you should be concerned. As a matter of fact, the whole world should be concerned, both men and women. 

As for our hero researchers: Lee and Clancy applied for a grant from the National Institutes of Health to further their research, and hope to publish their initial findings soon. 

Let's help them get the truth out there. If you are a woman who has noticed adverse changes to your menstrual cycle after taking any of the COVID jabs, share your story here. 

Thank you so much for reading this article. Tune in next week Tuesday when we'll be visiting Kenya to find out what's happening there, and we'll also be looking at messages from women who shared their experiences via social media. Stay tuned!

__________________

Additional Resources:

1. Gordon-Jeffery, S. "COVID-19 Vaccines and Women's Health: Has your menstrual cycle changed since the vaccine? You're not alone", The Writing Solution, published 14 September 2021, https://thewritingsolution.blogspot.com/2021/09/covid-19-vaccines-has-your-menstrual.html

References for this article:

1. Hightower, M. "Researchers studying reported menstrual changes after COVID-19 vaccination." WBRC News, published 8 July 2021, https://www.wbrc.com/2021/07/08/researchers-studying-reported-menstrual-changes-after-covid-19-vaccination/
2. Baker, Fiona C., and Helen S. Driver. "Circadian rhythms, sleep, and the menstrual cycle." National Library of Medicine, doi 10. 1016, 2007, pp. 613-22. PubMed.gov, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17383933/#:~:text=Disruption%20of%20circadian%20rhythms%20is,irregularity%20and%20longer%20menstrual%20cycles.
3.  Heidari, Shirin and Tracey Goodman. "Critical sex an gender consideration for equitable research, development and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines." The World Health Organization, published 19 April 2021, https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/immunization/sage/covid/gender-covid-19-vaccines-sage-background-paper.pdf
4. Serrieh, Joanne. "COVID-19 vaccines may cause temporary changes to women’s periods, expert weighs in." Al Arabiya English: Al Arabiya News, published 14 September 2021, https://english.alarabiya.net/amp/features/2021/09/14/COVID-19-vaccines-may-cause-temporary-disruption-to-women-s-periods-expert-weighs-in