COVID-19 Vaccines & Women's Health: (Part 3) Has your menstrual cycle changed since taking the vaccine? Women speak up on social media.
Author: S. Gordon-Jeffery
Research series
"I have had unusual cramps and severe headache during my menstrual flow after the vaccine something I have never experienced."
These were the words of a young Kenyan woman who was watching a news report on women who were complaining to the doctors that since taking the COVID jab their period cycles have not been the same. KTN News interviewed two doctors, their resident medical consultant, Dr. Mercy Korir and gynaecologist Dr. Nelly Bosire, who confirmed that women in Kenya were in fact experiencing issues with their periods post COVID vax jab.
Here is the information I gleaned from the video:
- At the time of the video, which was in April 2021, over 700, 000 Kenyans were vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca. They did not give the breakdown as to how many persons received their first or second dose.
- Of the over 700,000 Kenyans who were vaccinated, 44% (308,526) of them were women
- Women have reported to their doctors that they have noticed changes to their flow but at the time there were no official reports to the country's Pharmacy & Poisons Board, an agency which regulates the manufacture and sale of drugs and poisons in Kenya
- Some women have suffered debilitating effects of the virus to the point where they were on bed rest for 24 to 48 hours by their doctors
- Most common side effects women in Kenya complained about --heavy flow, painful to severe cramping, heavy clotting/large clots in period
Incidentally, while I was looking for something on the current status of reporting by women to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, I stumbled across an article written by Andrew Wasike Shimanyula which claimed that 279 Kenyans were harmed by the vaccine. The article was published on April 7, 2021. At the time 339,893 persons were vaccinated with the AstraZeneca jab. According to Shimanyula, the Pharmacy and Poisons board said that:
"All reported serious AEFI [Adverse event following immunization] are under investigations and none of them has resulted into fatal outcomes...out of the 279 reported cases, 272 were mild and resolved within a short period." (Shimanyula, 2021)
The Deputy Director of the Board Peter Mbwiiri Ikamati, had initially revealed that tragically someone died from a severe reaction to the vaccine, but then strangely later on, the agency released a statement which refuted that claim.
"There was a misreporting of an adverse event following immunization (AEFI) as fatal," the agency said.
I really tried, but I could not find a copy of an official report on the adverse reactions in women. I did however find an article which published the concerns of several Kenyan women who noticed changes in their cycle.
According to Nation Africa, 85 women came forward to share what happened to them after getting the COVID-19 jab. According to the news agency, one woman claimed she had experienced severe cramping but her period is missing in action:
"I took the vaccine a fortnight ago and have been having very painful cramps for more than a week now but no periods, though I was so sure they would come early because of the signs.
I know stress does affect cycles but even when I am stressed it doesn't affect me like this," she revealed. (Lidigu, 2021)
Another woman, an entrepreneur based in Nairobi had this to say:
"My periods came a week earlier than usual and it happened after I was immunised for coronavirus. I have not been stressed lately and neither have I engaged in any sexual activity for quite some time now." (Lidigu, 2021)
She also noted with concern that her flow was much lighter than usual. She was concerned that there was no warning from the country's health ministry that this was a possible side effect.
"I need to know and wish the Health ministry could explain why they did not tell us that this would happen," she said. (Lidigu, 2021)
Well, if I could answer her question, I would say the reason your Ministry of Health never told you about this side effect was because they themselves did not know this would happen! As I said in my previous article, the vaccine companies did not report any gender/sex based adverse reactions to their vaccines, so therefore it was not, I repeat, it was not listed as a side effect for these drugs. Let's go back to the video from KTN News.
As Dr. Mercy Korir was speaking they brought up a statistic on the screen which said 80% of adverse reactions recorded were experienced by women. When I looked at the bottom of the screen I realised they were sharing statistics from the CDC!
LOOK I WILL SHOW YOU!
This is a screenshot of what was on my screen last night while I was listening to the programme. Yes, the video is on YouTube. I will try to insert the video here so you can watch it for yourself, and please watch to the end. As you can see just below the video window, someone was saying that her period came early and was painful for her. But hear what an expert told Nation Africa about the women's complaints:
'Dr Isaac Adembesa, the head of the department of anesthesia and critical care at Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) however says the issue could be stress-related.
"You know stress is not only physical but also psychological and the body reacts, so it should normalise after a few days or so."' (Lidigu, 2021)
And another expert:
'Amref Health Africa Global CEO Githinji Gitahi echoed the head of department's sentiments, stating there is no relationship between the vaccine and the reproductive system.
"There is none at all. It could be anxiety, you know anxiety causes irregular menses, what they need to do is just report to the Ministry of Health so that it is noted," Dr Gitahi said.' (Lidigu, 2021)
Clearly, there is a disconnect between what these women are saying they are experiencing and what these experts, mostly men, are saying is happening.
To explain why it is that the CDC statistics show that 80% of persons who had adverse reactions were women, Dr Korir said women have a more active immune system. Well obviously! But that does not explain why it's affecting some women so severely!
Here is the YouTube video from KTN News Kenya:
Dr. Bosire, a consultant gynaecologist (KTN News video), noted that some of her colleagues were having the same issue after their COVID jab. She had also met women who came to her seeking relief from what was happening to them. Asked as to whether women should be concerned about their fertility she too followed the same script --it appears to be temporary and women should not be concerned. She advised them to report the adverse reactions to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, so that more can be done to study what is happening. While I agree that the women should report their situation, I see no comfort in the immediate term for these ladies. Reporting it doesn't make the problem go away.
A few persons have spoken up on social media about their own experiences. Some have said that the first period after the vaccine was very painful and was very heavy, but afterwards the next one was back to normal. Other women said their periods took a while to come and when it did, it was light, or it was heavy but went back to normal after a few cycles. Others said they haven't seen theirs in months, still, some say when theirs finally came they were bleeding non-stop for weeks. Let me share these with you. Yes, even some posts from Jamaican women.
Sharing screenshots below, so you know I ain't lying:
Jamaican women's testimonies
These were just a few of the hundreds of women commenting on The Jamaica Observer's article 'Can COVID-19 vaccines impact periods', which they shared on their Facebook page a few weeks ago.
As for Twitter a few women also shared what they experienced:
Just giving you this one from a woman in the U.S. 👇👇👇
With so many women across the world saying something has changed, something is different about their periods, sumn nuh feel right, why isn't this issue being thoroughly looked into by the WHO, the CDC and the FDA?
Why aren't the doctors doing any research into it?
Why are the doctors and scientists dismissing these women's claims and saying it's just stress?
So, suh much ooman cyan tek di vaccine an' is just stress??!
We know the vaccine induces an inflammatory response and causes the body to release stress hormones. So I guess that's where the stress comes from? Hmm?
Tune in next time for another interesting article peeps. See you soon. 😃
Additional Resources
- Gordon-Jeffery, S. "COVID-19 Vaccines & Women's Health: Has your menstrual cycle changed since taking 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
- Gordon-Jeffery, S. "COVID-19 Vaccine & Women's Health: Has your menstrual cycle changed since taking the vaccine?" No, you're not crazy." The Writing Solution, published 17 September 2021, https://thewritingsolution.blogspot.com/2021/09/covid-19-vaccines-womens-health-part-2.html
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References
- KTN News Kenya. "Vaccine Side Effects: Number of women report altered menstrual cycle after Covid-19 vaccination." YouTube, 19 April 2021, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lAOG7DHEEG8
- Shimanyula, Andrew W. "Kenya: 279 people affected by AstraZeneca vaccine." Anadolu Agency, published 7 April 2021, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/kenya-279-people-affected-by-astrazeneca-vaccine/2201467
- Lidigu, Leon. "Kenyan women raise concerns over missing periods after Covid-19 jab." Nation Africa, published 24 April 2021, https://nation.africa/kenya/news/kenyan-women-raise-concerns-over-missing-periods-after-covid-19-jab--3374742
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