When Katy Fyksen suffered a few days after receiving her second dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, she did not think there was a link.
The 43-year-old woman from Plainfield, Illinois, has not had a period for more than a year and a half due to her Mirena IUD, so the sudden red flow was a surprise. But she does not think about the timing associated with receiving her vaccine before she sees a Twitter thread.
‘I did not really think it was anything, until I saw someone say it, that it might be a symptom or a side effect of the vaccine. It was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting,’ ‘she said.
The tweet was from Kathryn Clancy, an associate professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who posted on April 7 about a new survey she is doing to catalog people’s menstrual experiences after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine has.
The survey is a joint effort between Clancy and Katharine Lee, a postdoctoral researcher at the Washington University School of Medicine. Lee said as of Monday, more than 25,000 people had filled it out.
So far, there have been only anecdotal reports of menstrual changes following the COVID-19 vaccines, and experts stress that there is no sign of danger of getting the vaccine, nor is it a reason to go about getting vaccinated to become.
Clancy and Lee were inspired by their own experiences with abnormal menstruation after their vaccination, and wanted to document the experiences of others. They said they initially expected 500 people to respond to the survey; instead, they hit that point within hours.
Clancy set out her personal menstrual experience in a February tweet after receiving her first dose of Moderna vaccine. Hundreds of women and men who were menstruating responded in the comments with their own experiences.
One Twitter user wrote: ‘I last had a period years ago and I’m about 3 weeks away from my second survey and I’m shedding blood, but now I see that I’m not the only one. This is crazy. “
Another replied: ‘Two weeks exactly after shot number 2, my cycle started 12 days earlier and heavier than it has been for the past three years. ‘
“Eventually, I found a lot of people with similar experiences,” Clancy said. ‘But also, to be honest, a lot of people were like,’ I didn’t notice anything, ‘and some people said,’ Actually, I had the opposite, where I had a later or lighter period. ‘
While investigating trends, Lee said they could not determine cause and effect.
“Our survey can tell us nothing about the incidence or the number of people affected,” Lee said. “What we can do is look for associations and trends that can help us determine the next study.”
Dr. Rakhi Shah, an OB-GYN at Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital, said she does not see the way the COVID-19 vaccines can affect menstruation.
“I think there is actually no biological mechanism that is plausible in terms of how that could be possible,” Shah said. “I think people normally have menstrual pain, as well as the pains associated with the vaccine, and that they can combine it all together and associate it.”
Dr Julie Levitt, an OB-GYN from Northwestern Medicine, said two patients came to her with concerns specifically related to their periods after being vaccinated.
“Bleeding occurs for so many reasons that it’s really difficult to isolate the two,” Levitt said.
She also said the COVID-19 vaccine could create a hormonal peak that could cause bleeding.
” A hormone rises, it falls, you bleed a withdrawal bleeding. But is that a bad thing? No, ”Levitt said.
Levitt stressed that this is not a concern, nor is it the reason to stop giving birth.
“No. 1, I will not worry. No. 2, contact your doctor if you want to talk about getting the insurance,” Levitt said. “If it persists after a few weeks after the vaccine “It’s probably something else.”
Clancy said those who experience abnormal menstrual symptoms after getting the vaccination should talk to their doctor if it concerns them.
“If you’re a postmenopausal person who’s experienced bleeding, you really need to talk to your doctor,” Clancy said. “And if you have any significant or symptoms related to your changes in your menstrual cycle, you should also see a doctor.”
For Fyksen, the unexpected period was over in about seven days, and she said it was worth it, even if it related to the vaccine.
“I’m just glad I’m completely vaccinated. “If it’s the worst side effects, we’re fine with it,” she said.
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