Why didn’t doctors listen to women about the link between Covid vaccines and periods?

When my period came late last month, I was cautiously optimistic. After a miscarriage in December, followed by a Covid-19 attack in my husband, my periods, as almost always, had remained persistently regular. This time, however, day 27 came and went without blood appearing in my pants. I played the game most women trying to get pregnant play: I negotiated with myself about when I would take the pregnancy test.

But after a week I couldn’t take it anymore. I did the test. “Not pregnant.” A week later I did another test. Still “Not Pregnant”. It wasn’t until I finally talked to my friends about it that I remembered: I had had my second dose of the vaccine a month earlier. Could there be a connection?

The possibility is becoming more and more likely. This week, a study in the BMJ found that nearly 35,000 British women have reported having experienced more painful and / or irregular periods after being vaccinated against Covid. A month later they were back to normal.

Dr. Victoria Male, lecturer in reproductive immunology at Imperial College London who led the work, said all major vaccines – Pfizer, Moderna, AZ Oxford – were involved, but there was no evidence of a long-term impact on fertility.

With the theory that the body’s immune response to the vaccine could trigger a change in the menstrual cycle, Dr. Point out that more research is needed.

This study is not the first to hear of period disorder associated with vaccination. Since the vaccine first came out, women have been all over social media talking about how the vaccine affected their menstrual cycle.

Most of these women had a late or extra heavy period after vaccination. Other women had breakthrough bleeding (when bleeding outside of your period), some women whose birth control meant they hadn’t had a period for years suddenly had to fetch tampons. All of these women came to social media for advice or confirmation. But until this study, there was little offer, which shows how little someone has thought of considering the chance of a connection.

But what the new study highlights is how little anyone has thought of considering the chance of a connection.

As with most clinical trials, the Covid-19 vaccine studies did not look at the effects of the menstrual cycle – in fact, women were completely excluded in many studies due to potential effects on the menstrual cycle all.

When women first reported menstrual cycle irregularities after vaccination, a lack of data on the subject led doctors to reject their concerns.

“This is a coincidence,” we were told, “Women often have an irregular cycle every now and then.” This attitude not only ignored the fact that there was never any serious research into the frequency of occasional irregular periods in women with regular periods, but also that many of us have been following our cycle for years – and we know that a delay of 20 days is not a “normal” irregularity. Well then the medical community suggested and went into the negotiation phase of denial, it’s stressful. Which it may be, though I can’t say I found getting my vaccine more stressful than going through a global pandemic for a year and a half.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/17/why-didnt-doctors-listen-to-women-about-the-link-between-covid-vaccines-and-periods/