Are you one of the 30,000 women who have come forward to report disruption to their period after their Covid vaccine?
If you’re one of those affected by a bad or different period, chances are you’ve consulted Google for help – with new statistics showing searches online on this issue have skyrocketed.
We reported a few months back that nearly 4,000 women had come forward in Tayside and Fife to tell us about the period problems they’d experienced.
Everything from heavy periods to irregular cycles and even missed periods were reported – with more coming forward since the vaccination programme has been rolled out to younger age groups.
How many women have come forward now?
Up until 22 September, 29,483 suspected reactions have been reported through the Yellow Card scheme following all three different types of Covid vaccines.
Problems reported include:
- Heavier than usual periods.
- Delayed periods.
- Unexpected vaginal bleeding.
Katie Smith, 35, from Kirkcaldy, experienced extremely heavy periods after her jag: “My doctor could see the logic that if this was a side effect, it was only going to become apparent as the vaccine programme worked it’s way down the age groups,” she said.
“A post-menopausal woman wouldn’t experience it and a peri-menopausal one might write it off, but someone younger could see it as potentially sinister and in need of medical investigation.”
Laura Christie, 39, from Dunfermline, added: “I had to take a pregnancy test because I was really concerned when my period was over a week late.
“It then dawned on me, after I read about the link between the vaccine and irregular periods, that I’d recently had my second dose of the vaccine.”
When Lillets recently conducted research, it showed a skyrocketing number of people were looking for information online about their concerns between April and September.
Google searches for phrases increased including:
- “Bad period after vaccine” by a shocking 4,700%.
- “Period problems after vaccine” by 3,000%.
- “Pfizer delayed period” by 2,600%.
- “Heavy period after vaccine” by 2,500%.
Katie added: “I googled and found a thread on an online forum of many people saying the same thing.
“But my family background is a medical one so I knew it was better to get checked professionally than rely on that.”
Laura said she was alerted after reading the Courier article: “After I read it, I did a bit of googling.
“I was really annoyed to read it’s quite common for immunisations to affect your cycle. Why didn’t they give us a handout when we got our jags instead of leaving us to have to look online?”
Should I be worried about period changes after Covid jab?
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says the number of reports is low in relation to the number of people who have received vaccines and how common menstrual disorders are generally.
There has been rigorous evaluation completed that doesn’t support a link between changes to menstrual periods and related symptoms and Covid-19 vaccines, it says.
It also says:
- Changes reported are mostly transient.
- There’s no evidence to suggest the vaccines will affect fertility and your ability to have children.
- Period problems are extremely common.
- Stressful life events can disrupt periods.
More information about changes to your period can be found on the NHS Inform website.