Study offers reassurance on vaccine, periods

One of the first studies to track whether COVID-19 vaccination might affect women’s periods found a small — and temporary — change.

The study tracked nearly 4,000 U.S. women through six menstrual cycles and on average, the period following a shot started about a day later than usual. But there was no change in the number of days of menstrual bleeding after COVID-19 vaccination.

“This is incredibly reassuring,” said Dr. Alison Edelman of Oregon Health & Science University, who led the research and said it’s important to tell women what to expect.

Some women have reported irregular periods or other menstrual changes after their shots. The National Institutes of Health is funding studies to examine whether there’s any link.

Edelman’s team analyzed data from a birth control app called Natural Cycles, which has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration to help women track their menstrual cycles and tell when they’re most likely to become pregnant.

Menstrual cycles are counted from the first day of one period to the first day of the next. Slight variations from month to month are normal, and stress, diet and even exercise can spur temporary changes.

Edelman said the study included women with “the most normal of normal” cycle length, averaging between 24 and 38 days. They were prompted by the app to enter vaccine information if they got COVID-19 shots.

Researchers tracked vaccinated women for three cycles before their shots and the immediate three cycles after, including the months they received a dose. The cycles were compared with those of unvaccinated women.

A subset of 358 women who got both vaccine doses in the same menstrual cycle saw a slightly larger change to their next cycle length — two days, on average.

About 10% of them had a change of eight days or more, but subsequently returned to normal ranges, the researchers reported in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Edelman said one theory is that when the immune system revs up at certain times in the cycle, “our body clock or what controls the menstrual cycle can have a hiccup.”

She plans additional study to determine whether there are changes in the heaviness of menstrual bleeding or whether women who have irregular periods react differently.

The findings provide “important new evidence underscoring that any impact of the COVID vaccines on menstruation is both minimal and temporary,” Dr. Christopher Zahn of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement.