Long covid appears to disrupt the menstrual cycle, causing periods to become heavier and last longer. This may be due to hormonal changes or lingering Covid-19-related complications that lead to inflammation.

The reasons behind long COVID remain unclear. Research indicates that the virus may persist at low levels in the body, trigger inflammatory immune responses, or disrupt gut microbiota.

Common symptoms include fatigue and brain fog. Previous studies have linked menstrual cycle irregularities to covid, though they did not provide accurate assessments of menstrual changes or whether these variations are independent of Covid-19.

To address this gap, Dr. Jacqueline Maybin and her team from the University of Edinburgh, UK, enlisted over 12,000 women to participate in a reproductive health study from March to June 2021.

More than 9,000 participants had no history of Covid-19, defined as testing negative for the virus and lacking symptoms such as loss of smell or cough. Approximately 1,700 women reported acute COVID-19, where symptoms resolved within a month, while about 1,000 were identified as having long COVID.

Over half of those with long COVID reported heavier-than-usual periods. In comparison, around 40% of women with acute COVID-19 and 35% of those who had no accidental infection experienced similar issues.

Additionally, long COVID was significantly linked to periods lasting longer than 8 days, whereas acute COVID-19 did not appear to affect cycle length. This suggests prolonged symptoms may stem from long COVID rather than the initial infection.

To understand the underlying mechanisms, researchers analyzed blood samples from menstrual cycles of women with long COVID against those of 40 women who contributed samples pre-pandemic.

Findings showed that individuals with long COVID exhibited elevated levels of the hormone 5α-dihydrotestosterone, which is associated with irregular periods in the latter half of the cycle. Furthermore, higher levels of inflammatory molecules tied to long COVID were detected through biopsies.

This indicates that long COVID may induce hormonal and immune changes that affect menstrual cycles. However, Maybin stresses that further research is essential to clarify these findings.

In another evaluation, the team noted that women with long COVID reported increased symptoms such as fatigue and muscle pain before and during menstruation, while nausea, headaches, and breathing issues often worsened after menstruation and preovulation. “This suggests ovarian hormones might influence the severity of some symptoms,” Maybin explains.

However, since the study primarily involved white women, she emphasizes the need to determine if these results apply to more diverse populations, as all participants were from the UK, a high-income nation.