Quote from Alex bobby on September 17, 2025, 3:29 AM

Women with Long COVID May Experience Longer, Heavier Periods, Study Finds

A new study has revealed a surprising link between long COVID and changes in women’s menstrual cycles, suggesting that the virus’s lingering effects may extend far beyond the respiratory system. Researchers in the United Kingdom found that women living with long COVID are more likely to experience longer, heavier periods and abnormal bleeding than women who have recovered from COVID-19 without lingering symptoms.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, shed light on how long COVID can affect reproductive health and highlight the need for greater medical attention to the specific challenges faced by women dealing with the condition.

A Surge in Reports of Menstrual Changes After COVID

Dr. Jacqueline Maybin, a gynaecologist and researcher at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Reproductive Health, said the study was inspired by repeated reports from patients who noticed significant changes in their menstrual cycles after contracting COVID-19.

During the pandemic, Maybin and her colleagues began hearing a recurring story: women who had been infected with COVID-19 were experiencing heavier periods, longer bleeding durations, and bleeding between periods—especially those who later developed long COVID.

“The anecdotes became so much that we couldn’t ignore it,” Maybin told Euronews Health. This prompted her team to conduct a large-scale survey involving about 12,000 women across the UK, including over 1,000 women living with long COVID.

What the Study Found

The study’s results were clear: women with long COVID were significantly more likely to report abnormal menstrual bleeding, including:

• Longer periods
• Heavier bleeding
• Intermenstrual bleeding (bleeding between periods)

In contrast, women who had recovered from COVID-19 without developing long COVID reported only minimal changes to their menstrual cycles. This stark difference suggests that long COVID, rather than the initial infection alone, is the key factor contributing to these disruptions.

Why These Changes Matter

Menstrual changes are not just a minor inconvenience—they can have serious consequences for overall health. Heavy menstrual bleeding, in particular, is one of the leading causes of iron deficiency among women of reproductive age.

“Iron deficiency causes fatigue, shortness of breath, and headaches,” Maybin explained. “These are also common symptoms of long COVID, which means there could be a compound effect.”

In other words, women dealing with both long COVID and heavy menstrual bleeding may find their symptoms amplified, making daily life more challenging and recovery even slower.

Despite the disruptions to menstruation, the study noted one reassuring point: long COVID does not appear to affect ovarian function, meaning women’s fertility is unlikely to be impaired.

How the Menstrual Cycle Interacts with Long COVID Symptoms

To better understand how menstrual cycles might influence long COVID symptoms, Maybin’s team conducted a more in-depth analysis on a smaller group of women. They asked participants to track their symptoms throughout their cycles and also collected blood samples and endometrial tissue (the inner lining of the uterus, which sheds during menstruation).

They discovered that long COVID symptoms fluctuated with the menstrual cycle. Many women reported their symptoms worsened:

• Just before their periods
• During the proliferative phase (the time after bleeding stops until ovulation)

This pattern suggests a possible hormonal influence on the severity of long COVID symptoms. Hormonal shifts during these phases may be amplifying the inflammation and fatigue associated with long COVID, though more research is needed to confirm this.

Inflammation and Hormonal Imbalance Could Be Key

In a preliminary analysis of the collected samples, researchers found signs of endometrial inflammation and disrupted regulation of the hormone androgen in women with long COVID.

Androgens are hormones that play a key role in reproductive health, and abnormal levels could contribute to the menstrual irregularities reported. Meanwhile, inflammation in the endometrium could be causing abnormal uterine bleeding, while also worsening long COVID symptoms.

If these findings are confirmed in larger studies, they could help scientists develop targeted treatments for long COVID that take women’s hormonal and reproductive health into account.

Raising Awareness and Seeking Help

For now, Maybin and her colleagues stress that awareness is crucial. Many women may not realise that there heavy or irregular periods could be linked to long COVID, or they may assume such changes are something they simply have to live with.

“For people with long COVID—or anyone experiencing menstrual disturbance—if your periods are heavy or irregular and really impacting on your life … you should be seeking help from your primary care physician,” Maybin advised.

Healthcare providers can offer treatments for heavy bleeding, check for iron deficiency, and provide support for managing long COVID symptoms, making it important that women speak up about these issues rather than suffer in silence.

The Bigger Picture

This study is one of the first to explore the intersection of long COVID and menstrual health, highlighting how the virus’s long-term effects can extend beyond the organs typically associated with it. It also adds to a growing body of evidence that women may experience long COVID differently from men, underscoring the need for gender-specific research and treatment strategies.

As the world continues to grapple with the long-term consequences of the pandemic, studies like this are essential to understanding and addressing the full spectrum of long COVID’s impact—especially on women’s health, which has often been overlooked in medical research.

Final Thoughts
The link between long COVID and changes in menstrual cycles is a reminder that COVID-19’s impact doesn’t always end when the infection clears. For women dealing with long COVID, being aware of and addressing menstrual changes could be an important step in managing their overall health.

By recognising these symptoms early and seeking medical care, women can help prevent further complications, like iron deficiency, and gain better control over both their menstrual health and their long COVID journey.

Conclusion

The discovery that long COVID may be linked to longer, heavier periods and abnormal menstrual bleeding underscores the far-reaching effects of the virus on women’s health. This study not only highlights the need for more gender-specific research into long COVID but also stresses the importance of listening to patients’ experiences. Menstrual changes can have serious consequences, such as iron deficiency and worsened fatigue, which may compound long COVID symptoms and slow recovery.

For women living with long COVID, paying close attention to their menstrual health and seeking medical support for any significant changes can be a vital part of their care. As researchers continue to explore the connection between hormones, inflammation, and long COVID, these findings could pave the way for more targeted treatments—ensuring that women’s unique health needs are no longer overlooked in the aftermath of the pandemic.

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Long COVID Linked to Heavier, Longer Periods in Women, Study Reveals