In the last few days I have received a lot of questions about the coronavirus vaccine as an endometriosis sufferer.
As a health psychologist, I was keen to look into the matter, as endoblog readers had very different experiences at vaccination centres and with their GPs.
What is important is that the fact that endometriosis is a chronic disease has not been an issue for a long time, and this is an important aspect of vaccination. Another factor to consider in terms of vaccination is the possible autoimmune origin - there are as many researchers as there are opinions on this, some do not think so, some do.
There is more consensus about the immune system being affected, but this does not seem to affect the vaccination of women with endometriosis.
When I asked a team of four doctors, all of them agreed that women with endometriosis could take any of the vaccines currently licensed in Hungary.
All the doctors interviewed also stressed that this is a general statement and that the final decision is always in the hands of the doctor at the vaccination site or the doctor who is administering the vaccine.
Barbi from Vaccination Point Experience wrote to us, this is what happened to her:
On Sunday, I went to the vaccination centre, where I told the doctor I first spoke to that I had endometriosis and a thyroid problem. She then called the head doctor who said I could only have the Moderna and Pfizer vaccine. She was told that the Sputnik and Chinese vaccines were not recommended because they were said to trigger the diseases, so she tried to explain the reason to me.
There was one such experience, and I stress that endometriosis was accompanied by thyroid disease, which may have influenced the situation.
Barbi's case is a blatant one, because by now many women with endometriosis have received Sputnik and Astrazeneca from EndoBlog readers, and they are all fine, and it never occurred to them at the time of the vaccination that they could not have one of these vaccines.
The doctors interviewed all stressed that the final decision is always in the hands of the doctor at the vaccination site or the doctor who is administering the vaccine.
In general, they say that any vaccine can be given, but it is very important that you tell the doctor who gives the vaccine honestly about your symptoms, other illnesses and medical history, so that he or she can modify and personalise the decision if necessary.
I also asked Dr. Zsolt Boldogkői (molecular biologist, doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, head of the Department of Medical Biology at the University of Szeged) about the topic, whether all available vaccines can be taken by people with endometriosis.
He replied that he did not know for sure. I asked him further who could tell me for sure. As quoted above, she said that the doctor at the vaccination centre has a list of diseases and other exclusion factors, so :
In all cases, it is the vaccinating doctor who makes the final decision on whether the patient can receive the vaccine.
That's why it's a good idea to tell the doctor who gives the vaccination that you have endometriosis, and also if you're taking any medication or hormonal contraceptives. Don't just think about the endometriosis, but also about any complications with the treatment, so if you've ever had a deep vein thrombosis or migraines from the contraceptive, for example, mention that too.
A summary video of the vaccination is available on The Covers Facebook page, which I recommend you watch. Experts say that they don't think it makes much sense to take aspirin after the AstraZeneca vaccine for fear of blood clots.
I also asked Dorina Megyeriné Rákóczi, a medical biotechnologist, who we recently talked to in a Facebook video on the topic HERE if you missed it. Dorina could not find any information among the currently available sources that excludes any type of vaccine for endometriosis.
Unfortunately, he said, the question of who, what and when to extinguish is now less a professional issue than an organisational and economic one.
So the bottom line is: ask for the vaccination, do it for yourself and your environment, and at the vaccination point, conscientiously tell the doctor about any existing illnesses and medications you are taking.
Hang in there everyone!
If you've got a full pair of snowshoes, check out How to keep your yogan your mind during a pandemic! online in the Learning Room.
I hope you found the article useful and that it helped you make a more confident decision.
Sign in for consultationra ITT
EN 
HU
Leave a Reply