Common pill turned woman 'nasty' and made her lose friends

A young woman claims the contraceptive pill left her so 'nasty and rude' that she ruined friendships and was dubbed 'Rowdy Russell' - as doctors didn't realise she was intolerant to it. Katy Russell started using contraception aged 15 in a bid to relieve her period symptoms and then while in a relationship in September 2021 was prescribed the combined mini pill.

But after she began to experience severe mood swings, outbursts of anger and weight gain, she knew something wasn't right. At the time, the now 22-year-old claims doctors told her these symptoms was just her body getting used to the pill and so she stayed on the medication until February 2022.

But soon her friends began to distance themselves from her due to her mood swings that saw her acting 'nasty' and 'just not someone people wanted to hang around with'. Eventually even her boyfriend asked her to come off the pill as she was being a 'b*tch 24.7', so she began looking into alternative contraception.

Katy said her options were limited as she suffered migraines but decided to try the implant to save her relationships but claims her contraceptive experience only got worse. And when she began to experience extreme bloating, back acne and a six-month heavy period, she had the implant removed and the hormonal coil fitted in January 2023.

Katy claims the coil left her 'crippled' in pain and after having it removed in June 2023, she says doctors discovered she was allergic to progestogen - a hormone present in all the contraceptive methods she tried. According to the National Institute of Health, progestogen is primarily responsible for preventing pregnancy by preventing the action of ovulation to take place.

Katy claims it took years for doctors to discover her progestogen intolerance and says she's been left 'traumatised' by her birth control experience and will never use contraception again. Katy, from Manchester but now living in Bristol, said: "You do it [go on the pill] because it is a safe option but you change person and then someone is telling you to come off it because you're really horrible and it's like I don't really know what else to do.

"I either become a nasty person and have all these struggles or potentially get pregnant and have a child and I don't want that. I formed a nickname for myself from my friends. They called me 'Rowdy Russell'.

"When I was on, that time of the month, I would be an absolute b*tch. I was so rude so snappy and just not someone people wanted to hang around with. It also gave me really bad acne and I gained quite a lot of weight so I didn't really stick it out for very long. I think it was maybe about nine months before I came off of it.

"It [the implant] was fine for the first couple of weeks but then I was consistently on my period for nearly if not more than six months. I was consistently bloated all the time, to the point where it almost started to form body dysmorphia.

"I couldn't look in a mirror and understand what I look like normally because I was so bloated all the time. People wouldn't think this was actually happening because I was on contraception so in my head I thought people were going to judge me, so I would not allow myself to feel uncomfortable I would just cover [myself] up.

"If I was going on holiday I'm not one who would go on a sunbed, however I did start going on sunbeds to try and help calm my acne down on the back because it was a difficult place to treat anyway. [With the acne that came from the implant] it's one thing being on your face but on your back it's a harder area and thicker skin as well.

"The sunbeds did improve it but it wasn't until I actually came off the contraception that my bacne and the spots on my face really started to go away." When Katy had her implant removed, she claims doctors discovered it had moved from her arm to her elbow which meant she had to undergo surgery and has now been left with a permanent scar.

The marketing executive also claims her coil experience caused her to develop an ovarian cyst which she is now having to have surgically removed. Katy said: "It was a bad procedure [having the implant removed] because I had two ladies basically cutting my arm and pulling my arm open trying to find this implant which had moved.

"I've now got a scar from where I first got it placed and a scar pretty much on the other side of my arm from where the implant ended up. Within six months of getting the implant it went from the front of my arm and then down and around to my elbow.

"As soon as I started getting cramps [while on the coil] I couldn't walk. I was basically just crippled on the floor in agony, tears and consistent pain. The pain was so unpredictable I could have been driving and then suddenly have to pull over because the pain made me physically unable to drive.

"Sometimes it would be that bad that my friends would have to drive out and get me and I'd have to leave my car so that I could get home." After years of struggle, Katy says her intolerance diagnosis has come as a 'relief' but says she's now been left with even fewer birth control options if she ever decides to go back on it.

Katy said: "The majority of contraceptives have progestogen in them apart from I think the combined pill but again I can't have that because of my migraines. My only options now are condoms, a certain type of pill or the copper coil but I'm scared of the copper coil and the pill because my experiences were horrible.

"For me now I'm never going to go on contraception again because I don't want to have to go through any mental or physical changes again. I don't even think it's worth it. I would rather use a condom or risk it because I can't do it again."