The common pill turned the woman “ugly” and caused her to lose her friends

A young woman claims the birth control pill left her so “ugly and rude” she destroyed friendships and was nicknamed “Rowdy Russell” – because doctors didn’t realize she was intolerant to it. Katy Russell started using contraception at the age of 15 in an attempt to relieve her menstrual symptoms and then, while in a relationship, in September 2021, she was prescribed the combined mini pill.

But after she began experiencing severe mood swings, angry outbursts and weight gain, she knew something was wrong. At the time, the now 22-year-old claims doctors told her these symptoms were just her body getting used to the pill, so she stayed on medication until February 2022.

But soon her friends began to distance themselves from her due to her mood swings which made her act “ugly” and “just not someone people wanted to be around”. Eventually, even her boyfriend asked her to go off the pill because it was a “24.7 bug,” so she began looking for alternative contraception.

Katy said her options were limited as she suffered from migraines, but decided to try the implant to save her relationships, but claims her experience of contraception worsened. And when she started experiencing extreme bloating, back acne and a heavy six-month period, she had her implant removed and a hormone coil fitted in January 2023.

Katy claims the coil left her “crippled” with pain, and after it was removed in June 2023, she says doctors discovered she was allergic to progestogen – a hormone present in all the birth control methods she tried. According to the National Institutes of Health, progestin is primarily responsible for preventing pregnancy by preventing ovulation from occurring.

Katy claims it took her doctors years to discover her progestin intolerance and says she was left “traumatized” by her birth control experience and will never use contraception again. Katy, from Manchester but now living in Bristol, said: “You do it (pill pop) because it’s a safe option, but you change the person and then someone tells you to stop because you’re really horrible and it’s like I don’t really know what to do.

“Either I become an ugly person and have all these struggles, or I can get pregnant and have a baby and I don’t want that. I made a nickname from my friends. They called me “Rowdy Russell”.

“When I was, at that time of the month, I was an absolute badass. I was so rude, so quick, and just not someone people wanted to hang out with. It also gave me really bad acne and I gained quite a lot of weight so I didn’t last too long, I think it was about nine months before I got rid of it.

“(The implant) was fine for the first two weeks, but then I had my periods consistently for close to, if not more than, six months. I was constantly bloated all the time, to the point where it almost started forming body dysmorphia. .

“I couldn’t look in a mirror and understand what I normally looked like because I was so bloated all the time. People wouldn’t believe this was actually happening because I was on birth control, so in my mind I thought people would judge. me, so I wouldn’t allow myself to feel uncomfortable, I’d just cover up.

“If I was going on holiday I’m not one to go on a sunbed, however I started going on sunbeds to try and get some relief from the acne on my back as it was a difficult place to treat anyway. (With acne that came from the implant) it’s one thing on the face, but on the back it’s a tougher area and thicker skin.

“The sunbeds made it better, but it wasn’t until I went off birth control that the pimples and spots on my face really started to disappear.” When Katy had her implant removed, she claims doctors discovered it had moved from her arm to her elbow, which meant she had to have surgery and is now left with a permanent scar.

The marketing executive also claims that her experience with the coil caused her to develop an ovarian cyst which she now has to have surgically removed. Katy said: “It was a bad procedure (removing the implant) because I had two ladies basically cutting my arm open and trying to find this implant that had moved.

“Now I have a scar from where I first placed it and a scar almost on the other side of my arm from where the implant went. Within six months of getting the implant, it went from the front of my arm and then down and around my elbow.

“As soon as I started cramping (while on the IUD) I couldn’t walk. I was practically crippled on the floor in agony, tears and constant pain. The pain was so unpredictable that I could be driving and then suddenly pull over because the pain made me physically unable to drive.

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

Katy said: “Most contraceptives have progestin in them apart from the combined pill but again I can’t have that because of my migraines. My only options now are condoms, some type of pill, or the copper coil, but I’m afraid of the copper coil and the pill because my experiences have been horrible.

“For me now I will never go on birth control again because I don’t want to go through mental or physical changes again. I don’t even think it’s worth it. I’d rather use a condom or risk it. because I can’t do it again.”