The Pill destroyed my life

A woman claims birth control pills have made her “mean and rude” and ruined her life.

Katie Russell said the incident destroyed friendships, soured her relationship with her boyfriend and earned her the nickname “Wild Russell”.

Despite this, doctors continued to urge her to take the medication, not realising that she was not tolerating it.

Katie started using birth control pills as a teenager to ease period symptoms.

In September 2021, while in a relationship, she was prescribed a combination pill that contains two hormones and stops the release of eggs from her ovaries each month.

But when she began experiencing severe mood swings, angry outbursts and weight gain, which she claims had a negative impact on her mental health, she realised something was wrong.

At the time, Katie claims her doctor told her these symptoms were just her body getting used to the pills, so she continued taking the medication until February 2022.

But her friends soon began to distance themselves from her, finding her moody, “mean” and “just not someone they wanted to spend time with.”

Eventually, even her boyfriend told her to go off the pill because she was a “24/7 bitch,” and she began looking for alternative forms of birth control.

Now 22, she said her options were limited because she suffered from migraines, but she decided to try the implant to save her relationship.

Unfortunately, her experience with birth control only got worse.

Then, after she began experiencing extreme bloating, back acne and heavy periods for six months, she had the implants removed in January 2023 and had a hormonal coil fitted.

Katie claims the birth control coil left her “incapacitated” by pain, and after having it removed in June 2023, doctors discovered she was intolerant to progestogens – a hormone found in all the birth control methods she had tried.

She claims it took years for doctors to realise her intolerance and says her experience with birth control left her “traumatised”.

Katie, who is originally from Manchester but now lives in Bristol, said: ” [go on the pill] Because it’s a safe option, but when someone tells you to stop doing it, it’s because you’re in a really bad place and you’re like, “I don’t really know what else to do.”

“I could become a mean person because of all this hard work, or I could get pregnant and have a baby, and I don’t want that.

“My friends used to call me ‘Rowy Russell.’

“When I was on my period I was a total jerk – very rude, cranky and the kind of person no one wanted to spend time with.

“I also developed terrible acne and gained a lot of weight, so I couldn’t keep it up for very long.

“It probably took me about nine months to get off the medication.”

I was so bloated all the time that I couldn’t even look in the mirror.

Katie Russell

Speaking about her experience with the implants, Katie said the first few weeks were “okay”.

But for the next six months, she had her periods “regularly.”

“I was always bloated and it felt like I was on the verge of developing body dysmorphia,” she said.

“I was always bloated and when I looked in the mirror I couldn’t understand what I normally looked like. I just hid my body.”

“[With the acne that came from the implant]This is true for the face, but the back is also a tougher area and has thicker skin.

“It wasn’t until I actually stopped taking birth control that my back acne and facial blemishes really started to disappear.”

Katie claims that when they removed the implant, doctors discovered it had migrated from her arm to her elbow.

She had to undergo surgery and now has permanent scars.

The marketing executive also claims that her use of the coil caused her to develop ovarian cysts that now have to be surgically removed.

Katie said: “It was a bad move. [having the implant removed] I was so shocked because two women cut and pulled my arm trying to find the implant that had moved out.

“I have a scar where they first put the implant in and I also have a scar on the arm opposite where the implant went in.

“After I had the implants in, within six months they had spread down the front of my arm and up to my elbow.

When the stomach pain begins [while on the coil] I couldn’t walk and just lay on the floor in agony, tears and constant pain.

“The pain was completely unpredictable. There were times when I would be driving and the pain would make it impossible for me to continue and I would have to suddenly pull over.”

“Sometimes it gets so bad that friends have to come and pick me up and I have to leave my car behind to get home.”

After years of struggling, Katie says her intolerance diagnosis has been a “saving grace”, but it now leaves her with even fewer contraceptive options if she decides to go back to using contraception.

Katie said: “Most birth control pills contain a progestogen.”

“My only options now are condoms, certain types of pills and copper coils, but I’m scared of the copper coils and the pills because I’ve had terrible experiences with them.

“I don’t want to go through the mental or physical changes again. It’s not even worth it.”

“I want to use a condom because I can’t do it again.”