I couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment things started to feel off, but by the time I was throwing my suitcase into the car, ready to go back to uni in 2007, frustration boiling over, I knew something wasn’t right. My mum stood nearby, watching me with concern that looked too much like irritation.
We’d been snapping at each other all morning – little digs, sharp words – but it wasn’t just the usual family tension. I was emotional in a way that felt unmanageable. I could feel tears threatening to escape for what felt like the hundredth time that week. As I shut the car boot a little too hard, she let out a weary sigh and said, “Is this because of the pill?”
It hadn’t occurred to me until that moment, but she was right. I had recently restarted the combined pill after getting into a new relationship. I hadn’t connected the dots: I just thought I was overwhelmed, or worse, regressing back to being my old teenage self. But now, a switch flipped.
I remembered feeling this way before: emotionally volatile, clouded by moods I couldn’t control. I used to think that was just me, that I was naturally ‘moody,’ too sensitive. But what if it wasn’t? What if all those years of emotional turbulence weren’t just personality traits, but reactions to my contraception?
That moment sparked a decade-long journey of research, trial and error, and (let’s be honest) a lot of frustration. I’ve now tried more than seven different types of contraception, and every time I started a new relationship, I found myself back in the GP’s office, asking the same questions and being handed the same tired leaflets. I was desperate for answers that just didn’t seem to exist in the system.
For years, I felt like I wasn’t being listened to, like my physical and emotional reactions to contraception were just something I had to put up with. I was dealing with intense mood swings, uncomfortable side effects, and a complete lack of personalised support. All of this while trying to live my life, study, work, build relationships, and – eventually – navigate the emotional rollercoaster of trying to conceive.
During this time, I was also diagnosed with endometriosis, a common but often misunderstood condition that made periods and sex painful. As I got older and started thinking about starting a family, I realised just how little support there was at every stage of my reproductive life. From managing period pain to choosing the right contraceptive, to understanding fertility, it felt like I was constantly stumbling around in the dark.
So I decided to do something about it.
In 2019, I launched The Lowdown: the world’s first review platform for contraception. Think of it as a Tripadvisor for your uterus. It’s a space where women can share honest experiences about everything from pills and patches to injections and IUDs. We’ve grown into a thriving community, with over two million women every year visiting us for information and advice, sharing their stories and seeking better answers than what their health systems have been offering.