Age 15 with first boyfriend. Boyfriend is 18. Panic ensues and I’m in the family planning centre, despite the fact we are nowhere near sexual intimacy yet and wouldn’t actually do ‘it’ for another 12 months. A little overwhelmed, I go along with what the adults tell me and start my contraception journey, with the combined pill, Microgynon. Two, three years, all is fine, except I’m starting to feel quite sad, a lot, and always around my period. I bring this up with the nurse who assures me that, no, there is absolutely no link between low mood and the pill but if you insist, let’s change the brand. Rigevidon. I struggle through into my 20s, sadness arriving like clockwork, but grateful for light, regular periods. I broach the subject with a new doctor; is there another way? I am injected with Depo-Provera, sending three months' worth of regular pill hormones surging through my body at once. Not good, not fun, not the one. It was a long 12 weeks waiting for that to leave my system. Back to the pill I go, defeated.