Combined pill and cystitis
How our community feel they have been impacted by cystitis on the combined pill
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
None or not sure
87%
A bit
6%
Quite a bit
3%
A lot
2%
A great deal
2%
Out of the 2681 reviews for the combined pill, 356 people (13%) reported cystitis.
Reviewers that reported cystitis as a side effect
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
Used for 3 - 5 yr
25 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 day ago
My worst side effects have been the mood swings, I am crying a lot more for no reason than I ever did before, it definitely has made me more emotional. My period has gone from being 3 to 4 days to being 1.5 / 2. My breasts become really sore and hard before and after my period. I don’t feel as sexually active as before and I experience dryness more regularly than normal. My skin is completely clear with the pill. Everything bad is / has been fairly manageable, not ideal but haven’t had any pregnancy scares.
Somewhat negative mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 6 - 12 mo
30 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1 month ago
Hormonally numbed me. Kept me very flat with no fluctuations in moods at all. Improved my skin but led to continuous cystitis that often spiralled into kidney infections
Somewhat negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
24 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 17th Oct 25
I’ve always struggled with my mental health, and believe I have PMDD. but before starting this pill I’d been in a really good place for quite while, the first few months where okay but then I started to become more emotional, progressing to depression and severe anxiety. I also experienced a lot of UTIs that led to me being on long term antibiotics, this only started when I started the pill. I did eventually learn to manage the utis and didn’t get any in the last couple of months. But in the week leading up to the break I became very dry and itchy down there. All together just a really bad experience with this one
Very negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Combined pill common side effects
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
52% of the combined pill reviewers reported tender breasts
48% of the combined pill reviewers reported breast enlargement
46% of the combined pill reviewers reported vaginal discharge
43% of the combined pill reviewers reported period like cramps
38% of the combined pill reviewers reported vaginal dryness
