Awareness of Breast Implant Illness (BII) is exploding on the internet. So much so that it is even reaching women before they make the decision to implant. This is a good thing! Facebook groups and websites by women who insist they have or had BII are popping up by the minute. Believe it’s real or not, one question you should definitely ask if you have found yourself reading this article before implanting is, do I have enough information to give informed consent? If you are among the masses who have regret, after the fact, I’ll assume that you may now feel that you didn’t have all the information necessary to make that decision.
INFORMED CONSENT
Informed consent is one of the most important factors in any medical decision you’ll make in your life. This applies to everything when it comes to the relationship with your doctor and agreements you make regarding medical treatment, elective surgeries, taking prescription medications, following doctors orders, protocols, wellness plans, advice, etc. People have become so comfortable with the idea that their doctor knows what is best and would never steer them in the wrong direction, that they have given up understanding informed consent, let alone ever questioning if something is right for them, specifically.
It is not your doctor’s job to decide if something is right for you. It is, however, part of your doctor’s job to make sure you understand that medical decisions are your decisions. Consent documents protect the doctor from liability from your decision. It’s not an exaggeration to say that most people do not read these documents thoroughly, despite placing their signature and initials in multiple places. So, I guess you could say that most patients do give consent, but is it informed consent? I’d say no, but if your signature is on the document, that says yes. If you haven’t read the documents you signed, you don’t know that you probably confirmed that your doctor went over all risks and possible side effects. For the purpose of this topic, we assume that your doctor thoroughly explained the pros and cons of breast implants. But how many women can you find in the BII groups who have explicitly stated that there was NO explanation of any kind? They signed the documents, though.
START AT THE BEGINNING
First things first. If you have breast implants and a new or newly realized symptom or set of symptoms, you don’t need to panic. But you should realistically consider that the breast implants have at the very least antagonized your immune system to respond in a way that gets your attention. Hence, the symptoms. Despite being approved by the FDA, the FDA does have its own documented list of risks and complications of breast implants on its website. This takes away the guesswork, honestly. There are many women who implant, get symptoms, explant and still have symptoms and think this means that the breast implants were not the problem. Where they make a mistake is believing it is as simple as getting rid of the implant but this is not always the case. Not right away anyway. Facebook has many groups full of women who complain of what they believe is Breast Implant Illness, only to go through the explant surgery, not experience instant recovery and believe it was all a hoax–“breast implant illness.” Many of these women go into deep depression, devastated by their loss, and then join the group that tells them that it probably wasn’t the implants and encourage them to re-implant. I’ll just say this: If you insist on trading health for beauty, you’ll eventually have neither. It may not be sudden, as it wasn’t sudden for me. But over a period of many years, your health will suffer. Your body starts responding, reacting, without your knowledge having rejected the breast implants immediately.
This defense couldn’t be more clear than is proven by what is commonly referred to as the capsule. The capsule is scar tissue that your body starts immediately building around the implant to wall off the foreign invader from your body as best as possible.
WHAT IS A BREAST IMPLANT?
A breast implant is a prosthetic device implanted under breast tissue or chest muscle to change the shape, size and contour of a person’s breast. Breast implants are used to replace breast tissue that has been removed due to cancer or trauma as well as for purely cosmetic reasons. The two types of breast implants approved for use by the FDA in the US are silicone gel filled and saline filled. Both have a silicone shell and come in smooth or textured.
ARE BREAST IMPLANTS SAFE?
Breast implants have been deemed safe enough for longterm use by the FDA. Some plastic surgeons have advised patients to replace implants every ten years while others have assured patients that they are so sturdy that they’ll still be in tact after the patient is “long gone.” But even the FDA has warnings of possible complications and has recommended certain labeling to improve patient communication including, boxed warning, patient decision checklist, materials/device descriptions including types and quantities of chemicals and heavy metals found in or released by breast implants, silicone gel filled breast implant rupture screening recommendations, and patient device card. When final, these recommendations will supplement or replace the FDA’s guidelines issued in November, 2006.
Check here for the list of complications and adverse outcomes acknowledged by the FDA to occur in at least 1% of breast implant patients at any time, which may or may not require non-surgical treatment or additional surgeries.
The FDA does state that they are not lifetime devices and acknowledges that the longer you have them, the more likely it is that complications will occur and the implants will need to be removed and that there are no guarantees on satisfactory outcomes. For more information, check the FDA’s website for Risks and Complications of Breast Implants.
WHAT IS BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS?
Breast Implant Illness is complicated to say the least, but can simply be described as an immune response to breast implants which leads to weaknesses and many system-wide dysfunctions in the body. These cascading effects, one dysfunction leading to another and bouncing around the body is what FDN would refer to as Metabolic Chaos®. It starts on the day the implants are placed and proceeds until the day they are removed and sometimes longer. Noticeable symptoms can take years, even decades to show up. And sometimes it takes even more years to connect back to the implants.
Breast Implant Illness can range in severity from mild to absolutely debilitating and has as big a list of possible symptoms as anyone can imagine. The one thing you don’t generally see when it comes to learning about Breast Implant Illness is an answers to these questions:
Why so many possible symptoms?
And more importantly, Why am I symptomatic, but my friends are not?
But, also
Is it predictable whether or not I will experience symptoms?
Isn’t that an interesting question? That last one there …
Is it possible to predict whether or not you will become symptomatic if you decide to get breast implants?
I think so. YES.
That’s a topic I’ll write about in another article, but I’ll leave you with this –> DATA –> Lifestyle + History + DNA = predictability.
So, once implants or any foreign/medical device are placed inside your body, your body reacts to it, no matter what. This is not debatable. It is the very essence of the human body operating system, to protect you. Therefore, it is not a matter of if your body reacts, but only if you happen to notice any symptoms of said reaction.
Breast Implant Illness is only diagnosed if one, you have symptoms that are noticeable and two, if those symptoms can be directly linked to breast implants, or are accepted as a possible immune response to them. This is unlikely as most doctors refuse to be associated with acknowledging harm that comes from a pharmaceutical. It’s almost like kryptonite for a doctor give consideration to a pharmaceutical causing harm.
Before we move on, let’s be clear: Every human body will react, involuntarily to foreign/medical devices being placed in their bodies, period. Not everyone will consciously experience symptoms. Some women may have symptoms but never draw a conclusion that they could be related to presence of breast implants. And some women will attribute their symptoms to the natural aging process, hormone changes, etc. Again, all human bodies will react to implants. The only question is will your symptoms be noticeable enough to bring you to the question: Do I have Breast Implant Illness?
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS?
As mentioned above, Breast Implant Illness can be complicated, and as such the list of symptoms is fairly extensive.
Some of the most commonly reported symptoms are as follows:
— Brain Fog
— Memory Loss
— Fatigue
— Insomnia
— Heart Palpatations
— Anxiety
— Depression
— Cognitive Decline
— Unexplained Allergic Reactions (hives, rash, itching, swelling)
— Sudden Onset of Food Allergies/Sensitivities
— Hormone Imbalance
— Premature Aging
— Unexplained Pain (muscle, joint, migraine, etc.)
— Hair Loss
It’s impossible to list them all, because due to the fact that the presence of breast implants triggers a cascade of dysfunction, literally every symptom you have that isn’t directly related to a physical injury can be related to the presence of those implants.
It’s important that you understand that your reaction may be entirely different from the next woman’s reaction, that you may experience a small number of symptoms, so little that it is barely noticeable, or so many that you are debilitated, incapable of everyday function, bedridden.
We are all genetically different and will therefore respond as individuals. If you have Breast Implant Illness, it is important that you learn as much as you can about your own body to start that healing process and ultimately, heal completely.
I am dedicated to providing you with the most comprehensive tools and information to make your healing journey as easy as possible.
