Breast Implant Illness
Health & Wellbeing Podcast #34
Imagine this scenario:
You’re a woman who has made the massive decision to get her breasts enhanced. Perhaps you have just had a few kids and after the ups and downs of breastfeeding, your once perky breasts are now somewhat deflated. Perhaps you have always had small breasts, and with the current obsession of western culture with big breasts, this really affected your self esteem. Perhaps you, like a surprisingly large amount of women, have assymettric breasts, and choose to get implants to even them out. Or perhaps you have had a mastectomy and you chose to get implants to feel like yourself again.
But then it’s a few years later, and all of a sudden you start to experience all of these symptoms that you just don’t understand. Your tests come back normal and doctors can’t explain it. You’re losing your hair, you feel tired, anxious, you’re getting weird rashes, you get weird aches and pains, and a whole host of other symptoms that just don’t make sense.
This experience is happening to a lot of women and sadly it has been going on for a fair while, but sadly there’s very little awareness about it.
It’s called breast implant illness, a chronic and diverse type of sickness that comes about as a result of having breast implants.
These are some of the symptoms that have been linked to breast implant illness:
- extreme or chronic fatigue
- dry mouth
- rashes
- hypothyroid
- hyperthyroid
- cognitive dysfunction
- weight gain
- concentration issues
- anaemia
- constipation or other IBS symptoms
- sinus, post nasal drip
- heart palpitations
- SOB
- tightness in chest
- hair loss
- acne
- dry skin
- brittle nails
- exercise intolerance
- painful joints
- fibromyalgia type pain
- metallic taste in mouth
- multiple chemical sensitivity
- pins and needles and or numbness in extremities
It’s not fair. Why is something like this put on the market and touted as being safe when it’s really not. How much safety research went into this? Not enough! And why are so many women getting dismissed when they do talk about their concerns to their doctors about it?
One, we shouldn’t have so much pressure on us as women, our boobs shouldn’t define us.
And two, there should have been so much more done to ensure this is safe. I think the amount of different types of implants that we have gone through is a clue that the experimenting is happening on us continuously. We are guinea pigs. And breast implant illness is the result. And this is something that’s been going on for a long time, but we’re only just starting to talk about it.
I’ve brought on the podcast today a naturopath who has gone through the journey of breast implant illness herself, and is passionate about bringing this knowledge to people, educating women about what BII is, as well as what can be done about it.
The Podcast
Click here to listen on Soundcloud, or via the embedded player below.
Podcast Breakdown
0:00 Intro
3:45 About Alysha
4:40 What is Breast implant illness (BII)?
5:30 Symptoms that women may experience
8:25 How we are being told implants are safe, and the lack of information of BII.
9:30 What safety studies are done on breast implants and what are the issues with these studies?
13:50 Commonalities between women who experience BII including genotypes, especially those that impair detoxification, such as HLA, COMT and MTHFR.
14:40 Toxins and heavy metals found within breast implants
16:10 Viral infections linked with breast implants – Epstein Barr Virus, EBV. And why some women remain sick after explanting.
17:33 How many women are getting breast implants in Australia?
18:40 History of BII and legal cases, major suppliers and the different types of implants
22:10 The key in BII is immune dys-regulation, plus what are breast implant capsules.
22:50 Capsular contracture and Breast implant associated-Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (BIA-ALCL)
25:10 What is being found in explanted implants, and what are biofilms.
27:18 Removing implants en bloc needs to be done otherwise you can still remain sick (when explanting, the scar capsule needs to be removed in tact as well). And why a capsulectomy is not the best method. How to choose a good surgeon.
31:46 Alysha’s personal story with breast implant illness.
39:00 Coping mentally after the breast implants are removed.
41:56 The ways that Alysha found most important coping mentally after surgery
44:00 Supporting yourself physically with herbal medcine and nutrients during the process of explantation, and how to support yourself if you choose not to explant. The nutrients you need more if you have BII, and the chemicals within the implants that can disrupt hormone balance.
48:20 Gut health implications with BII and multiple food sensitivities.
49:50 The progression of symptoms.
53:00 How do you know if you have BII? Are there any testing that can be done?
58:50 We need to spread the word about BII, there needs to be more research.
1:01 Alysha’s take home message.
1:03 How to get in contact
About Alysha
Alysha Habgood is a Sydney and Online based Naturopath and Yoga teacher. Her interest lies in autoimmune disease, namely gut, thyroid and rheumatoid arthritis but her specific focus is on helping women overcome Breast Implant illness. Alysha’s treatment encompasses not just the unique physical aspects of the disease but the underlying emotional and psychological impacts of Breast Implant Illness. Alysha is passionate about raising global awareness of this growing issue to both women and practitioners.
Get in touch:
https://www.alyshahabgoodnaturopath.com/
PHONE: 0422 743 713
EMAIL: info@alyshahabgoodnaturopath.com
Resources
Healing Breast Implant Illness Naturally (Facebook)
Australia & New Zealand Breast Implant Illness Support Group (Facebook)