I want to tell you my personal story in the hope that this will help other women out there considering breast implants as I’ve discovered from my journey, they are not at all what they seem…
For over 10 years now I’ve had breast implants. I’ve always wanted ‘boobs’, to look and feel feminine from my little A cups. So I saved up the money and when I was 30, I booked in to see the surgeon and got my ‘boobs’. A nice C cup.
I loved them! Spent all day in the lingerie department at David Jones trying on and buying pretty bras.
But after about 6 months to a year I started to get intense pain in the breasts. And hardening. So painful I could not lie on my front. Back to the surgeon. Capsular contraction, severe. You see, any foreign object inserted into the body causes the immune system to trigger a response to get rid of it. So the body forms a capsule around the implant to try and protect the body from the foreign object.
Some people’s immune system launches a full on attack and other people may only get a mild response and small thin capsule forming. Everyone is different.
Interesting to note that my systemic candida illness also kicked in after these implants were put in as well as bouts of shingles, and glandular fever…. hmm… coincidence?
The surgeon suggested I get the particular type of implants I had in removed and replaced with a newer style, a tear drop instead of round with a textured surface to minimise capsular contraction and the silicone cohesive gel inside. Still no guarantees if and when capsular contraction would occur.
The 2nd surgery was in 2005 and I have my slightly smaller but still C cup implants. They look even more natural than the ones before, and this time the capsular contraction happened on a much slower time scale, over a 5 year period, the first few years were pretty good with no real issues whatsoever.
Breast Implant Illness Symptoms 
But as time progressed, the capsular contraction slowly got worse and I would have episodes of intense pain, extremely sensitive nipples and not being able to lie on my front. Weirdly this would all clear up in 4-5 days and I would be back to normal. My hair started to fall out quite a bit during this time ending up about 50% thinner than it used to be.
During this time I had switched to a raw food diet to heal from candida and was eating very clean and taking additional supplements, so my health overall was pretty good and I had lots of energy, I was working out sometimes twice a day (early 2000 and Body Attack and Step were very popular and thats where you would find me in the gym!!).
A few years later I launched The Raw Food Kitchen and I had a very busy 4 years creating projects and building the business, it was long hours but I was truly excited about connecting people to a new healthy way of eating that I really did manage quite easily to do 14 hour days and 7 days a week for a long time.
Fast forward to 2016 and my health started to go downhill a bit. Diagnosed adrenal fatigue, leaky gut, 3 rounds of food poisoning in Bali, parasites, candida and bacteria in the blood that were very resistant to leaving. Now this is something I talk about all the time in my workshops and programs, if your body is acidic or your immune system is low, this leaves the door wide open for bugs to come in and take over. I knew something more sinister was up.
The pain in my breasts would return intermittently with one particular bad bout on one side where it wa very inflamed and lumps in my lymph nodes would pop up and disappear after a few days.
I found out I could not methylate B Vitamins and I had to start taking B supplements.
I was also gaining weight without changing my diet, my energy and ability to work out at the gym was almost non-existent, my skin was constantly dry, my libido diminished, I had memory issues, poor eyesight, I had joint pain and I was tired a lot.
I went to my Naturopath for functional tests and my liver, thyroid, adrenals, heart, pancreas, lungs, spleen and other vital organs were all under strain and functioning below normal. White blood cell count low. Tested positive to heavy metals and uric acid in the blood. This was serious!!
Heavy Metal Detox
I have started a detox program to get rid of the heavy metals and also for the short term am trying out a diet to switch my body from using glucose as its main source of fuel to using fat to burn as its main source of fuel.
This diet (some of you may be familiar with this) is called the Ketagenic Diet and in conjunction to that I’m using an amazing product called KetoOS, so it puts your body in a state of ketosis easily so its constantly burning fat instead of glucose.
This has a few benefits, one is amazing fat loss, great for gym goers and those wanting to build muscle. The second benefit is it starves the body of glucose – fuel that bugs like candida, parasites, bacteria, cancer thrive off – making them unable to survive.
Ketosis is also achieved after long periods of fasting, so with KetoOS I can achieve this state without having to fast or go through a long period on a Ketagenic Diet. Bonus! It also gives me the much needed energy boost I need right now.
It has been a little bit of adapting – more protein and good fats, no fruit or sweet vegetables, or sugar in general. I’ve just made a big batch of Fat Bombs – these are super popular with Ketogenic peeps, think bliss balls without the sugar and way more good fats. They are really delicious and satisfying.
This is Day 3 of the first week and so far the results have been amazing. My bloat has gone, I have more energy and my joint pain is gone. So far so good, and I will share my journey with you on this as it unfolds… as the potential this has for people wanting to go through a period of healing or fat loss is really promising.
During this time of health decline and seeing many naturopaths, with the pile of supplements I’m having to take increasing to ridiculous amounts, I stumbled across a Facebook Group called Healing from Breast Implant Illness.
When I joined the group I could not believe how many women with implants were describing the same symptoms as me, with many worse with serious auto-immune issues such as lyme disease, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, hypothyroidism, severe food allergies, chemical sensitivities with some women being bed-ridden on a daily basis.
But as soon as many of these women explanted, for most of them their symptoms improved 80-90%. Hair grows back, fatigue goes away, energy back, thyroid, adrenals auto-immune issues heal, easy weight loss, healthy skin, libido back, gas and bloating gone, all looking healthier and glowing..
This got me researching. I found out there is a list of toxic chemicals used to make silicone breast implants that women are not being told about in that appointment with the surgeon. Here is a list of the ingredients (some known carcinogens, and neurotoxins):
Methyl Ethyl Ketone, Cyclobexanone, Isopropyl Alcohol, Denatured Alcohol, Acetone, Urethane, Poly Vinyl Chloride, Lacquer Thinner, Ethyl Acetate, Epoxy Resin, Epoxy Hardener, Amine, Printing Ink, Toluene, Freon, Silica, Flux, Solder, Chlorplantinic Acid, Metal Cleaning Acid, Formaldehyde, Talcum Powder, Chlorplatinic Acid, Metal Cleaning Acid, Color Pigment Printers Ink, Oakite, Cyanoacyrylates, Ethylene Oxide, Carob Black, Xylene, Hexone, Benzene, Hexanone, Thixon-OSN-2, Rubber, Acid Stearic, Zinc Oxide, Naptha, Phenol, Methylene Chloride, Platinum Salts, Platinum, Tin, Aluminium and other heavy metals.*
Benzene is know to cause immune diseases. Some of the chemicals in there rob the body of oxygen, all the chemicals will overburden the lymph system, and organs, resulting in acidity, toxicity and even death if not addressed.
The Risks If You Implant
There is 100% evidence that all cohesive silicone implants, including the “new and improved” implants, “gel bleed” inside the body, while still intact, exposing the body to platinum as well as 40+ toxic ingredients and heavy metals.*
The body has a hard time detoxing Platinum (some say impossible) and Silicone cannot be broken down in the body once it starts floating around in there, hence why some women have to have lymph nodes removed as this is generally where they end up.
Having breast implants increases your risk of breast and lung cancer. Having breast implants – particularly the type that I have – silicone cohesive gel – will increase your risk of Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL). This type of Lymphoma is ONLY caused by this type of implant. The warning has come from the TGA.*
As you can see Breast Implant Illness is very real, and is happening to thousands and thousands of women around the world. It is not a matter of if you will get sick from implants its when, and I’ve had a very big wake up call in the last 6 months that have confirmed for me I need to get these removed as soon as possible.
Why isn’t the TGA or the FDA banning them? My guess is because its a 10 billion dollar industry, and the pharmaceutical industry has way too much at stake to ban them. What I would like to see though is transparency of all the ingredients and the risk involved at the time a woman has an appointment with a surgeon to get breast implants so she has the chance to make an educated decision.
I am booked in for surgery for explant. Psychologically the thought of losing my C Cups makes me feel a bit depressed and I’m sure it will be a bumpy emotional journey to acceptance. But I know if they aren’t removed declining health and possibly even serious disease is very very real.
If you or someone you know is considering getting breast implants or already has them and perhaps is having non specific, health issues, please share this blog with them, check out the Facebook Group below, or feel free to contact me or ask me any questions here on the blog.
And do lots and lots of research. I wish you health, happiness and much raw love..
Amanda
https://www.facebook.com/groups/286572901689136/?ref=bookmarks
http://healingbreastimplantillness.com/breast-implant-safety/
http://www.publichealthalert.org/breast-implant-illness.html
Head here to find out more about KetoOS – and if you would like to try the supplement out. They’ve just released shipping to Australia!
I’m using the 30 day Chocolate flavour caffeine free OTG (On The Go) sachets. You can also buy the KAN (tub) and it’s slightly cheaper too! Bonus.
Annnnnnd you gotta try my Fat Bomb Recipe!
