My implants were ‘toxic bags’
Women are getting their breast implants removed because they believe they are poisoning them, writes Eleanor Black.
Janelle Brunton-Rennie had her breast implants removed after five years because she believed they were making her sick.
The 35-year-old PR executive says that shortly after getting 280cc silicone implants to enhance her body-building prospects, she started to feel lethargic and foggyheaded and lacked motivation.
Brunton-Rennie, like thousands of women around the world, believed she was suffering from breast implant illness (BII), characterised by a raft of symptoms including chronic fatigue, headaches, memory loss, ear ringing, joint and muscle pain, hair loss and skin rashes – but not recognised by the medical community.
Among other ailments, the Aucklander developed Hashimoto’s disease, in which your immune system attacks your thyroid, and adrenal fatigue. ‘‘I spent the last five years managing my health so my body could cope with these toxic bags.
‘‘I can’t explain just how freeing it feels to have them out, to have that weight off my chest and to be able to breathe properly again,’’ she says.
She feels so strongly that she is speaking out just three weeks after getting her implants removed, and two weeks after her husband Kurt was diagnosed with lymphoma.
‘‘There is a huge story to be told here on the risk of breast implants and the ticking time bomb they are posing to the health of so many women,’’ says Brunton-Rennie.
‘‘I realise I am opening myself up for a lot of scrutiny, however, at a time when it’s the last thing I really need.’’
Brunton-Rennie is a member of a 30,000-strong Facebook group for women around the world who believe they have BII, and are either awaiting explant surgery (the removal of implants) or have been through the process and are in recovery.
Silicone implants were removed from the American market in the 1990s because implants were thought to be implicated in cases of cancer and lupus, a connective tissue disorder.
They remained available in New Zealand during that time.
The ban on silicone implants was lifted by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2006 after two major implant manufacturers, Mentor and Allergan, conducted trials involving 1600 women over periods of three and four years.
New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons president John Kenealy said there was no scientific evidence that implants posed a health threat. The symptoms described by women who reported they had BII were all ‘‘unmeasurable and unsubstantiatable’’.
‘‘At the end of the day, those things [fatigue, immune system problems, aches and pains] are very prevalent in the patient population anyway,’’ said Kenealy, although he was aware of ‘‘the occasional woman who has unexplained discomfort [after breast implant surgery]’’.
He also noted that the US FDA accepted a link between breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare type of nonHodgkin’s lymphoma.
Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) occurs most commonly following the insertion of implants with textured surfaces, rather than smooth surfaces.
It is not known how many New Zealanders get breast implants or explants each year, and why, because there is no centralised system for tracking them.
The Australasian Society of Plastic Surgeons says there are no ‘‘robust figures’’ available on the number of breast implant or explant procedures in Australia because they are elective surgeries and don’t qualify for government funding.
Of BII, spokeswoman Edwina Gatenby said, ‘‘we have been asked this question about breast implant illness previously and I have to say it wasn’t something our surgeons were particularly familiar with.’’
Brunton-Rennie said that she received ‘‘no warnings at all’’ about possible side effects of breast implants. And although implants are only built to last 10 years, there was no discussion of what would happen when it was time to replace them.
‘‘There are also numerous issues arising with saline implants, as the shell of saline implants is silicone and there are many women explanting to find black mould in their saline implants.
‘‘Most have auto immune diseases – lyme, lupus, Hashimoto’s, rheumatoid arthritis – some are wheelchair- and bedbound,’’ said Brunton-Rennie.
Michaiah Simmons-Villari, owner of Deluxe Events and Promotions, had her silicone implants removed in 2016 after 10 years, hoping to put an end to the paralysing fatigue, brain fog and autoimmune issues she suffered.
‘‘I was fainting and having seizures that were unexplained,’’ says Simmons-Villari. ‘‘I ended up in hospital a few times, hooked up to machines. I had memory blanks and I don’t drink or do drugs. I work out, eat healthy, take supplements. There was no reason for it.’’
Blood tests were inconclusive and her doctor could not tell her what was going on. She developed an allergy to eggs, having eaten them for breakfast for years.
‘‘I got shingles, again for no apparent reason. I was constantly run down,’’ she says.
Nearly a year and a half after getting her implants removed, she says she feels much better, although she believes her body is still ‘‘detoxing’’.
‘‘I have more energy, I function normally. I feel so much more alive, so much brighter. My sense of humour has returned. I woke up from surgery and the first thing I noticed was I could see colours properly again.
‘‘It was almost like I’d had this dark veil over my eyes. Now the grass looks really green, the sky is really blue.’’
Kiwi-born wellness blogger Nicola Robinson Evans, wife of chef Pete Evans, had her breast implants removed last May to avoid potential health issues.
In an Instagram post she wrote, ‘‘I was so very happy to wave goodbye to them and also exceptionally fortunate to be in a situation to be able to afford to say goodbye to them!
‘‘I didn’t like how they felt or looked, but most importantly... for the last six years I’ve felt an innate need to do everything to make sure that my body is an absolute temple, if by chance my husband and I hit the jackpot and a sweet little bub was to come through.’’