Poisoned by my boobs

I never expected that my implants would come at such a cost

I’ve always had a small bust.

Then, after having my two daughters, Alana in 1999, and Roxy in 2006, my boobs went droopy, too. hated the way they looked. It got me thinking… ‘I’d like a boob job,’ I told my husband James, then 42, in early 2007. ‘That’s fine,’ he replied. While I was a stay-at-home mum, James had his own business. So, fortunately, he could afford the £5,000.

After researching clinics, I opted for a private hospital near home.

On Friday 13 April 2007, I went in for surgery to transform my droopy little A-cups to pert G-cups.

The op was a success and I felt so much better in myself.

And afterwards, life carried on as normal.

Then, a couple of years on, I fell pregnant again. That same year, I noticed a rash on my hands and developed asthma.

Our son Rudi was born in 2009, and my fake boobs didn’t stop me breastfeeding.

Soon, though, the rash on my hands was so bad, the skin was cracking and peeling.

‘It’s probably because I’m washing my hands more from looking after the children,’ I reasoned.

The GP prescribed steroids to clear it up and inhalers for my asthma.

But, by the time our fourth child Quincy came along in 2011, my hands were still terrible and my asthma was so bad I could barely walk upstairs.

I struggled on until November 2014, when I developed awful allergies.

In the mornings, my eyes were swollen. I couldn’t sleep at night, but then I was so exhausted in the day I’d sleep for hours.

I went back and forth to the doctors and, eventually, a blood test showed I had an underactive thyroid, and I was given medication.

Then everything snowballed, my health deteriorated rapidly. Angry red welts, diagnosed as ringworm, came up on my skin. My fingernails fell out, and my asthma was worse than ever.

Plus, my hearing was affected, so I struggled to hear conversations, my memory was failing, and I had terrible vertigo that left me bedridden.

‘I can’t even look after the children any more!’ I cried to James in despair.

Thankfully, he worked nearby, so helped out with the kids, but it was so tough.

And even some of my friends were sceptical. ‘Just get over it,’ one told me. ‘It’s all in your head. You’ve just got too much time on your hands.’

Deep down, I knew that wasn’t the case.

After about six months of taking thyroid meds and not feeling better, I began to research alternative treatments.

I tried homoeopathy and reflexology, had lymph drainage, reiki healing,

cupping and acupuncture – you name it, I tried it.

Then, during a reflexology session, in May 2016, the reflexologist asked about my medical history.

‘Have you had any operations?’ she asked. ‘I had a boob job,’ I replied. ‘It’s them,’ she said. ‘Your implants are seeping into your system, attacking your auto-immune system.’

I’d never for a moment considered my boob job could be responsible for my health issues. But maybe my silicone implants had been seeping into my system? I phoned my surgeon at once. ‘I think my implants are poisoning me,’ I told him, worried. ‘I want them out.’ I booked an appointment for the op – and, in the meantime, started searching online for other women who’d been affected by their implants.

When I discovered a group on Facebook called Breast Implant Illness and Healing by Nicole, I couldn’t believe it. There were thousands of women in the group, which was created to support women through ‘explant, detoxification and recovery’ from saline and silicone breast implants.

As I read their horror stories, I realised so many of them had symptoms the same as mine.

My op to have them removed couldn’t come soon enough.

It cost £6,000, but seeing how miserable and ill I was, we found a way.

‘You can’t put a price on your health and happiness,’

My health deteriorated, vertigo left me bedridden

James said soothingly.

On 7 July last year, I went into theatre to have my silicone implants removed and a breast uplift, which involved cutting away some skin and making my boobs smaller, but not saggy.

When I awoke afterwards, I felt instantly better.

‘I can breathe properly again,’ I smiled, taking the first proper breaths I’d taken for years.

My asthma had vanished. My memory was back to normal, too, and so was my hearing.

The rash disappeared, the ringworm didn’t return, and I stopped suffering from vertigo. And, in less than a year, I no longer needed thyroid medication.

I felt like a different person.

I haven’t tried to take legal action against the makers of the implants, because I don’t have proof they were poisoning my system.

But I think my story speaks for itself.

When I had a boob job, I never imagined for a minute that it would have such an impact on my health.

So I’m telling my story to help make other women aware of the potential risks of breast implants.

I might have small boobs again, but I’m healthier – and happier – than ever!

I have no proof...but I think my story speaks for itself