My boob job made me feel like I was slowly DYING: Mum, 32, was plagued by hair loss, fatigue and eczema after getting double-Ds – but her agonising symptoms disappeared as soon as her implants were removed
- NHS doctors brushed off said it was caused by pregnancy stress and a break up
- Do you have breast implant illness? Email: [email protected]
A mother claims she felt like she was ‘slowly dying’ after getting a boob job.
Danielle Sheehan, from Norwich, went from a C to DD cup after winning a £5,000 makeover when she was 19.
But the beauty clinic owner was plagued with eczema and inflammation around her eyes, chest and legs, hair loss and fatigue in the years that followed — and couldn’t work out why.
Medics brushed Ms Sheehan’s symptoms off as ‘stress’ or an ‘autoimmune disease’. Tests failed to show anything was wrong.
But Ms Sheehan, now 32, believes she was struck down with breast implant illness (BII) after her symptoms vanished within weeks of having them removed.
BEFORE: Danielle Sheehan, 32, said left temporarily blind claims her decade-long suffering was caused by a free teenage boob job won in a competition
AFTER: The mother believed she was suffer from breast implant illness. She sold her car to pay for the boob job to be reversed and claims her symptoms started to ease almost instantly
Ms Sheehan got her breast implants in 2010 after winning a makeover in an online competition, in the hopes it would boost her career as a model.
However, she began suffering from eczema flare-ups almost immediately after the operation, that did not get better with medication.
She went on to suffer itchy and inflamed eyes that became so severe she was unable to open them, forcing her to seek help at A&E.
Ms Sheehan also had rashes over her chest, neck, arms and legs, as well as hair loss, tinnitus, fatigue, low mood, anxiety and ‘full body inflammation’.
She said: ‘Doctors told me they thought it was stress due to being a new mum and going through a breakup.’
IS BREAST IMPLANT ILLNESS REAL?
Neither the NHS or the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledge a single condition called breast implant illness.
They do, however, provide long lists of potential – and publicly known – side effects of having breast implants.
Implants are not designed to last a lifetime, the FDA says, and the longer a woman has the implants in her body the higher the risk of complications occurring.
Complications occur in around one per cent of all patients and can happen at any time after the surgery.
As well as changes to the appearance and feel of the breast some potential side effects include pain, infection, swelling or irritation, swollen lymph nodes, skin rashes or bruising.
Reported symptoms of BII include fatigue, chest pain, hair loss and headaches chills, light sensitivity, chronic pain, anxiety, brain fog, sleep disturbances and depression.
The NHS urges any women suffering side effects to contact the clinic where they had the implants put in, and to report it through an official Yellow Card Scheme, to add to information on the safety of implants.
Source: FDA and NHS
Not convinced by the diagnosis, Ms Sheehan paid for private tests to check for food allergies and high cortisol levels but these came back normal.
She then overhauled her diet but did not see any improvements in her symptoms.
Ms Sheehan stumbled on a post online about BII and believed her symptoms were similar.
The term is used by some to describe a variety of health problems they believe are linked to getting a boob job, such as brain fog, anxiety and joint pain.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched a probe into the supposed illness in 2020 after receiving reports from patients.
The MHRA said it does not know if the condition exists as there is ‘no single disease which could explain the symptoms some people are reporting’ and studies dismiss the link between breast implants and long-term illness.
Yet British surgeons insist the condition is real and that woman should be warned about this side effect of the procedure.
‘They had rashes around their eyes the same as mine, it was like a lightbulb moment,’ Ms Sheehan said.
‘My symptoms were all exactly the same — I had rashes, a low mood, I felt like I was slowly dying, and I just didn’t feel well at all.’
She says her doctors had not heard of the condition but referred her for an ultrasound to check her implants. But results did not show any problems.
Medics then offered her immunosuppressant drugs — used to treat disorders that causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the body.
But Ms Sheehan decided to get her implants removed to see if this eased her ailments, selling her car to fund the operation.
Within hours of the surgery, she claims her skin condition improved.
She said: ‘The moment the implants came out, I felt so much better.
‘I feel safe in my body now, I feel emotionally stable, the rashes around my eyes have gone and the eczema is trailing off now.
‘My hair looks better — it had got really thin and was falling out.’
BEFORE: She was plagued with hair loss, eczema and inflammation for more than a decade but medics tried to brush her symptoms off as ‘stress over pregnancy’ or an ‘autoimmune disease’
BEFORE: Danielle says even her surgeon was ‘shocked’ to see how suddenly her symptoms started to clear after she had them removed
AFTER: Danielle said: ‘I feel safe in my body now, I feel emotionally stable, the rashes around my eyes have gone and the eczema is trailing off now’
Now she wants to raise awareness of BII and says doctors should rule this out before checking for autoimmune disorders.
And she says since posting about her journey on TikTok, other women have got in touch to share their similar experiences with her.
Ms Sheehan said: ‘My priority is awareness of breast implant illness.
‘GPs need to take it seriously and ask about implants — it should be a mandatory question for girls going in with autoimmune conditions.
‘I don’t think anyone would know — you never would put hair loss and rashes down to having implants.
‘So many girls have messaged me since seeing my video on TikTok — so many of them having come into my clinic to say they’re getting a consultation to get their implants removed.’
The NHS notes that some women report suffering from tiredness, anxiety and joint pain after getting breast implants, acknowledging that it is known as BII.
Around half of woman say their symptoms get better once their implants are removed, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
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