I had £4k boob job to boost my titchy breasts – I was left bedbound in crippling pain & had to PAY to remove implants
A WOMAN has revealed she was left bed-bound and in crippling pain after getting DD breast implants which were proven to have links to cancer.
Mum-of-one Samantha Lee Carbone, 31, from Adelaide, felt the pressure to increase her breasts after undergoing a health kick competing in bodybuilding contests.
“Thank god I pushed for testing and fought to have someone listen to my story and remove my implants.
“Yes, I feel fully recovered and I am happy to have removed them. It's the best decision I have made. I am feeling fitter, healthier and happier.
“Most of my symptoms have subsided, the fatigue has reduced drastically and my health is on the right path to regaining my health back.
“The day after I had them removed, I felt like my old self again. I didn't feel like my body was fighting against itself anymore.”
She added that having breast implant illness is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t have them.
She said: “Everyday living is hard and challenging. No matter how healthy you eat, how much sleep you get , you just don't feel healthy or normal.”
Allergan implants: the risks
Figures collected by surgeons suggest there have been more than 615 cases, with 15 deaths, of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) cancer associated with the implants.
In 2019, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), advised its members to stop using Allergan implants as a precaution due to its cancer link.
And, in 2020, the FDA acknowledged Allergan implants may be associated with systemic problems called “breast implant illness".
In a statement, the US body said: "While the FDA doesn’t have definitive evidence demonstrating breast implants cause these symptoms, the current evidence supports that some women experience systemic symptoms that may resolve when their breast implants are removed."
By 2018, there were reportedly more than 50,000 women reporting a range of symptoms referred to as breast implant illness.
Symptoms include fatigue, memory loss, muscle pain and weakness, joint pain and weight loss.
In February 2020, the FDA said data suggests breast implant-associated ALCL occurs following "implantation of breast implants with textured surfaces" and agreed to review current medical guidelines.
Now she is keen to warn others of the dangers, and urged people to do their research first.
Samantha added: “Talk to people who have had Breast implant illness and BIA ACL. This will help you understand the risk you are taking.
“Only a few don't get symptoms. Is it worth the risk?
“If I had known I wouldn't have got them. I lost four years of my life; I can never get those years back.”
It was recently reported that at least 61 women in the UK have been diagnosed with a potentially fatal cancer linked to having textured breast implants.
More than 40 of the women have lawyers who are bringing legal action against the manufacturers as well as the clinics and doctors who carried out the surgery.
They are pushing for textured implants linked to anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) to be banned fully from the market.
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Comment from Allergan
"Patient safety and product quality are Allergan’s highest priorities.
"We are committed to strict adherence to all regulatory requirements, generating the most rigorous scientific evidence and to meeting the highest industry standards for our products.
"The safety profile of Allergan’s breast implants is supported by extensive pre-clinical and clinical data.
"There is more than a decade of successful worldwide use of these products as well as a large number of peer-reviewed and published studies.
"Breast implants play a vitally important role in a patient’s physical and psychological health.
"Surgeons need a variety of implant types to address a variety of patient needs and desired outcomes. All devices should have a positive benefit/risk profile and the benefit/risk profile of textured implants remains positive.
"Although Allergan recognizes that BIA-ALCL occurs most often in textured implants, the benefits of textured implants outweigh their risks, even considering the risk of BIA-ALCL.
"Furthermore, unexplained signs and symptoms associated with breast implants have been reported in literature and monitored by companies and regulatory authorities since the 1990s.
"Multiple well-powered studies and reports from independent organizations, including The Institute of Medicine, have confirmed that there is no evidence to support an association between breast implants and systemic diseases.
"As noted by experts at the FDA, some patients are concerned that their breast implants may be related to symptoms such as cognitive issues, fatigue, and muscle pain.
"Literature reports that there are over 50 signs and symptoms that have been grouped under the term breast implant illness. Despite these reports, there is no established case definition of breast implant illness, and the time it takes to develop one of these reported symptoms following implantation varies by patient.
"These factors make clinical evaluation of such signs and symptoms difficult; yet, it is important that they are understood.
"As a company, this is something we closely monitor, through post-approval and surveillance studies, as well as patient reported data, and we report this data directly to global regulatory authorities.”
Previously, a woman got a £5k boob job to feel more feminine but it left her with a wonky chest and in agony for four years.
And we shared how twenty women ‘treated like guinea pigs’ sue breast implant makers after developing cancer.