Implants with known autoimmune illness

love4future

I originally planned to do a bmx with implants due to lack of tissue but have been nervous upon hearing reports of breast implant illness, especially among people with a personal or family history of autoimmune disease. I have Hashimoto's and Raynaud's and wonder if anyone else has these or other autoimmune diseases and has done reconstruction with implants without issue.

Thank you.

Moderators

Dear love4future,

Welcome to the BCO community. We are very glad that you decided to join us and post your story. While you are waiting for other members to offer their experiences you may want to check out these links: Breast Implant Illness and Member lumpie's post here:https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/73/topics/860294?page=286#post_5711636 from October 2021. She offers more information. You can do a search using the search function in the tool bar and put in the words "breast implant illness" - be sure to use the quotes. That search will reveal other posts and members who have written about this issue. You can always sent a private message to members who are currently active. Let us know if any of this is helpful or how we can further assist you with finding the information that you need.

The Mods

serendipity09

Love4future - I have an autoimmune disorder among several other medical issues. I had reconstruction with expanders and then an exchange to implants. My autoimmune disorder has not been affected or any worse with the implants.

Have you asked you MO or PS about your concerns?

Hoping everything goes well for you.

SummerAngel

I have autoimmune disorders, including Raynaud's, and have had no issues with my implants.

ARmom4

Hi! I also have Hashimoto's and Reynaud's. I've had silicone implants for a year now. My thyroid levels are the same as they were before, controlled with Levothyroxine. I went to a rheumatologist a few weeks ago because I suspected I had Sjogrens due to really dry eyes. They ran a bunch of autoimmune disease tests. Only Hashimoto's was found. So, I haven't developed anything new.

As far as BII, there's not really any solid concrete research about it but there are thousands of women who say it's real. There's no test to diagnose it. I would say, if you decide on implants, find a plastic surgeon who recognizes BII and who performs en bloc explant surgery. You can find this with a Google search. They would have the most knowledge about BII. They can put the implants in, monitor you for any possible BII symptoms, and remove them if needed. Anyway, hope that helps.

VegGal

I have myasthenia gravis and it was totally uncontrolled when I had my reconstruction and none of my doctors even mentioned it as a concern. The warning is generally for those with scleroderma or connective tissues diseases, although I have read of women with those who have successfully done recon

love4future

Thank you all for the responses, I truly appreciate i. My PS also said there was no official link but since I’ve been checked for scleroderma in the past it’s definitely weighing heavily on me.