yes, I first seek out the 'sources' and the validity of those. One thing about boards such as these and others is that, once you have read the facts,- you then can persue to any degree you want the human and 'personal' first hand experiences. To what degree other's comments affect your own decision is up to YOU.

That is how I made my own decisions about implants. Folks here gave me a heap of personal input as well as so many other sources. I had to go with my own instincts about it all, as do you.

I guess I just have to ask you at what point are your in the whole 'Cancer Process?' Are you still in the diagnosis stage and may face chemo? I also have to ask if your PN appeared before or after the Cancer...My PN appeared long before the 'c'... But,. IF you've had Chemo, you could very well have what is called 'toxic' PN. And, I hate to say it goes with the 'territory' to different degrees. Many Cancer Docs tho are responsive and sensitive to the side effects of the chemo and the PN angst we all experience to varying degrees. Those cancer docs who aren't responsive should be flogged and quartered in my book.
OK I guess what I'm ultimately getting to here is IS your main issue the neuropathy or the possibles from implants or have you had implants and are concerned about 'dots' connecting? While they are different issues, likely connected...each has to be addressed in a different context. I have wresteled with these bears and survived...I believe you can too...just because you are asking questions! NO question is to silly! Learning how to ask the right questions is super tho.. 's - j

undecided, any surgery can be risky.

this is NOT an anti implant site. we just happen to have women here who have had implants and have pn. it is a risk of of having them done.

not everyone has complications. some might have minor ones, some major, some absolutley none. you will also find people that won't tell you about complications from a cosmetic type of procedure.

just do as you are doing. be well informed. don't have surgery until you body is done growing. being pregnant can really change what happenes to your breasts after implants. the extra weight can cause sagging. you can't always breast feed.

it is a personal choice. i think you have a good head on your shoulders. doing the smart thing and looking for answers before not after surgery.

please don't take any comments as attacks. we all just give our opinions from our own life choices. it gets scarey to think anyone would go through pain or suffering if our advice might help better inform them.

you might ask your sister about any health concerns she has had. she may not associate them with her implants.

take care hon. i hope to keep seeing your posts.

I'm so sorry to hear about your children being ill. Please go to the yahoo group called silicone kids. You will learn alot there regarding silicone and children.

As for your ruptured implant, yes, this could be related to your exhaustion and bone pain. I had the bone pain and the exhaustion was debilitating. I became very ill from implants. My symptoms were memory loss, achy joints, chronic fatigue and peripheral neuropathy. I'm also suffering with pretty severe vertigo attacks.

Please check out our support group for women that have become ill from breast implants. I don't know if I can put a link on this forum so , please email me for the url. You will learn alot there with links to other support groups for implant related problems.

beth taylor

Ladies, if you ever need to know info on implants, please feel free to ask me. I will not judge you but I will inform you of the dangers.

I started researching this issue three years ago. Back in 2001, after suffering from memory loss, chronic fatigue and just a general flu like feeling for 3 or more years, I stopped working. I had to because it became so bad I was sleeping 20 hours a day. I continued to push myself until I just couldn't any longer.

For the next 3 years I went to every doctor I could think of just to try and find out what was wrong with me. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Epstein Barr, Peripheral Neuropathy, Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis.

I must say I was absolutely stunned as I had been a very healthy person. It was like my world fell apart before my eyes. I lost everything I owned because I was too ill to work.

My condition just became worse and worse and I started to suspect my implants. I kept asking doctors if saline implants could be the cause of my problems and I continued to hear that saline implants do not make you sick. So after three years of this, I got on the internet and found a support group full of women with all the same symptoms as I had. I cried for hours thinking that the safe saline I thought I had made me this ill and robbed me of the life I knew. I really wish I would have found that information years earlier.

Once I found out the truth, I set out to raise awareness about the dangers of implants. Mind you, I'm not against plastic surgery but I am against doctors that put them in and do not warn you of the dangers. I was told they would last a lifetime, rupture was very rare and that was it. Nothing else. I had heard enough about silicone to not even want to go there. Back then they had been lifted from the market anyway but I had no idea that the outer shell was silicone on a saline implant. I had no idea that the outer shell had 37 chemicals in it. Chemicals like Benzene, Xylene and laquer thinner. All a doctor would have had to do is show me the chemical list and I would have run the other way.

So I had my implants removed and decided to inform other women of their dangers. I created a website with my story outlining what happened to me. toxicbreastimplants.org. I received so many emails from my site, I decided to start my own support group. That group is breastimplantsupport.org. I founded the group about a year and a half ago and we have over 1,000 members. There are many women sick out there from implants. Many like myself have no idea of the dangers.

Ladies, please research, read the stories on these websites and then make your decision.

beth taylor

I'm just curious....how many ladies on this site have PN and breast implants?

I would say that if you had PN prior to implants, then there is absolutely no connection but the implants COULD and that is just saying they could not definitetly make the PN worse.

I believe someone had asked me who had diagnosed me with all that I have. I've been to sooo many doctors. Rheumatologist that diagnosed me with raynaud's (not related to my implants as I've had it all my life and didn't know), silicone poisoning and her verified that my illness is absolutely related to the implants because of the diagnosis of silicone poisoning. Also this is where the diagnosis of CFS, EBS, and Fibro came from.

I went to a neurologist (several) diagnosed with atypical MS, PN and breathing problems due to silicone particles in my lungs which I do not believe. I know that spots showed up on my ct-scan but I do not believe they are silicone particles because the implants were analyzed and there was not deterioration of the outer silicone shell. I was lucky that way.

Been to a urologist because of blood in my urine which is my latest problem and I'm still trying to find out why this is happening.

nah beth...i'm curious.

welcome.

now for a question..aren't the OUTSIDE of ALL implants made from silicone? so whether it leaked or ruptured wouldn't matter would it?

the ever curious monkey.

I am one of the not-so-lucky women who had implants and now have pn. I have also been diagnosed with everything you mentioned and then some, except MS, although my Neurologist wants me to have another spinal tap (#3) to rule this out...

I also have had blood in the urine (hematuria) for several years. I did have an aneurysm of the left renal artery and it was believed related to that at one time. Well, that was repaired and I still have the hematuria, so who knows...

Cathie

That is right curious! They all contain the 37 or 38 dangerous chemicals one being silicone. No implant in my opinion is safe.

Undecided: Like many people said before, this is not and anti implant forum. I am a young girl (23) I have pn, for other reasons though. I would also do things that would make me look more attractive, but considering i am suffering from a painful disease, i would never do anything that has a potential to hurt me or to have a negative impact on my health. It is true, many girls have breast implants and they don't have any health issues, just as many people smoke and don't have lung or throat cancer, but the possibilities are there, they just decide to take the risk, because for whatever reason they think is worth it. There is scientific data and studies that prove a connection between silicone and autoimmune disease. This is not something we are making up, i personally don't have any problems with a surgeon and i am certainly not interested in making the breast implant industry going to bankrupt. I am only telling you: consider the possibilities, they would be there. You could still get an autoimmune disease without any sort of implant, but, the implant increases the possibilities, so think about it. And it is true looks are not the most important thing, your health should be your priority.

Monica OLA!!!

You said: "And it is true looks are not the most important thing, your health should be your priority."

Are you sure you are only 23??? lol. You sound way more mature that I ever was at 23. If, when I was 23, they had liposuction, tummy tucks, breast implants, botox, whatever, believe me, at 23, I was so vain, I wouldn't have given a single thought to long term repercussions, health dangers, whatever.

At 23, all I wanted to do was LOOK GOOD!!! I had lost 87 lbs from the age of 23 to the age of 24. I had a completely different body, I looked like the actress Elizabeth Taylor. But believe me, if there had been the availability of breast surgery that I could have changed into Pamela Anderson Lee (don't know if you've seen her), but if there had been that kind of technology way back then, I probably would have gone for it.

When you are 23, you don't listen to what others say. I never did. I just did what I wanted to. I lost all that weight using amphetamines. Not smart I know, but my doctor gave them to me. They used to call them Black Beauties way back then. The weight poured off of me. I had one GOOD year. Then the weight slowly came back. I never ate healthy. I went back to muching, picking at chips, etc. Nothing sunk in.

How foolish I was at 23. If only we could go back and know what we do now. I'm a completely different human being now at 60 than I ever was at 23 or 24. I'm more compassionate. I pay attention to others. I listen.

Never did that at 23. I thought I knew everything.

But we can't go back. All I'm concerned about now is my diabetes, keeping it under control and doing my darndest to make sure I never go "off the food wagon", so to speak. I found out that if I even eat the Dreamfield's low carb spaghetti, my sugar reading will go up the next morning. Even a small dish of the stuff will impact my sugar reading.

I found out that if I eat fish, my sugar reading the next morning is 109 or therabouts.

So I eat fish. I happen to love it so thank god for small favors.

And I still get to go to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and have a low-carb bagel and cup of coffee. To me, that's heaven.

I give thanks for small favors. Others can't even do that.

Take care.
Adios. Melody