A mum spent years suffering from a mystery illness which left her temporarily blind - but disappeared after she had her breast implants removed.<br /><br />Danielle Sheehan, now 32, had implants aged 19 after winning a £5k beauty makeover.<br /><br />She was then plagued by hair loss, fatigue, eczema and inflammation in the years that followed - but couldn't work out why.<br /><br />She went to her doctor multiple times and even attended A&E when she lost her sight.<br /><br />Danielle, from Norwich, Norfolk, says medics suggested she might have an autoimmune condition or be under too much stress.<br /><br />But she now thinks she had breast implant illness (BII) - after her problems vanished within weeks of her implants being removed.<br /><br />Government information published in January 2020 said experts were aware of BII and were investigating.<br /><br />It said they did "not know if there is a link between breast implants and the reported health problems" - but did not rule it out.<br /><br />Danielle, who owns a beauty clinic, said: "After I had my son and over the last year, I had constant eczema, weeping skin and dry eyes - I ended up in A&E because I couldn’t see.<br /><br />“Doctors told me they thought it was stress due to being a new mum and going through a breakup.<br /><br />“I stumbled across other people talking about breast implant illness and saw they had rashes around their eyes the same as mine, it was like a lightbulb moment.<br /><br />“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.<br /><br />“Even the surgeon was shocked to see the before and after pictures following the explant – two hours after the surgery [the rash on my face] was gone.”<br /><br />Danielle decided to get implants in 2010 after winning a makeover in an online competition.<br /><br />She says at the time she was working as a model and thought implants would help further her career.<br /><br />However, she claims she began to suffer from eczema flare-ups almost immediately and despite using steroid tablets and light therapy the problems persisted. <br /><br />Doctors told her the issues were down to stress but Danielle tried testing herself for food allergies and high cortisol levels – even cutting foods out of her diet and changing her water filter system to try and heal her symptoms.<br /><br />However, after she saw posts online about breast implant illness she began to compare her symptoms.<br /><br />She says that the doctors she spoke to had not heard of the condition but sent her for an ultrasound to check the integrity of the implants. <br /><br />As the implants were intact, doctors offered her immunosuppressants in case the issues were caused by an autoimmune condition – but Danielle decide to undergo an explant first. <br /><br />She sold her car to fund the surgery and says within hours of having the implants removed she saw an improvement in her skin condition. <br /><br />Now she wants to raise awareness of the condition and thinks doctors should ask women if they have breast implants before investigating for autoimmune disorders. <br /><br />And she says since posting about her journey on TikTok, other women have got in touch to share their similar experiences with her.<br /><br />“The moment the implants came out I felt so much better,” said Danielle.<br /><br />“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.<br /><br />“My hair looks better - it had got really thin and was falling out.<br /><br />“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.<br /><br />“I don’t think anyone would know – you never would put hair loss and rashes down to having implants.<br /><br />“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.”
