30 Years of Implants; So Glad They Are Out!

I wish I'd never had them and that I had them taken out much sooner than I did. I hope my story assures some of you that you might recover your health and vitality after ex-plantation, and also that you might look fine without any tucks. But here's my story. I'll begin with why I made the decision to get them in the first place.
I was 5' 4" tall and weighed around 110-115 lbs from age 20 until menopause at age 56, when I began to gain an extra 10-15 lbs. So now I realize that having so little meat on my bones was part of why my bra size was only AA. I really only had pointy nipples then. I also suspect that I have more Asian blood than most white Americans, since my Mom's ancestors are from south-eastern Poland, where Genghis Khan came through from Mongolia. She was had very little breast development, too. In China our body type may have fit in better. But, I really felt like an anomaly in high school when I had to get undressed in the locker room with all those girls who passed the pointy nipple stage as they passed puberty.
So when I was 32 I had breast augmentation. It was 1987. The Dr. told me that the silicone would slowly bleed through out and so that is why I decided on a "double lumen" type. That means the bag of silicone is enclosed in an outer bag filled with saline solution, which has some sort of antibiotic mixed in to try to minimize the chance of infection. I also decided against getting implants with a textured surface, because he told me that if I ever needed to have them out, it would be harder. I believe those were good decisions, relatively speaking.
The most positive thing about having the implants was that buying clothing was so much easier. When I was a 34 AA I looked for clothing only on the basis of "did this make me look more flat chested or not."
I must admit that being small busted never seemed to get in the way of guys wanting to go out with me. But when I wanted to become sexual with them, I didn't feel very proud of my body. And I had this silly idea that it was somehow false advertising to wear a padded bra. Now that I've had them removed, I do wear a padded bra and feel as if is nobody's business if I do. If I could have wished something for myself then, and for any younger woman who is reading this, it would be that my small bust could have protected me from superficial relationships. I should have just decided that if I had reservations about a guy seeing my small boobs, I should have taken that as a sign that I did not trust him enough to have sex with. Infact, some men were very judgemental about my breast implants. I found that it worked better to let them know that I had breast implants before undressing, because I had one lover who noticed the subtle scars from the implants and got very nasty and acted as if I was trying to pull something over on him.
The really odd thing is that having size 36 B boobs never made any difference at all in my dating life, or my sex life. If anything, I seemed to be more attractive to men before I had the implants and after I had them out. Actually, with in a month after having them out 2 men asked me out. I'd know both of these guys for a year before, and sort of liked them, but they never seemed interested in me until after my ex-plantation. I attribute this to the fact that I felt healthier and thus so much happier and I guess those might be the most attractive things to men in the long run.
Now for the negatives. Very quickly after getting the implants I had problems with capsular contraction. The Dr. showed me how to "mash" my breasts daily to try and break up the scar tissue, but my breasts were always harder than a natural breast. It was painful to lie on my stomach because of it. And as I got older, they looked very unnatural.
I'm unsure how much of my problems through the years with estrogen dominance, uterine fibroid tumors, or depression and anxiety disorders are actually due to the implants. I had them for an astounding 30 years!
After I'd had them for 25 years I started to seriously look for a Dr to remove them. But I then found out that it was much easier to have them put in than to have them taken out. I called several Drs, including the one who implanted them, and they all wanted to lecture me. They seemed very defensive when I told them I wanted them out for health reasons. Some of them because argumentative when I told them that I did not want to just swap the old ones for new ones. And here I was in my late 50's! At this age I care much more about feeling good and being healthy than about looking sexy, believe me. And I don't need to be lectured by Drs who are half my age.
Twice I gave up and decided that I might just have to die with them in. But by the time I was 56 my health problems were getting pretty severe. I was depressed, chronically anxious for no reason, tired after doing the lightest work, and my face was oddly puffy much of the time. Medical tests showed that my entire endocrine system was off kilter. I had high blood pressure, I was pre type II diabetic, and I had adrenal fatigue. I had abnormally low hormone levels, and my blood work looked as if I had a chronic infection of some sort. I had a wonderful Chinese Traditional Medicine Dr/Acupuncturist who did pulse diagnosis on me, and he clearly thought my health was in the toilet. (I never told Dr's about the implants, as I was embarrassed about having them.)
Dr. Lyle (Raleigh, NC) still makes much of his income from breast augmentation. That's the only bad thing I can say about him. I guess that's why they are still legal; they are very profitable for the Drs and for big pharma. And when they place breast implants, they are guaranteeing repeat surgeries! But he also admitted to me that lots of women have real health problems from them and, after he heard my long list of symptoms, he assured me that I would feel better after they were out. He said women in my position always say they feel lots better after. Some Docs I consulted with wanted to lecture me on how they cause no harm. I appreciate that Dr. Lyle did not do this.
He did a bilateral capsulectomy with implant removal. Unlike some of the plastic surgeons I talked to before him, he did not try to talk me into having new implants put in. Nor did he try to force me into having lots of mammograms before surgery. I told him I that if I get a mammogram, I'd rather have it after removing the implants, since you can get by with fewer shots (less radiation.) He also accepted my decision to not have any tucks after the implants were out.
I'm glad I didn't get the tucks. I look small, but fine and natural. I just wear padded bras now, and sometimes, if I have enough layers of clothing, no bra at all. As I mentioned earlier, I was a AA before the surgery, and only a 36 B with the implants. I was willing to bet that my skin would shrink back, and it did. Now I'm an A cup. Yes larger than when I was 30! I guess that's because I weigh about 15 pounds more now that I'm older.
I hope this story is helpful to some of you. I appreciate this web site, and it helped me find my explant Dr.