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Some women are getting rid of their breast implants due to an illness not recognized by the FDA

They say they have 'Breast Implant Illness.' But the disease is not recognized by the medical community.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - "I thought I was dying," Dali Hernandez said. "At that point, I thought I was going to die."

Hernandez got breast implants six years ago, then she started feeling sick.

“I couldn’t even get out of bed," she said. "I would wake up every single night, the bed was soaking wet, drenched."

She said it felt like she had the flu or an infection due to mold. She went to see different doctors but none of them mentioned the breast implants. It was online where she found a list of symptoms of Breast Implant Illness, or BII.

She checked off almost all of them, but it still took her a while to decide to explant.

"You're still in denial. You're still thinking 'what if it's something else?'" she said. "But then, to the end, I decided, 'you know what? Even if it's not them, it's time for them to come out."

She says her health has significantly improved since she explanted seven weeks ago.

"I just don't feel like I'm dying anymore," Dali said.

The medical community doesn't officially recognize BII. The FDA says it "does not have evidence to date linking breast implants to a wider range of illnesses."

Dr. Marguerite Barnett, a plastic surgeon in Sarasota, is one of a few who believe BII is real.

“I have to believe my patients,” she said.

That same morning Dr. Barnett had explanted a breast cancer patient who got implants after a mastectomy, then got sick.

Barnett says she gets more patients wanting to explant than implant.

And the women who believe they have BII are banding together online.

“They’re my support system,” Dali said of the BII Facebook group.

The women recognize that they’re only a fraction of the almost 300,000 women who get breast implants every year, but they still want to get out the word about the risks.

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