Danica Patrick Shares Advice After Breast Implant Illness: 'Trust Your Intuition'

Danica Patrick is urging women who are experiencing health issues after getting breast implants to consider removing them.

In a new interview with People, the former NASCAR driver opened up about the five-year health ordeal she experienced due to her breast implants and how she learned to listen to her body.

The 40-year-old told the outlet that she got her breast implants in 2014 because she thought "it would pull my whole look together and make me feel more feminine and sexy." But three years later, she began noticing impacts on her health.

Patrick said she started experiencing symptoms such as fatigue, weight gain, dryness and hair loss.

"I thought maybe my hormones were off, so I just said, 'Dig deeper, Danica, try harder,'" she told People.

A year later, she noticed that one of her breasts had turned rock-hard. Shortly after, the other one followed.

"For so many years I didn't hug people tight because I didn't feel like pushing these little balloons into them. Whenever I was with a guy, I could not stop thinking that they knew they were fake," Patrick explained. "I went down a pretty deep rabbit hole. I had every test that could be done."

Earlier this year, she realized that it was her implants that were causing her health problems after watching a series of videos on social media about Breast Implant Illness (BII). The top five most common symptoms associated with it are fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, anxiety and hair loss, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

In March, Patrick decided to have her implants removed. She said she noticed instant changes in her body following their removal, and she now hopes that other women experiencing similar symptoms would follow her lead.

"Trust your intuition," she urged. "Get them removed, and see how you feel."

"On a scale of one to 10, I'm probably a six right now. But I take better care of myself now than I ever have," Patrick added. "Chasing perfection is a dead-end street. Learning how to come home to yourself is a beautiful thing."

Earlier this year, Patrick also shared details about her BII symptoms in a post on Instagram, including photos taken just hours apart of her before and after surgery to remove her implants. She pointed out the immediate changes she noticed after the removal.

"Within hours after surgery, this is what I noticed - my face had more color and less dark circles (no food before the second pic), my face started producing oil again, I could take a 30% deeper breath into my chest already, and I had so much energy when I woke up," she wrote.

A number of women thanked her for speaking up about the matter, with some sharing that they have experienced similar symptoms and scheduled themselves for implant removal.

"I have had mine for 21 years and always brushed off symptoms as something else. I had been researching and hearing other women speak about it. I saw your IG BII and removal and I am scheduled for explant with capsulectomy on 10/31. Taking back my health," one person commented on Patrick's post.

"Thank you for sharing. Many of us love how they look but were never told about the long list of health issues breast implants create. I hope to get mine out at some point when I have the financial means and downtime to do so," another wrote.