Danica Patrick Part of 160,000-Person Group to Suffer Rare Illness: “I Thought I’d Get This Magic Pill… ”

Sports Illustrated deemed Danica Patrick amongst the hottest athletes in sports when she featured on the Swimsuit cover page in 2008. The popular magazine only echoed the sentiments of a very large fanbase that the NASCAR driver had, but as it turns out – she didn’t feel that way.

Patrick is among the select few female drivers to have made it to the top, i.e. NASCAR. She became the first woman to win an IndyCar Series race as well as grab pole position in a NASCAR Cup Series race. So for her, breaking the glass ceiling was an ingrained habit.

She featured on the cover of the Swimsuit edition of SI but for her, she wasn’t ‘attractive enough’. As a result, she got breast augmentation surgery done, but that turned out to be bad for her. Patrick spoke about the whole process in detail in a recent interview.

Danica said, “I got them because I wanted to have it all. I was really fit, but I didn’t have any boobs. So I got them. Everything went well, and I was happy with them.”

However, she admitted that after a while due to her lifestyle changes, she wasn’t feeling healthy anymore. “I had cycle irregularity, gained more weight, my hair wasn’t looking healthy at all and my face was a different shape (weird I know). I thought I would get this magic pill and everything would be fine. I ended up having severe heavy metal toxicity, especially mercury, and an array of other things like leaky gut. One of the big things I eliminated from the equation was breast implants because nothing else was working. I had them for seven and a half years and I found immediate relief with that.”

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Danica’s interview shows us how human stars and celebrities are. They feel the same emotions as us, they go through the same insecurities as us, and they doubt themselves too. 

What was the illness Danica Patrick suffered from after her surgery?

The NASCAR driver has been very open about her illness and has tried to spread awareness about it in numerous podcasts and shows. Her bout with breast implant illness is well documented and she’s among the very few celebrities to speak about it.

Dr. Daniel Amen, a brain disorder specialist, explains the disease. He said, “The breast implant issue is huge. I think if more people knew about it there would be less of them placed. Because body image is such a huge issue for women — 93 per cent of young girls don’t like their bodies — and with social media it’s gotten worse but breast implant illness is a real thing.” Dr. Amen also said that a number of studies have shown that breast implants result in lower blood flow to the brain which can be fatal in certain cases.

Patrick however hasn’t been bogged down by the illness. She said, “I’m working hard on healing my body from my job, exposure to heavy metals whether it’s from the implants or the job that I had.”

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It is important for personalities like Patrick to speak up about issues like these as they allow for more conversation on otherwise suppressed topics. Her speaking about the illness will help hundreds of women going through the same problems.