Lipoedema & Lymphoedema

My Story

10 years ago, while I was at my fittest, I started to experience ankle swelling. I was living in London, cycling everywhere and had the best figure of my adult life because of it, but seemingly randomly I would get a very swollen right ankle. I went to the doctor, who checked me over, but couldn’t offer a diagnosis of the issue. They did discover that I was hypothyroid, so I was promptly put on levothyroxine. The swelling issue continued and I started putting on weight. I saw several other doctors over the following 2 years and none of them had any idea what could be the problem. I had numerous tests, but nothing became clear, so it was just left unanswered.

In 2012 I visited a massage therapist to relieve upper back pain as I had an office job, and the therapist happened to be a lymphoedema expert. After examining me he explained what I was dealing with, so I finally had a diagnosis. Doing the research on lymphoedema I realised I also had lipoedema.

Leg swelling and weight gain

I had always been slim, but as a teenager I became very self conscious of my body as I had a larger bottom and legs for my frame. I was very active so it wasn’t the result of a sedentary lifestyle. I dressed to hide it well and no-one else seemed to notice but you won’t be able to find a photo of me from back then without something tied around my waist and I’ve never felt confident enough to wear shorts.

From quite a young age, I complained of aching legs and digestive issues. Once I was admitted to hospital for suspected appendicitis, but after a few days on pre-surgery ‘nil by mouth’ diet the problem subsided and I was discharged with appendix in tact. All through school I suffered with repeated boughts of Tonsillitis. In my early 20s the stomach pain would be so acute I would have to stop walking in the street till the pain went away. I’ve also always suffered with anxiety, particularly social anxiety and I now see that everything is linked.

As my conditions progressed I frequently felt exhausted and down, and was battling through it often, forcing myself to exercise to try burn off the weight… You could see looking into my eyes that I wasn’t well. Having a body that felt like it didn’t belong to me was so depressing. I didn’t feel like myself at all anymore, and like I had to pretend to be happy to the world. I felt completely out of control.

From 2012 I started trying all kinds of treatments, diets and lifestyle practices to help my condition. Some things helped, and seemed to bring the swelling down, but the weight kept on coming, even though I was eating what anyone would consider a healthy diet. I rarely ate fast food and made most of my meals from scratch. I've always eaten plenty of vegetables, and was mostly on my bike to travel across London.

In 2019 I ramped up my efforts and got serious about making a big change to my diet. Progress was very slow to begin with, but in August took a huge turn for the better. It's not all plane sailing, and I've fallen down a few pitfalls during my recovery which is why I wanted to create a course - outlining the do's and don’ts and taking you through the various phases I believe are important.

I trained as a Nutrition Network Advisor & Coach in LCHF Nutrition with the Nutrition Network, which is affiliated with The Noakes Foundation, and I continue to research and experiment with my own diet.

If you are looking to take control of your health and wellbeing by changing your eating habits, I have created a simple plan you can follow.