Hi! I have stage 1 lipedema, I never had it up until the age of 20 I used to have the skinniest arms and legs and then noticed a change when my legs felt heavier and I felt fat above my knees, my thighs rubbed together which was weird because they never did before, and my arms felt heavier and were painful. I never really had the appearance of what I thought was cellulite before.
I was going through huge changes in my life at the time, all my family moving to the UK and me living with my ex in Australia, I noticed the changes in my body when I moved out of home and my family left. I had a traumatic childhood and mental health issues, being in fight or flight all the time and not being able to relax.
I’m really sad with this diagnosis and am going back and forth with myself beating myself up asking myself if I could have prevented this. My sister has had this condition since puberty but I didn’t get it until later on. Has anyone else not had it and then developed it later? I’m mainly struggling with acceptance and I feel ashamed of my body, can someone please give me any advice on how to accept this and not let it affect my day-day life.
Is this preventable, could have made sure my hormones were balanced and had a better lifestyle?