LIPOEDEMA STORIES: XANTHIA

Xanthia, who suffers from Lipoedema, openly shares her experience growing up with this disease, her diagnosis, and advice for other women on the same journey. Want to learn more about Lipoedema and why getting a diagnosis is crucial? Read on!

"Growing up in Australia, the beauty standards were very strict, if you were skinny, you were deemed beautiful. I was a fairly skinny child up until the age of 12, my thighs started continuously growing to the point where people would point out my body and how "abnormal" it looked. I started getting bruises and pain in my legs and thought it was normal for everyone to feel. My body shape & size was never represented in the media, so I was brought up to think that my body was just "weird".

In 2019 I lost 50kg and posted my story online, grabbing the attention of millions, I gained over 250K followers on TikTok within 1 year. I started receiving comments about my body and how people were questioning whether I had Lipoedema.

I'll be honest; having people tell you, you may have a chronic condition is quite confronting. I decided in June 2021 that I will finally go in for my diagnosis. It turns out I had stage 2 early stage 3 Lipoedema. I wish I would have gone in sooner, so I knew all the steps to take in order to maintain it, but I was scared.

After my diagnosis, I needed about a month to let it sink in before I shared it with all my friends and family. I also had multiple tests done after my diagnosis to ensure I didn't have any other problems related to Lipoedema. It was extremely confronting, and I was an emotional wreck at that stage.

At the same time, I think it was also a bit of closure having my diagnosis. Now I know it's not my fault that I struggle to lose weight, and I have all the tools to manage my condition properly. Some things I do in order to maintain my Lipoedema are Manual Lymphatic Massages, staying active, eating an anti-inflammatory diet & wearing compression tights during the day.

If I could give any advice to others, it would be to take it one step at a time. You don't have to jump into all Lipoedema conservative techniques simultaneously. Start small and build it up because it's a huge lifestyle change and can be hard to dive into."

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