(Image: November 2019 she contacted her local Slimming World consultant and explained her condition and diagnosis. She managed to receive an official diagnosis of lipoedema, a condition which causes an abnormal buildup of diseased fat in legs and arms which can be painful and affect daily life and mobility. I would avoid social events and try my best not to be included in photographs.” “I didn’t look in the mirror for over two years and found comfort in food. I started to binge eat because if I was going to stay fat forever then what was the point? I spiralled because no matter how hard I tried, nothing worked. “Once my son was born I noticed how heavy, painful and swollen my legs were. “I was sent to see a dietician and I explained my calorie intake and level of exercise, I was laughed at and was told I would be at risk of diabetes and my son would suffer because of my lifestyle. We found out we were having our son in late 2015 and during my pregnancy I experienced discrimination because of my weight. “When I met my husband, he accepted me for who I am and he showed me that being loved was okay. “I tried diet pills, different weight loss clubs, even eating eight hundred calories a day. I was desperate for help but had nowhere to turn and it was at this time that I tried to end my life. “I started self-harming as a teenager as a coping mechanism. Whatever I did, my legs seemed to increase in size. “Health professionals and doctors told me that I was ‘obviously eating in secret and not being honest’ when in reality I was basically starving myself. “I began to be bullied badly and as a result I struggled for years with my self esteem and image. (Image: hadn’t always been overweight, my weight started to increase when puberty started,” said Nicola. It is characterised by a smaller upper body, larger legs and arms which are unaffected by weight loss. Recognising her symptoms, she went to her GP and was referred to her local Lymphedema clinic. One night, when she was looking for liposuction clinics as a last ditch attempt, she came across the NHS page for Lipoedema. During her pregnancy, she continued to suffer discrimination from doctors due to her size and was told her son would suffer because of her ‘unhealthy lifestyle’. She continued to try and lose weight and after meeting her husband Gary in 2012, she discovered she was pregnant in late 2015. She began self-harming as a way to cope with the relentless bullying she was experiencing and felt like she had nowhere to turn - ultimately leading to Nicola attempting to take her own life. (Image: trying various diets, pills and even at times starving herself, her legs continued to grow and her mental health plummeted. When Nicola Grice hit puberty she began to notice that she was rapidly gaining weight on her legs. However, she wasn't taken seriously by her doctors at the time and felt like she was brushed off and treated poorly by health professionals because this issue was seen as obesity. She was even beaten up and told that she should end her life because of how she looked. Read more: Mystery of railway tracks found which disappear into the sea in Welsh resortīullies at school nicknamed her ‘thunder thighs’ and would shout at her to ‘put the fork down’. She began visiting doctors in a bid to try and manage her weight. However, once she hit puberty she began to notice that she was rapidly gaining weight on her legs.Īs her weight climbed, bullies at school began to pick on her and her self-esteem plummeted. She grew up as a healthy, average sized child. Nicola Grice, 33, from Port Talbot lives with her husband Gary, 36, and her son aged 5. A woman nicknamed "thunder thighs" by cruel bullies and laughed at by a dietician because of her ever growing legs was actually suffering from a medical condition which made her legs grow.
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