Lorna Taggart swims five times a week, follows a strict Mediterranean diet and does intermittent fasting, but despite her constant efforts her legs have grown so large below the waist that she has just been measured for a wheelchair to help her get around.
The 41-year-old teacher and mother of three from the Isle of Skye has severe pain and debilitating exhaustion that limit what she can do to help her husband Ally in day-to-day life with their three children. Days out and holidays have become almost impossible, and now she is having to consider giving up her job.
“I’m condemned to living a half life with these legs,” states Lorna. “It is like dragging an additional two people around all the time.”
She suffers from lipoedema – an underdiagnosed chronic genetic condition affecting women and girls, which causes a disproportionate increase in fat tissue around the legs and hips, and severe pain.
It is triggered by hormonal activity such as puberty and pregnancy, and is resistant to dieting because it results in a form of fibrous fat, different from normal obesity. Her…
