Using Gen AI for a Deep Analysis of My Wegovy Journey… with Lipedema!

As a follow-up to my previous post about my Wegovy journey, I wanted to share some fascinating insights about how this medication has affected my lipedema. After 14 months on Wegovy, I’ve experienced meaningful outcomes, though some were quite unexpected – particularly in my legs, where I have a large collection of lipedema fat that remains painful and fibrous. And it is still there and bruising, but I did lose a lot of the regular fat that was, I guess, on top of it or underneath that lipedema fat. I’m not really sure how the layering happens.

What I would say is that it forced me to kind of really relook at what I wanted to do moving forward. So for anyone else who’s out there who might be a little bit on the fence about whether they need to get surgery to be able to have a meaningful difference in their life, I wanted to share what I found out from my Wegovy journey.

Of course, Wegovy is not going to be for everyone, certainly, and definitely for people who don’t have that much regular fat to lose, this isn’t going to be helpful.

Content Warning: This post discusses body measurements and weight loss. If you have body image concerns, please be mindful of your needs while reading.

I don’t think that my “before” body versus my now body are one is better than the other – I just think they’re different, and it’s a meaningful difference that Wegovy delivered for me. I want to share that with folks who might be within that sort of envelope where they are eligible for Wegovy or some other GLP1 medication, and also for people who are thinking about whether there can be enough of a meaningful change to their lipedema in their legs or arms that they actually want to think again about surgery, or that maybe they could go with more conservative treatment.

One of the things that was super helpful in the journey is that I weighed in every day – I called that the OPW (Old Pee and Weigh). As soon as I got up in the morning, went to the bathroom, and then I weighed myself. What I also did was take measurements throughout the course of that journey. I wish I’d been a little bit more standardized in the approach, but basically every two to three months I did measurements at:

• Waist
• Hip
• Low hip (where I’ve got some boom boom that hangs out – most of my caboose has been lost to Wegovy but that’s okay, well worth it)
• Mid thigh
• Knee
• Mid-calf

I did do ankles – but there really wasn’t very big change in the ankles throughout. I wish I’d done my arms, but I didn’t start doing the arms until I was sort of three or four months in, and then I thought it just doesn’t tell a story on its own, so I stopped holding on to it. Plus I’d had some liposuction in my arms before I knew it was lipedema – just because my arms had been so problematic for me. I think that actually I’ve probably done a lot to help myself in the arms when it comes to lipedema management, but of course I haven’t had a chance to do that for my legs yet.

For folks who’ve been following me, you know that I do plan on doing surgery – or at least I did until I did this Wegovy before and now analysis. I have a doctor who I think is really great and responsible – someone who’s not just doing it because they think they’re going to get an insurance windfall. I also have the insurance approval.

Using Claude AI, I analyzed my data and here’s what I found:

Looking at measurements, my left knee was 19.5 inches when I started this journey, and my left calf was 18.5 inches. There was literally only one inch of difference between my knee and my calf. Just one of my thighs was literally the same size as my waist is now (30in). That’s a powerful thing to think about. When we say there’s this column-like aspect to the leg, you can see there’s almost no difference, and it really stays that way until below what people would call their low calf/upper ankle.

Background and Methodology

To track my progress, I implemented a consistent measurement system:

• Daily morning weigh-ins
• Regular measurements every 2-3 months at specific points:
  • Waist
  • Hip (both regular and low)
  • Mid-thigh
  • Knee
  • Mid-calf
  • Ankles

Key Findings Using AI Analysis

Using Anthropic’s Claude AI, I analyzed four sets of data from December 2023 to October 2024. The analysis revealed some striking patterns in how my body responded to Wegovy, particularly in areas affected by lipedema versus those that weren’t.

Weight Loss Progression

• Starting weight: 259 pounds (my highest)
• Current weight: 160 pounds
• Initial loss rate: 5 pounds per month
• Peak loss rate: 7 pounds per month
• Current maintenance rate: 4 pounds per month

Measurements: A Tale of Two Body Areas

Lipedema-Affected Areas (Knees and Calves)

• Left knee: Started at 19.5 inches, total reduction of 2.5 inches
• Left calf: Started at 18.5 inches, total reduction of 2.5 inches
• Right knee: Total reduction of 2 inches
• Right calf: Total reduction of 3 inches
• Average loss rate: 0.25 inches per month

Non-Lipedema Areas

• Waist: Started at 36 inches, ended at 30.5 inches (5.5-inch reduction)
• High hip: Started at 46 inches, ended at 38 inches (8-inch reduction)
• Average loss rate: 0.75 inches per month

The Striking Difference

The analysis showed that non-lipedema areas responded approximately 2.79 times more effectively to weight loss interventions:

• High hip area: 3.13 times faster loss
• Waist area: 2.29 times faster loss
• Upper thigh area: 2.54 times faster loss

What This Means for My Treatment Plan

So where am I now? I think I’m doing it – the surgery. I now have the doctor, I have the insurance approval, and what I know is that this disease will progress. I’m in perimenopause right now, probably about to trip into full-on menopause. I don’t know how that hormonal change is going to impact what’s happening, but I do know that especially on my lower leg, and especially on the outside lower leg and the back of my lower leg, I have so much lipedema fat there – you really can’t see anything, it’s just a column straight down.

I know that once the cuffing happens, it’s really difficult, if not impossible, to correct. So I’m going to make that move now, knowing that I may not have continued access to Wegovy. I have it now, but I may not always have it, and I know without that GLP1 medication it is a completely different story. I also know that as soon as any fat starts to accumulate there – regular fat or lipedema fat – it gets that much harder to do all of the things I need to do to stay healthy and mobile.

For me, it’s a no-brainer. I’m moving forward with the surgery, and it’s going to be very targeted. I hope I can manage to do just knees down, but I’m going to let my surgeon ultimately be the deciding person – she knows what she’s doing, she specializes in lipedema and lymphedema.

I know people want to say that lipedema is easy – they want to say “oh you just lose the weight and it’ll go away” – but I think that after such a major intervention, this is a really good indicator of just how persistent, how resistant this fat is. Knowing that what I’m left with now is very fibrotic fat, if I could do it over again, I might have tried to have my surgeries a little bit sooner, or maybe slowed the loss of weight (which wasn’t in my control honestly – the Wegovy, I just really responded well to it).

I also started at a time when the maintenance dose for Wegovy was still considered to be 2.4mg, so there was a rush because of insurance to make sure people were getting to that maintenance dose as quickly as possible. For that reason, I lost weight quickly – by comparison to anything I’ve ever seen in my life. After seeing these results, I’ve decided to proceed with lipedema surgery.

Final Thoughts

This data clearly demonstrates (and even AI could assess, unprompted) the persistence of lipedema fat, even with significant medical intervention. While some suggest that lipedema can be managed through weight loss alone, my experience shows that lipedema fat is remarkably resistant to change, even with a powerful tool like Wegovy.

Summing up, these are the 6 factors that influenced my decision to move forward with surgery:

1. Clear resistance of lipedema fat to significant weight loss intervention
2. Current perimenopausal status and potential hormonal impacts
3. Persistent columnar shape in lower legs, especially on the outer and back portions
4. Risk of cuffing becoming more difficult to correct over time
5. Uncertainty about long-term Wegovy access
6. Importance of maintaining mobility and health

Looking back, I might have considered surgery sooner, or perhaps attempted to slow my weight loss rate, though the latter wasn’t entirely within my control given the insurance requirements for reaching maintenance dose quickly. Everyone’s journey with lipedema is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach- people need to do what is right for themselves and their situation. I just want to make sure that you know what I know, because I think none of us is as good as all of us.