A social media influencer has opened up about the experience she has faced living with an incurable illness that has caused her legs to swell and trolls to call her a “penguin”.
Victoria Matosa, an influencer with over 4.3million followers on Instagram, lives with a disease called lipoedema, which causes abnormal fatty deposits to build up unevenly in the body.
The 26-year-old said she felt too “ashamed” to leave the house over the appearance of her “thick” legs after school bullies called her cruel nicknames.
She is now hoping to raise awareness about her incurable condition to help those who are also suffering.
Matosa said: “I started to avoid going to the beach and only [wore] leggings and jeans, which made me very uncomfortable, [as well as] distancing myself from friends out of embarrassment.
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“Due to bullying and pressure to always be doing a lot of exercise to lose weight, I tried many restrictive diets, which resulted in me binge-eating.
“I [used to] spend three hours in the gym until I reached exhaustion, giving up and then eating compulsively.”
The Brazilian influencer received her diagnosis in February 2023 after experiencing “heavy pain” and swollen, inflamed legs.
She said she was “relieved” to finally have an answer for the painful symptoms she was experiencing but also expressed her sadness over her only options being either surgery or going on a restricted diet for the rest of her life.
She said: “It was a mixture of feelings – before, I blamed myself for not being able to lose weight in my legs, even working out intensely.
“Now, I go to the gym and have an anti-inflammatory diet, but I don’t feel ready to [have an] operation, as I’d have to do three liposuctions.
“I feel sad and discouraged with each passing day [but] I try to accept and love myself more.”
The social media staff has been passed by many of her millions of followers though it her viral fame hasn’t come without some trolling and negative comments.
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She said: “I’ve already suffered a lot of bullying on the internet, people didn’t like me because of my weight and my body.
“I got tired of receiving messages of curses that only had the objective of hurting me.
“This continues to be routine in my life, only different than before, because I don’t let these people make me feel like a monster.
“In my love life, I’ve been very lucky.
“I haven’t dated much but the relationships I have had never had insecurities with my body and they [my partners] made me feel very secure about myself.
“I want to be able to help other women, because after revealing lipoedema on Instagram, I had several reports from women who felt bad and didn’t know they had this.”
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