"My legs changed but my shoes still fit" sounds like a throwaway observation. It's actually one of the sharpest separators in the whole check. Lipoedema — a disorder of painful fat distribution — classically stops at the ankles: the heaviness builds in hips, thighs and calves, ends in a cuff, and leaves the feet slim. Lymphoedema — a fluid-drainage problem — does the opposite: it claims the foot, puffing the instep and making toes look boxy, because fluid obeys gravity all the way down.
One question about shoes therefore does the work of separating two conditions that are confused constantly — including by clinicians — and whose treatments differ completely (compression and specialised care for both, but very different programmes).
If your feet are spared: with tender, easy-bruising, symmetric leg heaviness, the picture leans lipoedema. If your feet swell too: the lymphatic side needs the look — the pitting test and Stemmer's sign are the next checks, and both appear later in the wizard. Feet that were always slim but have started swelling matter especially: that shift is worth reporting, not watching.