Karen From ‘My 600-Lb Life’ Seems To Be In a Better Place Since Quitting Dr. Now’s Program
Karen participated in Season 12 of 'My 600-lb Life.'
Published Jan. 15 2025, 10:01 p.m. ET
Viewers of TLC's My 600-lb Life have witnessed some memorable moments throughout the show's 12-plus seasons. We've seen many of the participants lose significant amounts of weight while changing their mental health simultaneously. And, during every season, fans tune in when the person featured on the show decides to take an alternative method to the one Dr. Youhnan Nowzardan, aka Dr. Now, recommends.
During a Jan. 15, 2025, episode of My 600-lb Life, Karen Lynn Suffern fell into the latter category.
After months of struggling to leave her home to receive Dr. Now's advice and possible weight-loss surgery, Karen decided she knew what was best for her and removed herself from the doctor's appointment book. Since her episode, fans of the show want to know how she's doing now.
Where is Karen Lynn Suffern from 'My 600-Lb Life' now?
Since her time on My 600-Lb Life, Karen hasn't publicly shared any details about her weight loss process. However, she posted a few dolled- up between the time the show was filmed, around 2023 and 2024.
Karen went on My 600-Lb Life, hoping to improve her physical and mental health. She shared on the show that she battled anxiety and wasn't treating her condition with medication. Due to this, Karen developed agoraphobia, a condition that often made it difficult for her to leave her home, even opting not to go to her psychiatrist's office to be prescribed anxiety meds. She also heavily relied on her twins, Amber and Ryan.
During several scenes, Karen struggled to leave her home for necessary appointments, including an initial weigh-in at Dr. Now's Houston office. Dr. Now eventually connected her to a virtual appointment with the show's therapist, Dr. Paradise, and arranged for a nurse practitioner to come to Karen's house to weigh her.
Despite her reservations about leaving the house, Karen insisted she was making progress, telling Dr. Now several times she had lost 100 lbs. from where she started. However, the scales from her home visits showed she lost around 30 lbs. When Dr. Now mentioned the discrepancy in her weight loss, Karen insisted the scales he sent through his nurse practitioner were highly inaccurate. By the end of the experience, Karen felt she had enough tools from Dr. Now to navigate her weight loss solo.
"I have mixed feelings about what's happening between me and Dr. Now because I'm grateful to him and his program for giving me the motivation to start making the changes that I need to lose weight, but I am not happy with the way he and the staff are treating me," Karen said. "Now that I have a plan, I'm going to be happier doing it on my own."
Dr. Now wants Karen to “wake up” on ‘My 600-lb Life.’
While it's unclear if Karen reached out to Dr. Now after her My 600-lb Life aired, the surgeon stated on the show that his door is always open when she's ready. Although he admitted Karen made some progress in her weight-loss journey, he said she still has much more work to do on regarding her anxiety and progress.
"I hope Karen does keep working on losing weight and dealing with anxiety and fear of going out in public," Dr. Now said at the end of the episode. "Her quality of life and health will be much better if she can handle those things.
"If she starts to wake up at any point, we will see what we can do to help her," he added elsewhere. "But until then, I wish her the best."
My 600-lb Life airs new episodes on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on TLC.