Effects of Aging?

[braumeister]

Another point is that genetics must play a huge role in how well we age.

Consider the many who lived very long, reasonably healthy lives before there was any such thing as prescription medications. Heck, even something as basic as penicillin only became available about a year before I was born.

I'm still not taking any medications at 70 ½ (although I do take a few vitamins and supplements), so I feel as if I'm on the right side of that question.

 

[W2R]

[...]what sort of changes are we talking about? Loss of strength/endurance? General tiredness or lack of energy? Or...? I know the answers will be anecdotal, and everyone has a different biological age, but it'd be helpful to get a better idea of what to expect.

I'm 44, and aside from an occasionally balky knee, I generally don't feel much different than I did 10 years ago. I play tennis about once a week, but have never been a hard-core athlete, so maybe my overall endurance has slipped, and i just haven't noticed yet. I drive a desk the rest of the time, so am not 'active' by any stretch of the imagination.

Lately, I've been thinking of pushing my FIRE date out from age 56 to 58 or 59 to generate a bigger cash cushion. If the effects of aging are dramatic, maybe I'll stick with the earlier date, and enjoy the cash while my body is still willing to cooperate...

I felt more or less the same through my 50's as I did in my 40's; just looked older and had more of a weight problem. Same for my early 60's. At the gym, I lifted the most weight of my entire life on the week of my 66th birthday.

But since then, it has been rapidly downhill, at a surprising rate. No gentle beginning to it. I felt great at 66, but feel like I'm in a fight to not completely fall apart at 68, with multiple minor ailments related to aging that I won't bore you with. Everyone has heard old people gripe about their health.

The thing is, different people age differently. So the question is, should you retire at 56 or 59? To me that would not have been a huge difference. But once that decline started in earnest? yep, it would make a difference.

I would have LOVED to have retired shortly after 50, like many do, even though my physical decline due to aging would have been years in my future. I think that for me the ideal age would have been around 53. Before that, I still had intense ambitions, things I wanted to accomplish in my career, and that inner fire was burning brightly. But by about 52-53 I was ready to "hang it up".

 

[athena53]

In most cases type 2 diabetes is a dietary disease and it can only be reversed by dietary means. On the plus side you save money on this diet,it costs you nothing extra.

There have been similar stories from people here who were able to quit insulin (with their doc's agreement) after making lifestyle changes. It's not just the pharma companies that keep people dependent on pills, though. Many people would rather take meds than make changes in their eating and exercise.

 

[galen]

There have been similar stories from people here who were able to quit insulin (with their doc's agreement) after making lifestyle changes. It's not just the pharma companies that keep people dependent on pills, though. Many people would rather take meds than make changes in their eating and exercise.

The problem is that the medication lowers their glucose levels and makes their doctor feel better, but the underlying condition gets worse, and the inevitable complications ensue - atherosclerosis,blindness,kidney failure,amputations.

If you could avoid all those by choosing foods wisely and knew that you could eat those foods to satiety, surely the dietary change would be worth it.

The reason people fail with their dietary change is because they make the wrong ones. That is why I recommend a low carb diet and not a low fat diet. The low fat diet has been promoted for thirty years and it has resulted in more people becoming overweight and diabetic. What is needed is a change to eating real food, that which you can buy in the greengrocers and the butchers,not the bakery.

I make all my sauces from scratch so I can avoid all the hidden added sugars.

 

[tmm99]

Another point is that genetics must play a huge role in how well we age.

Consider the many who lived very long, reasonably healthy lives before there was any such thing as prescription medications. Heck, even something as basic as penicillin only became available about a year before I was born.

I'm still not taking any medications at 70 ½ (although I do take a few vitamins and supplements), so I feel as if I'm on the right side of that question.

I believe genetics have a lot to do with it too. My mom didn't have to get on any time of medication until she was in her mid 70's. Unfortunately, I have a feeling I have more influence from my dad side.

 

[eytonxav]

It seems we all hit a wall at different points. I will be 68 in June, but felt like a bull until 66, and then things went bad. Loss of strength, balance and general athleticism seemed to occur after a bout of pancreatitis. I still work out 3x week and play softball, but just not the same as a few years ago. Also, began to encounter spinal facet degeneration and lower back pain last summer. Still it beats the alternative, and thats why its important to stay active and keep up the healthy habits. Hoping 70 is better than 68

 

[aja8888]

Oh, I forgot to mention: at 70, my golf game went south.

 

[MRG]

Hey you're only 44.

Do you need readers? Have you lost your night vision yet? Cataracts? Probably not yet.

How many times do you get up at night for the bathroom? Don't worry it will change.

We've been talking about the changes that happen a little later. This poster is a youngster.

 

[Nemo2]

Hoping 70 is better than 68

"The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Ye all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep. Sir, I am vex'd;
Bear with my weakness; my, brain is troubled:
Be not disturb'd with my infirmity..."

Prospero.

 

[ejman]

I was doing fine at age 66, lots of exercise, good weight, having great fun in this retirement business at our little ranch until a little episode of cardiac arrest put a damper on things. Since then, no so much - low energy, run out of breath quickly etc etc. The cardiologist tells me my brand new pacemaker is working fine but something is not quite the same.

 

[W2R]

It seems we all hit a wall at different points. I will be 68 in June, but felt like a bull until 66, and then things went bad. Loss of strength, balance and general athleticism seemed to occur after a bout of pancreatitis. I still work out 3x week and play softball, but just not the same as a few years ago. Also, began to encounter spinal facet degeneration and lower back pain last summer. Still it beats the alternative, and thats why its important to stay active and keep up the healthy habits. Hoping 70 is better than 68

That's for sure! Me too. But whether it is or not, I'm going to enjoy everything life still has to offer at that age.

BTW exactly the same thing happened to me; 66-67 was the turning point. I am revising my actual longevity expectations/hunches from 90 to 82, while leaving longevity for financial planning purposes at 95. Want to live to 116. Every day's a gift.

 

[Lsbcal]

This is an eye opening thread for me. Had not realized posters here had such a wealth of health issues.

 

[Walt34]

This is an eye opening thread for me. Had not realized posters here had such a wealth of health issues.

What is important to note however is that none of the posters that I've seen have been completely immobilized/disabled by any of the health issues. Every one of them, while not as physically agile as they were 30 years ago, is out and about and doing stuff almost every day.

I have a half-sister that is ~20 years older than me. She spends her days watching TV shows and movies from the 1940's and has done so for the last 15 years or so. That's sad and scary, and I hope I get The Big Ache before that happens to me.

 

[W2R]

This is an eye opening thread for me. Had not realized posters here had such a wealth of health issues.

Well, you know how it is on the internet. Everybody runs a marathon every day, has a BMI under 25, has $10,000,000 to live on, and looks like a movie star, right?

 

[Lsbcal]

Well, you know how it is on the internet. Everybody runs a marathon every day, has a BMI under 25, has $10,000,000 to live on, and looks like a movie star, right?

And here I thought I was the only one who missed out.

 

[W2R]

And here I thought I was the only one who missed out.

I know what you mean! In company like we have here on the internet, how can we keep our heads above water?

 

[Nemo2]

Had not realized posters here had such a wealth of health issues.

The medical consultation I had yesterday, (automatically generated by the MRI I had a number of months ago), turned out to be with a neurologist, (I had no idea what he was until we got there.....get a phone call, "You have an appointment", turn up).

Sad looking bunch in the waiting area, (even sadder when you think that you may be one of them)....had a relatively cursory nerve reaction test, followed by an overview of the spinal/hip areas from the MRI......apparently no nerve damage/problems.........and pretty much all the severe pain I was undergoing last Spring has evaporated.

Now, I don't know whether it was my impression, (sensitive fellow that I am), but as nice/polite as the surgeon was, I still got the feeling that "There are real patients out there y'know".

No closer to finding out what I do/did have, but I am learning what I don't have.

 

[REWahoo]

This thread should be subtitled "OMY: Another Perspective"

 

[eytonxav]

Well, you know how it is on the internet. Everybody runs a marathon every day, has a BMI under 25, has $10,000,000 to live on, and looks like a movie star, right?

Yep, and we want to out ailment all others

 

[athena53]

I have a half-sister that is ~20 years older than me. She spends her days watching TV shows and movies from the 1940's and has done so for the last 15 years or so. That's sad and scary, and I hope I get The Big Ache before that happens to me.

Ugh. One of the reasons I don't turn on the TV before 7:30 PM even though I could find plenty of stuff on Netflix to amuse me. I don't want to get like that.

 

[Walt34]

Yep, and we want to out ailment all others

Well, people are naturally somewhat competitive. Let me tell you about my bad knee....

 

[W2R]

Well, people are naturally somewhat competitive. Let me tell you about my bad knee....

No no, MY bad knees are worse!

 

[RAE]

At age 62 (almost), and 7 years into retirement, I'm still doing pretty well health-wise. I exercise more now than I did while I was working, and eat better also (more whole foods), so that has helped a lot. I still do most of the activities that I've always done, with just a few exceptions. When I look around at friends/acquaintances around my age, a lot of them have health issues that are more serious than anything I have (one had A-fib that led to a mild stroke, one has serious issues with diabetes, others are on statins or other drugs for heart issues, etc). Within the last year or so, though, a few health issues have cropped up for me, that were pretty much unexpected . Found out I had way too much iron in my system (iron overload), which led to some other issues (premature ventricular contractions of the heart, for one). So now I am on a beta blocker to calm the heart down, and that seems to be working well (with no side effects that I know of). Still, it bugs me that I have to take any prescription medication.

I think all you can do is develop and maintain healthy living habits (like the daily exercise and good diet.......and good sleep is important also), and hope those things keep you in good health for quite a few years after retirement. The other thing I am going to do now (after having this iron overload issue, which I basically had to diagnose myself after the docs were not much help) is to get my yearly blood test without fail, and to have that include all the tests I feel I should have (as opposed to just the routine tests most docs order for you, which often omit several important tests). I have learned a lot this past year about interpreting my own blood test results (by doing lots and lots of reading about them), and not just accepting the docs assessment that "everything is normal", when they are sometimes not. Don't get me wrong, some docs are very good, but I am also a believer that I have a responsibility to learn as much as possible about my own health, and try to use that knowledge to stay healthy.

 

[Jpg1717]

Effects of aging

I felt more or less the same through my 50's as I did in my 40's; just looked older and had more of a weight problem. Same for my early 60's. At the gym, I lifted the most weight of my entire life on the week of my 66th birthday.

But since then, it has been rapidly downhill, at a surprising rate. No gentle beginning to it. I felt great at 66, but feel like I'm in a fight to not completely fall apart at 68, with multiple minor ailments related to aging that I won't bore you with. Everyone has heard old people gripe about their health.

The thing is, different people age differently. So the question is, should you retire at 56 or 59? To me that would not have been a huge difference. But once that decline started in earnest? yep, it would make a difference.

I would have LOVED to have retired shortly after 50, like many do, even though my physical decline due to aging would have been years in my future. I think that for me the ideal age would have been around 53. Before that, I still had intense ambitions, things I wanted to accomplish in my career, and that inner fire was burning brightly. But by about 52-53 I was ready to "hang it up".

W2R : I agree that 53 is a good age to retire. I retired at 53 and I try to work out at the gym every morning. My Dad retired from the Fire Dept at 52, and he is now 80 and golfs 3-4 days per week, and he believes retirement in sunny Florida has helped him to live a long an active retirement.

 

[travelover]

.........looks like a movie star, right?

Not my avatar. How about yours?