Am I getting old ?

[jackie j]

i am 53 yrs old and I am suffering and if this is what old age is going to be like put me out of my misery now.
I was fine last year the odd twinge here and there only natural.
Since christmas I have got a frozen right shoulder which I am having manipulated under GA on the 30th June. Chest pains sent me to local hosp all ok but found hole in diaphram apparently I was born with it. Yesterday went to doc's and had steroid injection for carpel tunnel syndrome in my left hand.
I have also got triger finger on my right hand so it doesnt bend properly.
I am not sleeping cos of pain in shoulder cant sleep on right side, now cant sleep on left side as this starts off pins and needles in left arm, the other night I woke up with my left hand stuck to my right shoulder.
My eye sight has got worse only started wearing glasses for reading a few years ago now have to wear them all the time.
I dont and never have smoked, dont drink, I go to bed at 10 oclock every night cos I know I will be up later have tried going to bed later but it makes no difference. If I sit down for any length of time I fall asleep. I feel like I shoud be in my eightys, My mum had more get up and go in her and she lived till 92 yrs, god help me if this is all there is.

[piskieinboots]

......dont drink, ....

ah I see your problem - you don't need a doctor hun you need an offy

[jackie j]

When I say I dont drink what I meant was I dont drink often. Maybe need to drink more hic !!!

[piskieinboots]

I would say try not to list all the things going on with you at the moment.

I have always been fit, strong, healthy but just before Christmas things started happening to me - bits falling off, falling asleep at the bar, you know the kind of thing!

I took each bit and dealt with it in turn (am still doing so) and things are returning to how I was before - fit, strong, healthy etc but clearly not as FSH as I was in my 20's

Like you I am in my early 50's (gawd, when did that happen!!).

Think of yourself as a well-oiled machine that needs an overhaul and deal with each bit in turn

oh and to answer your first question 'Am I getting old' ... I can answer that in truth, yep hun you are, it started with birth

[jackie j]

I know what you mean ' how did that happen ' My eldest son will be 30 next year how did I get to be a mum to a 30 yr old ( yes I do know how !! ) it seems like only yesterday that he was born, Now I have a nearly 7 yr old grandson.
I have always said you are as old as you feel lately very old.

[Mikey]

I'm stuffed then, at 34 I have to visit the chiropracter once a week for manipulation, I have pins and needles in my arms at night then lose all feeling until the following morning. I have arthritis in my mouse finger from too much clicking, I have gout on and off in my left big toe, I have a perforated ear drum thats hell whenever I fly or swim, and yet I feel great, especially when down the lottie. I don't think its whats falling off that counts, but how you deal with it. I hope you feel happier soon bach.

[jackie j]

Mikeywills could be carpel tunnel in your wrist cos pins and needles is what I get esp at night

[moggssue]

I got sent this recently and think it's just lovely - so for all of us 'over 20' peeps out there ....


Old Age, I decided, is a gift


I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my father!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon?


I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love . I will.
I will wal k the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set .
They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the rig ht to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

[Mikey]

And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

Now your talking my kinda language.

[bramble]

Moggssue, absolutely love it. I am in my sixties and that sounds as if it were written for me. All those who feel likewise post on here NOW>

[HeyWayne]

I'm only 32 and have swathes of grey hair on both temples, first the first time in about 12 years I've had to start buying bigger waisted trousers, I have a scar from a back op, a scar from a hernia op, I have to go through a rigorous stretching regime after any form of exercise, I litsen to Radio 2 because Radio 1 makes my ears hurt. I have trouble with excessive ear wax, I need contact lenses to see my contact lenses...

But then, something happens to you that makes you think - chuffin' 'ell, life's great innit!?!

[piskieinboots]

But then, something happens to you that makes you think - chuffin' 'ell, life's great innit!?!

daily .......

[gemlady]

Yes Jackiej we are all getting older, the alternative isn't something I want to consider yet. I'm 54 and like many have started to get aches and pains. I view myself like a car that was once shiny and new, with an engine that purred. Now the bodyworks getting a bit rusty, some parts are wearing and may have to be replaced, and the engine coughs and splutters occasionally, but if I take good care of myself there'll be plenty of miles on the clock for a good while yet.

Thanks for that moggssue, agree with every word.

[scarey55]

Moggssue, absolutely love it. I am in my sixties and that sounds as if it were written for me. All those who feel likewise post on here NOW>

I loved it too Mogggsue. My body reckons I'm 50 but in my head I'm only 30, some days my body wins but some days my head does so I guess it evens out and yes, Wayne and Piskie - life is bleedy good init?

[jackie j]

All of you brilliant !!! I feel better already I think its because I'm not sleeping very well therefore I am constantly tired and in pain.
And yes I have recently lost a very much loved sister far too young I miss her chats.
I am not happy at work so that doesnt help either.