Seems like I got old all of a sudden.........

[CathyA]

Has this happened to any of you older people? Yes, I know I've been getting older for about 20 years, but since February, everything seemed to suddenly age. My hair has gotten so thin and my skin looks like, well.......like the old lady I am! haha My skin is so thin and tears easily. My doc said to try Biotin for thinning hair. I tried it and it seemed to work, but I found myself getting angry for no reason. I did a search and it's actually one of the side-effects that some people get! So......do I want to be really pissed off, or tolerate thin hair? haha So I stopped taking it. I can get angry enough without any help from a vitamin.

It's really weird getting old. I guess I never thought it would happen to me. And it always seems so much easier for other old people. I know that's a silly thing to say, but people seem to be handling better than I do.

Anyhow........anyone else losing their hair? (women, that is). Seems like it would be traumatic for men too.....
I've always had longish hair, but it was always very fine too. I always twist it and pull it up in a barrette, but it's getting so thin, there's nothing to hold the barrette in. I can't imagine getting it cut. It wouldn't do anything then and I want it out of my face. Maybe I'll shave my head............

[pinkytoe]

No thinning hair yet but I bet my time is coming in a couple of years. Growing older is definitely a strange process when it feels like you've been young most of your life. I tell myself it's just adolescence in reverse as I recall all the physical changes back then were hard to "grow into." Now I understand the 92yo lady I once knew who said she didn't know who that person in the mirror was because she sure didn't feel that old.

[iris lilies]

Take the thinning hair, thats just a vanity thing.

I had always had thick hair, and it is creepy the way it falls out now. Well, at least now I can use a typical barrette. In the old days my hair was too thick for those to work, I looked for super strong barrettes and kept them forever when I found them.

Every year, or couple of years, I have a new and unpleasant discovery about about aging skin. Lately it has been skin tags. Harmless, but new and unwelcome. My dog is developing skin tags as he ages so we are experiencing it together!

[Yppej]

My hair's thinning has been gradual, and I color it which helps add volume. I also cut it and got lots of compliments when I did.

Other things bother me more, like my knees being stiff after sitting awhile or sleeping, which is a little better as I've lost 5 pounds but I doubt will ever go away entirely.

As to skin I recently developed the creases on the side of my mouth that Liberace had plastic surgery to remove in the movie Beneath the Candelabra. But I have no interest in going under the knife. I would rather spend my money on fun things like travel.

[Gardnr]

No thinning hair here. I have no idea your age....I'm 56. My knees give me trouble..I'm slow to "take off". Aches and pains take longer to work themselves out. That's all I notice at 56. Well, and those dark spots on my arms. Too much sun as a kid and 36 years in the operating room scrubbing my arms and hands within an inch of their life hasn't helped either!

[catherine]

I'm working on a project in which the medical product I'm testing is targeted toward older people. So one of the questions I have to ask doctors when they use the word "elderly" to define the people for whom they prescribe this product, I ask, "What age do you think of as 'elderly'?" And to my horror, they typically respond "65." I'm 65. One doctor explained "That's unfortunately when everything seems to start to go bad."

Gee, not very encouraging. I feel great almost 100% of the time. And I definitely don't feel I'm "elderly."

As for the getting old quickly, my theory is that your body chemistry and shift in hormones flips a switch during menopause, and it's like going through a door much the same as when you go through puberty. Things happen quickly. As for me, as good as I feel, I know have the "old" look now--judging by how many people offer to help me when I'm traveling . I don't think dermabrasion or mini-facelifts can do much to reverse the look of age. Probably the thing that works the best is bio-identical hormones. But I'm not into them. I prefer to just go from summer to fall and winter like the trees do.

My hair has also thinned, but actually,, a change in shampoo and taking multivitamins with biotin has slowed that down a lot. I don't have many aches and pains yet, though. I generally feel pretty good. My mother used to have all these funny sayings. One of them was "I'm in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in" and that's how I feel today.

[CathyA]

I'm 67. Realistically, I SHOULD be feeling like I'm old! Catherine, you mentioned female hormones and that really has so much to do with changes. "Going through menopause", for me, has lasted since I was 55. I know that my hormones are still fluctuating, because of various symptoms and the pre-migraine auras I get when my estrogen starts back up after a fall. Last February, when so many more symptoms started and I started losing my hair, I really feel like I had a big drop in my estrogen........so that could explain things.

I don't feel like I have an old brain.......except for all those words I can't remember constantly......but my various body parts definitely feels old and started feeling old when I was a child.
But......I am extremely grateful to be able to have lived to this age. Many people don't get that opportunity.
But it's definitely an adjustment, for sure. And everyone seems to age so differently.

Psychologically, it's such a curiosity to me.....growing old.......time passing. Very curious indeed.

[Zoe Girl]

I was wondering what age we were all feeling it. I still don't feel too bad. I am 50, almost 51. I did notice things this last year, bruising easier, the peri-menopause symptoms, tiredness enough that I made the DR check my iron levels. And I already have some thin hair so I am paranoid about that one, my hair is white which I like but not thin thank you.

I can still run/walk, do almost anything I want, adjust things for asthma but not too much age at least. Better enjoy the next decade!!

[JaneV2.0]

One doctor explained "That's unfortunately when everything seems to start to go bad."

I found that to be all too true--which is why raising Social Security eligibility age is not a good idea, IMO.

[nswef]

I'm 68 and it seems aches last longer. I am bruising more easily. Hair is OK for now, but I keep wondering when I will have the pink scalp showing through...Mouth wrinkles and my skin on my arms is just mottled. But like so many I am happy to be up and about, moving although slower and generally being in good health. Just hope my mind stays decent and that I drop dead at an early enough time to not be demented.