Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Hi.
I've been in generally good to excellent health for most of my life, give or take the odd bout of flu and a few minor injuries. Slight backache, eyesight fading, tinnitus, etc.

Since I turned 50 I've started to get various ailments and niggles. My knees have arthritis, my lower back is continually sore and I seem to be coughing all the time. Basically I feel pretty crap most days.

I have kept myself fit and healthy all my life, visiting the gym for the past 30+ years, plus being a keen cyclist and runner in my teens to thirties. I walk miles each night at work and my diet is pretty good. I have never smoked and only drink socially once a week. My fitness levels are suffering due to not being able to exercise in the way I used to because of my new health issues and it's getting me down. I'll be making a doctors appointment soon as I can get one.

Did anyone else here experience a sudden slump in their fitness or health when they turned 50?

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Definitely, well since I was 49, really.

Pancreatitis, Hodgkins Lymphoma, lots of aches and pains. Mental health issues also.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Welcome to the club matey!!!

I've swallowed a dictionary. I have: Arthritis (both hips & both knees surgically replaced), Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, Emphysema, Pulmonary Emboli x 5, and now the latest, Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Yes it happens to us all, but the ones who exercise feel the effects first. I was only 44 when my knee started to get sore, but even as it got worse they would do nothing because of my age. I was 57 by the time they had no choice but to operate and do a full replacement, by then I could hardly stand without my knee giving way under me.. AND the pain....shudder. It was terrible, I just wanted to die..

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

wait till you get past 70,,theres not much left to fall apart

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Yes some people do go downhill at 50 and some don't.
I believe it's more to do with genes than fitness.

I think you'll only aggravate your existing condition if you try to carry on with your usual exercise. You might even make things worse.

See a personal trainer at the gym and see what suggestions they can come up with.

In the meantime the only safe & sure exercise is swimming. Depending on your stroke & speed I imagine you can keep pretty fit with swimming.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Well I swim 40 lengths a day, walk a few miles with the dog daily and exercise/ride the Clydes a few times a week. Work on the farm when Himself needs an extra pair of hands and in the good weather I work outside in the garden in the afternoons. Hopefully that will keep me mobile and not too stiff.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

I'm 55, a smoker and an idle slob ( what on earth is exercise?) .. I consider myself lucky ... I've always been the kind to get poorly tummies, bad backs, kidney stones and other minor niggly stuff so the when the age related naff stuff hits I might not notice too much. Unless it's a biggy of bad health.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

A life of pumping weights and using gym equipment will inevitably take its toll.

I always think of those automatic machines in Ikea that demonstrate the reliability of kitchens when people talk about gyms. You know, the machine that has a metal arm attached to a kitchen drawer and is continually opening and closing the drawer with a counter ticking up each time showing how many 1000s of times it has donw it.

Your body I think is like this. In your lifespan there are only so many knee flexes that your bones have. Only so many times your back will flex back and forth. Essentially I fear you have used up hundreds or thousands of your allotted movements in the gym.

Now your body has reached the "wearing out" stage whilst you still need to be able to use your knees and back.

You'll have to ease up I suspect and only use your legs when you need to. Back problems are extremely typical for gym users. Compressed disks are very common.

A visit to the GP will see you put on the conveyor of potions and pills which will get progressively worse. I personally wouldn't go there but each to their own.

A persistent cough could be indicative of an underlying condition. MMaybe find out what that is before making too many decisions. You may need to alter your diet significantly as a result.

Re: Turned 50 and started falling apart!😨

Sorry to hear about your health problems Floydy, I suffered a Heart Attack at fifty four and again at sixty four. I smoked for thirty five years until 2004 but never touched another fag since. My Dad also suffered a Heart Attack in his fifties and the general consensus of opinion at the hospital was that mine was due to hereditary factors and that I survived due to my fitness.

The problems you describe (especially the arthritis in your knee) sounds like inflammation, which incidentally was linked to my Heart Attacks, I have been having good results from taking Turmeric, and avoiding things like red meat and cheese (Known inflammation causes) of course, I still eat both of these, but have cut down. The thing with Arthritis is that you must keep the joint moving, but not under load conditions. Resting it is not the correct treatment.

I have had to accept many changes to my running concerning speed and distance Floydy, but as long as I can still get out there then it's good enough for me.....