Worst thing about getting old?

[RJDiogenes]

I've always hated the cold and loved the heat. In the past few years, extreme heat has started to bother me. I still hate the cold, though. So, basically, my window of comfort is narrowing.

As for gray hair, I have hardly any still; except if I let my facial hair go for a couple of days, it comes in very gray....

 

[TorontoTrekker]

Well, not a general getting older symptom, but one that I have. I pass out/faint multiple times a week.

That's not a symptom of getting old, that's a symptom of a hormonal or neurological problem that should be checked out by a doctor.

Let me echo this. I was fainting about a year ago - I went to the hospital, then found a family doctor, who sent me for tests, and I turned out to have hemachromatosis (a genetic disease that causes my liver to store too much iron). My ferritin levels (which indicate the amount of iron in my body) were 963 nanograms/cubic millilitre of blood. The high end of the normal range is 400.

I just had my third treatment this afternoon, and my ferritin was down to 631 last week, and back up slightly to 637 this week (though that sort of fluctuation is apparently normal).

As my doctor said, though, it took me 42 years for my iron levels to get up this high, and once my treatments are done, it'll take another 42 years for them to get that high again.

Believe it or not, the treatment is the removal of 450 millilitres of blood. Send in the leeches...

So that's what I hate about getting older - my iron got out of control. (I also find it more and more difficult to get out of bed in the morning, but I've never been a morning person and I have to be up by 6:30 to be at work by 8:30.)

 

[T'Bonz]

What sucks about getting older:

- Health. I have to plan out how I do things and some days I can not do what I want to do because of it.

- Looks. I know, vanity. But damn, I miss when I was pretty. Being a middle-aged woman SUCKS.

- Glasses. Like trekkiedane, having to use glasses to read is no fun. I used to have better than normal vision, now it is ten times worse.

- Death. More people go as one ages. Facing mortality is no fun.

But some things about being older are good. I am more at ease in my own skin than when I was young and I do not worry as much, if at all, about what others think about me. Remember being a teen and being all worried about how others perceived you?

 

[Australis]

You have to keep telling those damn kids to get off your lawn.

 

[RandyS]

You have to keep telling those damn kids to get off your lawn.

And the porch.

For me, the worst thing about getting old is that hair grows everywhere but on your head.

I think it just gets too tired to climb all the way to the top.

 

[Holdfast]

I'm still a youngster (or so I like to believe) being only in my early 30s.

But apart from the annoying greys in weird places and the sagging in other places and the incipient wrinkles in others, what I've noticed the most is that I really need to stretch properly to feel loose in the morning after waking up. Only takes 30s or so, but if I don't stretch, I feel really stiff and tight. An annoying daily reminder of eventual mortality...

I tell you what else I've noticed: college age girls rarely interest me any more beyond their physical attractions. It generally takes around mid-20s before I find I can even be bothered to have a conversation that lasts longer than a few minutes now. Of course, the fact that I actually care about their conversation skills these days is probably another sign of the unfortunate effects of aging.

 

[JonathonWally]

I tell you what else I've noticed: college age girls rarely interest me any more beyond their physical attractions. It generally takes around mid-20s before I find I can even be bothered to have a conversation that lasts longer than a few minutes now. Of course, the fact that I actually care about their conversation skills these days is probably another sign of the unfortunate effects of aging.

Conversations with most college girls barely interested me even when I was in college.

 

[RoJoHen]

I tell you what else I've noticed: college age girls rarely interest me any more beyond their physical attractions. It generally takes around mid-20s before I find I can even be bothered to have a conversation that lasts longer than a few minutes now. Of course, the fact that I actually care about their conversation skills these days is probably another sign of the unfortunate effects of aging.

Conversations with most college girls barely interested me even when I was in college.

Same here. Most of them talked like retarded valley girls. I've always been too mature for my age group.

 

[Holdfast]

I tell you what else I've noticed: college age girls rarely interest me any more beyond their physical attractions. It generally takes around mid-20s before I find I can even be bothered to have a conversation that lasts longer than a few minutes now. Of course, the fact that I actually care about their conversation skills these days is probably another sign of the unfortunate effects of aging.

Conversations with most college girls barely interested me even when I was in college.

Same here. Most of them talked like retarded valley girls. I've always been too mature for my age group.

Sure guys. I hear you. But when I was in college myself, I was more than prepared to overlook their lack of good small talk for their other charms, and I'm just not these days. THAT'S the dark side of aging.

 

[RoJoHen]

Eh, I've never been able to overlook those things. Even when I was drunk!

 

[K'Ehleyr]

But on a personal note: I HATE needing glasses to read the small print!

What's the worst thing about growing up you've experienced?

Oh I love my reading glasses. I love peering over the top of them at Son when he asks for something particularly ridiculous .
What I'm slightly disturbed about is celebrating Man's 50th birthday next weekend ~ I cannot have a boyfriend who is that age, after all I'm only 23
I do agree with the 'having to stretch' thing to get going and slightly concerned about the clicks that accompany that

 

[Jan]

The worst thing? Starting to be afraid.

After a recent serious (though thankfully fairly short) illness, I started worrying about what would happen to me if something happened to me. If I slipped in the bathtub and broke a hip, would I be able to get to the phone to call 911? Or for that matter, what if I died? I live alone, sometimes I'll go days without talking to friends or family and if I stopped showing up at work, they'd simply terminate me and find somebody else. I'm only 54 but suddenly I've actually started to pay attention to the "I've fallen and can't get up" commercials.

I saw this uncertainty happen to my mother after she had a bad fall and hated it. I hate it even more in myself.

Jan

 

[trekkiedane]

But on a personal note: I HATE needing glasses to read the small print!

What's the worst thing about growing up you've experienced?

Oh I love my reading glasses. I love peering over the top of them at Son when he asks for something particularly ridiculous .

I too love the looks I can beam over the rims of my reading glasses

But I hate going to a supermarket and having forgotten a pair; reading the contents of stuff without them is impossible!

I didn't even mind the laughs from my dad and mum's 'girl'friend (my ex) -I laughed along with them- when I had to put them on to read some label when we were all together on mum's birthday -what I hate is having to go fetch my reading glasses (either in my coat hanging in the hall or from my back pack also in the wardrobe) before being able to read that label!

Re. the stretching: I've always loved stretching -like a cat- after sleep (or prolonged sitting) -didn't know this was a sign of growing older

 

[thumbtack]

Conversations with most college girls barely interested me even when I was in college.

There's no need to actually talk to them.

 

[RJDiogenes]

what I've noticed the most is that I really need to stretch properly to feel loose in the morning after waking up. Only takes 30s or so, but if I don't stretch, I feel really stiff and tight. An annoying daily reminder of eventual mortality...

Love the head rush, though.

If I slipped in the bathtub and broke a hip, would I be able to get to the phone to call 911? Or for that matter, what if I died? I live alone, sometimes I'll go days without talking to friends or family and if I stopped showing up at work, they'd simply terminate me and find somebody else.

This could happen to me, too, although there are a couple of people who would notice if was unresponsive (probably more online than in real life, though ).

 

[RoJoHen]

This could happen to me, too, although there are a couple of people who would notice if was unresponsive (probably more online than in real life, though ).

I think my friends would panic if I didn't update my facebook status at least 3 times a day.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

But on a personal note: I HATE needing glasses to read the small print!

What's the worst thing about growing up you've experienced?

Oh I love my reading glasses. I love peering over the top of them at Son when he asks for something particularly ridiculous .

I too love the looks I can beam over the rims of my reading glasses

But I hate going to a supermarket and having forgotten a pair; reading the contents of stuff without them is impossible!

I didn't even mind the laughs from my dad and mum's 'girl'friend (my ex) -I laughed along with them- when I had to put them on to read some label when we were all together on mum's birthday -what I hate is having to go fetch my reading glasses (either in my coat hanging in the hall or from my back pack also in the wardrobe) before being able to read that label!

Re. the stretching: I've always loved stretching -like a cat- after sleep (or prolonged sitting) -didn't know this was a sign of growing older

See (see what I did there) what you need is one of those nifty chains to hang your glasses around your neck on . Very classy! It does beat hitting people on the nose in supermarkets when you try to hold item far enough away to see the ingredients though .

As for the stretching, I seriously (and I never thought I'd say this ~ it must be my age ) would go for pilates (if you really want to piss the people off pronounce it "pie-lates") But it's great at keeping flexability and muscle tone, and you don't have to jump up and down like a maniac.

And they do have a 'cat stretch' ~ but you have to get on all fours for that one

 

[indranee]

the worst thing? watching my parents get older. every time they get sick with even the 'flu or a cough, I become a paranoid weakling. I don't want to think of the day when they won't be in my life. it's inconceivable to me.

other than that, this year, I've been feeling some pain in my knees when I climb down stairs. ugh. don't like that. blood pressure and arthritis runs in my family. not looking forward to that stuff.

 

[Mysterion]

Two words: ENTROPY SUCKS!

 

[Plomeek Broth]

Regrets.