Sudden ageing

I agree. I haven’t got any but I’ve been thinking about it. Was your GP happy to prescribe? When I was going through the menopause and having flooding and hot flushes and sweats my GP didn’t want to give me any HRT. Instead she printed out a leaflet to get a herbal supplement from a health food shop. I didn’t get any. I feel I should have gone back and asked GP again but instead I just put up with the symptoms for several years. I notice there’s quite a lot out there about HRT for post menopausal women now. Viagra has become available over the counter. So has the Pill and now HRT for vaginal dryness. I’m wondering if HRT will be next. What do you think?

It tickles me when you see people on TV speaking over Zoom. Most of them have filters to make them look younger/less lines etc. They also use special LED lights to bleach out their facial lines. They can look at bit weird at times e.g. Hugh Bonneville looks about 12 on his Zooms

I have Zoom calls at work but have a photo of me rather than actual me. The photo is actually a passport photo taken four years ago. It is reasonably flattering. However, I wonder if any of the colleagues I have only met on Zoom would actually recognise me in the flesh

Yes, lockdown weight, paying less attention to skin and hair because of lockdown and working from home, your post given me a bit of a shake up, I need to get back into skin routine ..off for a moisturizing face mask!

Yes I agree with everyone about feeling old.
I was quite fit for a 77 year old until Christmas when I developed sciatica. Worse than childbirth. Since then I have lost interest in everything. Must get my motor back ASAP

I noticed a huge change in my youthful looks between 55 and 65. At 55 I looked about 45. At 65 onwards I have looked my age. I did have chronic hip pain and Fibromyalgia though. Happily I have 2 new hips now but the Fibromyalgia is going nowhere ?

I feel i have aged too. Constant pain in my back and hip wears me out and it shows!!! Having covid myself and being in hospital in one ward waiting to hear that my DH who was in ICU had died, coming home to an empty house and self isolating for the then 10days, no human contact to comfort me, no proper funeral for him, the whole lockdown experience, being scared to go out when we could, yes it has put years on me. I could cry.

Certainly agree ,past couple of years I've got really deep wrinkles and my hair has got thin on my crown ,it's quite depressing

So sorry travelsafar?.

travelsafar

I feel i have aged too. Constant pain in my back and hip wears me out and it shows!!! Having covid myself and being in hospital in one ward waiting to hear that my DH who was in ICU had died, coming home to an empty house and self isolating for the then 10days, no human contact to comfort me, no proper funeral for him, the whole lockdown experience, being scared to go out when we could, yes it has put years on me. I could cry.

What an appalling time you have had. . You have my deepest sympathy x

travelsafar So very sorry. ?

My mother, now aged 95, used to say that every five years there was another milestone of the ageing process.
However I agree that possibly this may have been accelerated over the pandemic. People have had extra worries and stress is a major factor for illness and not feeling so good mentally.
I also think that we are almost
coming out of another difficult, long winter. I'm looking forward to casting off layers of clothing and just wearing a Summer dress in the sunshine!

When I was young older people told me they no longer looked in the mirror because they could not stand to see themselves aging.

I thought that was a bit extreme, I'm there now.

Lulu16

My mother, now aged 95, used to say that every five years there was another milestone of the ageing process.
However I agree that possibly this may have been accelerated over the pandemic. People have had extra worries and stress is a major factor for illness and not feeling so good mentally.
I also think that we are almost
coming out of another difficult, long winter. I'm looking forward to casting off layers of clothing and just wearing a Summer dress in the sunshine!

I’m not looking forward to summer clothes unless I can get rid of the lockdown weight. Easier to hide under winter woollies.

Growing old gracefully, can’t stop the clock ticking away.

60 has been the watershed for me - I look (and sometimes feel) ‘old’. The reckoning with mortality plus beginnings of arthritis have piled in on me!

Travelsafar that’s horrific. I’m so sorry.

Regarding pain, my mum had her hip replaced when she was in her early 80’s. It was like she’d had a face lift, too, because the relief from the awful pain made her look ten years younger.

When I hit 60 in the august i didn’t feel any older, but in the November of the same year my daughter turned 30. That hit me like a brick & made feel really old.?

Howverydareyou.
You’re going in the right direction and spring’s almost here. Sending hugs ?

So sorry you have had more than your share of sorrow
.may the future be easier for you...xx

Gilmul thanks for that info regarding your experience of HRT

Never felt old or looked it, but the last few years I’ve rapidly gone down hill. I have bags under my eyes, look pale and have developed wrinkles, that with my un dyed hair, now long plus I’ve been unwell for two years, it’s taken it’s toll over the pandemic, my support system dropped. I can never reverse tge process but have started a few new things where I hope I fit in and enjoy as cannot do old hobbies now. Age is just a number and they don’t bother me it’s about how you feel.

Just stop cleaning mirrors - and buy lower wattage lightbulbs - works for me! (I've even moved the hall mirror away from the sunlight.)

Bereavement has aged me (the loss of my DH in the summer) I don't sleep well & I’m sure all the crying I have done these last few months has aged me around the eyes. I had let my hair go greyish with just a few highlights but 2 weeks ago after catching a glimpse of myself in a shop window and seeing not my mother but my grandma staring back at me I decided to get it coloured more my natural dark colour, it’s not as dark as I didn’t want it to look harsh. I have been told I look younger but I can’t say I feel any younger!! I agree with others weight gain and poor posture are very ageing so I suppose it’s important to work on this if you feel able. Ive had a card through offering me a free 7 day trial at the local gym, maybe I should give that a go.

SachaMac:

'I have been told I look younger'

Why do people keep saying that? When is anyone ever told they look older?

Zooms - get that screen as high (or a little higher) than your face. (Here, the laptop goes on a pile of books.) Next, be aware of your light source and direction - not just the background. It makes a world of difference!

Germanshepherdsmum, we tend to look younger with some chubbiness in our cheeks.

But then, our bodies look better when we're thin.

My friend says we hit a 'certain age' - when we have to choose between our face and bum. Now, I'd choose my face every time, as far more people see it - but I can't put weight on.

She also says never be a jogger - they have very saggy faces!