Is it all downhill after 70?

I always prepare for the worst while hoping for the best. But this is my anxiety talking...

"-clumsily bouncing through life, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst."

It sounds like the best way to proceed, Monica. I too like to include prudence.

Alexa, which probably helps explain why I seem to to be one of the few saying that life for me has not been all down hill since 70.

I had cataract operations in my early 60s, but I was severely short sighted and, with it possible to fit prescription lens, the result is better eyesight than I have had since I was 9. I only need glasses for driving. I also had a carpal tunnel op last year. Abother 'done and dusted' op. The carpal tunnel problems started in my 40s but only got bad in my 60s and the problem, like cataracts, is now dealt with and in the past.

I have every intention of being as long-lived as Bijou. I do think mental attitude helps. I am one of life's 'tiggers' clumsily bouncing through life, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

Monica, further instances of what you can do are to try to adjust your diet and find out what suits you. Don't work too hard. Abandon guilt. Exercise if you can.

Alexa ....and if you are over 70 and already do not drink, smoke or over eat, what then?

Luckylegs different statins have different effects. Ask your GP for a different statin and if necessary insist on trying three or four alternatives.

I’ve had a range of blood tests which I have to get the results of this week. My cholesterol was high apparently but we need to see what it is now.

I do keep active, eat healthily, join clubs, join in locally, etc etc but out of the blue found I had polycythemia rubra vera which causes all sorts of problems but I don’t have high blood pressure, thank goodness, am not overweight, don’t smoke, not allowed to drink much even if I had the urge and I thought was within normal limits for cholesterol. Now this bombshell has dropped, about the stroke (obviously happened before my diagnosis and commencement of treatment) and so my probability of having another one is higher than I thought. I will ask all these questions, if I can get a blasted appointment.

I obviously realise that every one is different and of course, it’s not downhill after 70 for everyone but I am just in a low at the moment. I do thank everyone for their sympathy, empathy, stories and advice and will let you know what occurs, if you’re interested!

Wow, Bijou! You sound fantastic! Keep soldiering on! Don't give up the Guinness!

Physical health deteriorates after 70 and mental health sometimes greatly improves.

The usual advice about how to keep healthy might improve physical health if for instance after 70 you stop smoking, drinking, and overeating.

Luckylegs I dpo not know your medical history so if you have any history of heart disease ignore my next paragraph.

I have no history of heart disease but I was told I needed to take statins because I clearly had genetically determined high cholesterol. 7.5, barely changing for a decade. I was on the point of agreeing when someone posted on GN that, in a similar situation, she asked the GP what where the probabilities of her having a heart attack/stroke in the next 10 years (the standard statistic they always quote) if her cholesterol was not reduced and if she reduced it to the recommended 5.0 or less. In her case, and in mine, because as the result of her post I, too, asked that question, the difference between the two was actually so little, each of us, quite separately decided it wasn't worth going on medication for such a small reduction of risk. In fact my GP was quite disconcerted to find out how little difference it made in my case.

So ask for that data and then make your own decision

The last doctor I saw, she was about 17, was very dismissive that the statins were causing this pain, said they would cause aching all over my body, not just my leg/knee. Well, I do ache all over! Anyway, damn and blast it, it looks as if she and my husband were right and this cyst is completely separate from the statins. I’ve got the battle tomorrow to try and see a GP and see what they say. I’ve refused statins so many times but the A and E consultant was absolutely adamant I HAD to take them.

Luckylegs, not only do statins cause dreadful pain in muscles, they also weaken them. I didn't realise straight away that the pain in my calves was from the statins as I was also having problems with my achilles. On a drive to see family, I had to keep asking my husband to stop so that I could walk a bit to try and relieve the pain.
When I had my next appointment with the pysio about my achilles, I told him about the pain and he was shocked by the weakness in my legs.
I normally take my GP's advice very obediently but am digging my heels in about statins, taking one of the cholesterol lowering drinks and trying to eat sensibly.

No Lucky Legs it's not all downhill.
We all have our illnesses whether young or old.
I've not been too good for a few weeks and have added yet another issue to my health just recently BUT
I've got my mojo back now and feel good and you will.
It's normal to feel low after being unwell you'll soon get back into your old way of life.

My 70s have been a bit odd health wise. I have osteoarthritis in my cervical spine and pain in my hands and feet. Fortunately the meds I am prescribed really help. For the first time I have been diagnosed with high blood pressure but also, for the first time my blood result has come back as fine. My Cholesterol has always hovered around the 9 but is now normal. I have a doctors appointment this week so I don’t know what she will say.

Yep. You are right. Going downhill pretty fast and now I’m approaching 80!

I say to myself, 70 is the new 50, but that is on the days that my body doesn't ache. Mostly my aches and pains are self- inflicted ( working too hard in the garden) This is especially true at this time of year when we are mulching and putting composted soil in the planting beds.
I just have to set time limits on the amount of time I spend, so I don't exhaust myself.
My DH is 71 and I'm 70, and I think we are doing well right now, with just minor health problems. I do feel for all of you that face major health problems every day.
The human body can take a beating and keeps on ticking.
I remember when I was about 60, I felt worse than I do now. I was working in an office and didn't get enough exercise. Now that we live in the country, I have much more energy.

Sorry, thought I'd posted a fresh post

My grandmother told me that it's all downhill from 21.

It's uphill from birth and then once you become an adult it starts being a level playing field before you hit mid-life and then it starts being downhill. We grow older and we become less able to do the things we used to do and we become less efficient at those things we can still do. Our bodies begin to betray us – whether limbs, eyes, ears or minds. That's pretty much the way all the animal kingdom works – and we are animals but with conceptual thought so it bothers us.

It doesn't mean it's all over, it doesn't mean we are worthless. If we have used our years properly we have become wise and experienced. We are still valuable, even if our backs ache or our eyes can't focus. We can still read stories to our grandchildren even if we have osteoporosis; we can still tell stories to our grandchildren even if we have macular disorder. We can still advise our grown-up children because we have already been there.

We can still do stuff, except perhaps not so much, and, more than anything, we can still love.

I've always been a great believer in preventative and alternative remedies, rather than GP prescribed drugs.

I've also regulated my diet when my body has told me it doesn't like or respond well to certain foods.

I offer my experience in case it helps anyone else.

Despite blood tests saying I was not lacking in iron, taking iron tablets gave me such a boost of energy that I knew I needed them I take the kind which doesn't cause constipation.

Vitamin B Complex is also very useful for feelings of tiredness and seems (in my case) to improve memory.
Just a little

I cut out wheat, mainly bread when I was in my 50s. There is wheat in many things, including soy sauce but that's so miniscule that unless you have coeliac disease, it doesn't matter.
This reduced by about 98% all joint pain and bloating.

If you have arthritis (I've had 3, hereditary kinds since I was 22), it is worth trying to eliminate bread (try gluten free) to see if it also eliminates pain.
Most people know citrus and tomatoes are bad for some arthritics.

I take MSM which has also helped as I've become older and the arthritis has got worse. It helps me in a way no other arthritis/rheumatism supplement has - and I've tried most.
(http://all-natural.com/natural-remedies/msm/)

I have relied on the information and articles from various sources to tell me what supplements suit different ailments. I've tried some which didn't work and not bought them again.

Hippocrates aid, Let your food be your medicine and medicine your foods,' and in his day, it was herbs and natural things.

Listen to your body, try gentler things first if you can.

Chase good health

Does anyone else have experience or knowledge as to whether statins DO cause muscle pain? My husband insists it’s nothing to do with statins but just coincidence that my leg is so painful but as it came on within hours of starting them and wasn’t as bad within hours of stopping them, I maintain it must be the cause. Also, thanks to Dr Google, I think I’ve got a Baker’s cyst behind the knee so there again, not the statin’s fault. Don’t have a clue how to stop this horrendous pain and discomfort. Fed up.

Osteoarthritis has kicked in for me last year in my 71st year.
I saw the hospital physiotherapist yesterday and I am determined to do whatever is necessary to improve my condition as much as possible. I had become really bored with dieting but this will hopefully give me the impetus to get a grip on the over-eating and increase my exercise levels.

Well, I bought Guinness at lunchtime, have just had a glass and I hope it is an acquired taste. Yuk.

My body will be 80 in July, but my brain is much younger. Apart from developing arthritis in my hip this year I have no other conditions. I’m having a hip replacement this month, and hope to be fighting-fit again very shortly.
I have lost my husband and various friends over the last few years, but consider myself fortunate to be so healthy.
When the consultant was going through the risks involved in my surgery he included the chance of dying during the operation. I confided that I was planning to ‘drop in my tracks’ one day, but he told me not to do it on HIS operating table,
I have great sympathy for those of you who have medical problems. I am very lucky.

So many people here have said yes that I am going to try to reassure you the answer is no! I turned 74 last month, am still working, and the only thing that is wrong is trochanteric bursitis in the left leg, for which I am doing exercises. Husband, 72, has a bad knee. We joke that we'd make a great three-legged race team between us! It's a pain, literally, having these small ailments but age is just a number. I've just posted a card to a woman I know who will be 105 on Tuesday!

I found the 70s rather difficulty, My DH was very poorly, he needed years of nursing and twice weekly hospital visits. Then sadly he died, I just went round in a daze!
I started to pick up then was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Four operations followed, chemotherapy & radiotherapy.
The bad patches were survived by asking myself, "Is this as bad as migraine ?". The answer was always NO. (Fellow suffers will understand) I was so grateful for friends and family, who willingly prayed for me, that carried me through.
I am in my eighties now, I have to admit lots of things don't work like they used to but so what? I am grateful for when they did. I had a cold last week but it seems to have gone. The sun is shining and the plants need watering.
Cheer up my friends and don't be sad,
Life in the eighties is not so bad.
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.