does everyone fall apart at 40?

[Albert]

I fell apart at the age of 59 - after a lifetime of smoking and doing little or no exercise. I had a big heart attack and took up cycling as a way of fighting back. I and am now 64 and have reached 17,000+ miles and 850,000 ft of climbing. I have done a few Sportives and a couple of Audax.
Unfortunately, I have continued falling apart in spite of my "new" way of life:
Since my heart attack I have had: Pneumonia, a Prostate Reduction Operation, A Cataract Operation + several operations for BCCs on my face. I have just come to the end of a sequence of 3 operations (weekly procedures totalling 6 hours of surgery through December) to reconstruct my nose using skin and tissue from my cheek after the recurrence of a BCC on the side of my nose.
Funny thing is, I am fitter than I have been for 30 odd years.

 

[Sara_H]

i'm expecting to celebrate my 40th birthday in a couple of weeks.

I had a near death experience a few weeks ago, which has left me very weak (took dog for a short walk for first time yesterday - wobbltastic!), and is going to take a while to recover from. Until that point I was probably fitter than I've ever been. I had recently taken delivery of a pair of reading glasses though!

 

[wanda2010]

Reading glasses. An annoyance cos I never remember to carry them around and end up squinting or holding item at arms length so I can (try to) read the wording

 

[summerdays]

Reading glasses is something I've so far managed to avoid, though as most of my friends have them, I imagine it won't be too long till I have a pair!!!

 

[smokeysmoo]

Well, I hit 40 in 5 days time now, and reading this make me think

It's not looking rosy for me if I'm being honest.

I've worn glasses for several years already, I got a hearing aid a few months ago to help with degenerative hearing loss, (1980's Walkman generation!!), and I'm overweight too.

Other than that I though feel fine

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Well, I hit 40 in 5 days time now, and reading this make me think

it's tomorrow for me. Not worked out how to end the world today to avoid it! Still I have around 13 hrs 30 mins left to work on it!

 

[Nebulous]

You're looking good on it anyway Satnav - going by your avatar!

I got from 20s to late 40s on cruise control, doing no exercise and ever so slowly getting bigger.

Almost 3 years ago I decided to do something about it, lost 5 stone, took up cycling and think I'm fitter now than I've been - possibly ever. I turned 50 earlier this year. I am pushing hard on the bike and have begun to compete in TTs and certainly intend to continue this journey I'm on to see where it takes me.

I joke that I have an advantage because my body hasn't done much work until now so its still pretty fresh! More seriously I think I was fortunate that I made up my mind to change before I hit some serious problems rather than after.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

Qvar is beclomethasone. It's a brand name, just like Becotide is.

Thanks for the correction
I was whining about the difference I experienced when I switched from Becotide to the non-CFC Qvar.

 

[postman]

It does leave me wondering how bad we would all be if we were not fit and cycling a lot? dread to think about that one![/quote]


That is a very good statement. My world would be the size of a pea.Like a stick of seaside rock i have cycling written right through me.i get so much out of cycling,i meet people talk to people.People talk to me because i am wearing cycle clothing and have a bike with me.

 

[lulubel]

Thanks for the correction
I was whining about the difference I experienced when I switched from Becotide to the non-CFC Qvar.

I assume you switched from a manual inhaler to the Qvar autohaler, and it was the method of delivery you had problems with. The drug is exactly the same.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I assume you switched from a manual inhaler to the Qvar autohaler, and it was the method of delivery you had problems with. The drug is exactly the same.

Same drug, just the change in propellant.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

Same drug, just the change in propellant.

Do you use a spacer? If not, it's worth doing. Also (sorry if teaching anyone to suck eggs) when using any inhaler look up at the ceiling when you inhale as this takes the bend out of your neck and reduces the amount of medicine that hits your throat and gets no further. Personally, I found Fluticasone to be more effective than Beclomethasone.

 

[ColinJ]

It does leave me wondering how bad we would all be if we were not fit and cycling a lot? dread to think about that one!

I think I might have died in my 40s. I was putting on 1.5 stone a year until I bought a bike in 1989. Since then my weight has been up and down a lot but I have never been bigger than I was back then and even when big, my cardiovascular system has been pretty strong.

The doctor who looked at the CT scan of my chest when I got ill this summer reckoned that it was only my underlying strength and fitness that saved me. The strain of pumping blood through badly clotted arteries might well have seen me off if my heart hadn't been toughened up by years of hauling my big body over tough Yorkshire hills!

 

[fossyant]

Being a cyclist is very very good for all. The pressure any cyclist puts on the C V system is very good for long term health.

 

[Stephenite]

Happy birthday Satnav!

it's tomorrow for me. Not worked out how to end the world today to avoid it! Still I have around 13 hrs 30 mins left to work on it!