This is the inevitable thread for ILxors in their forties

i'm not 40 but next time you're due for a colonoscopy see if your doctor is willing to try 'cologuard' instead - it's where you poop into a box and mail it to a lab to be analyzed for cancer, should replace a colonoscopy iirc.

jon, I got a new pillow earlier this year, which resulted in weeks of weird pains as I adjusted. real dumb to live in bodies like this imho

I'm 47 and this year it's felt like my body is playing an endless game of Whac-A-Mole

As we discussed though, with some insurance there is apparently a concern that if the Cologuard results necessitate a colonscopy anyway (like if there's any blood), the colonoscopy may be considered diagnostic and not preventative, and therefore not covered by insurance.

I'm past week three on this wacky diet, it's been fine except for the fomo when meeting a friend at a bar or cafe (where I basically can't have anything). Platelets still going down, but I stopped taking a medication for UC that I've been on for a long time and started taking some papaya leaf extract, so I'm still hoping there will be some change in direction without having to go on stereoids.

I'll be for sure getting the colonoscopy next year or the year after

Hard not to be depressed today for all the carbonara I'm not going to be eating anymore but maybe once a year...

Jumped back on the exercise horse today with a 30-ish minute session on the treadmill where my heart rate was already up into the 140s during the /warm-up/ and reaching 160+ during the staggered periods of running. This ... is gonna be a marathon, in both senses.

Eric, remember to ease into it so you don’t hurt yourself! I went too hard at first on my bicycle when my body was recovered enough after surgery, and kind of fucked up my knee and then had to take it easy for even longer.

In any case I know you’ll be back on V8s and with a low resting heart rate soon.

My resting heart rate is 90-100 regularly, has been for decades. nobody seems to wanna give me beta blockers tho

Yup, I probably actually only "ran" a grand total of 12-14 minutes between resting periods. I'm all too aware that my body's in ticking-time-bomb mode for the near forseen

If I was brutally honest here about what I was doing to my body over the last 3 or 4 years, the answer is "literally everything (except hard drugs) wrong"

I was exercising every day and only drinking in moderation, I was just a good eater :( (who knows if that actually has anything to do with anything)

I know I’m not in my 40s just yet, but I will say that the eating well and exercising regularly was certainly touted by my oncologist as “really helping” in terms of recovery from cancer. Studies show the same— it doesn’t seem to help until it does.

Just turned 50, but this is just about right:

miralax, dulcolax, apple juice, lacroix, gatorades, bone broths, fentiman's. might get gum later if can stir myself from my fainting couch, without food i am lost *sobs* only slightly kidding

― ꙮ (map), Sunday, December 11, 2022 4:47 PM (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

Had a data breach at work this week - not sure which is worse yet.

Had homemade overnight oats for the first time this morning with nothing in the way if mix-ins and ... it's actually pretty good! I wasn't too worried because in the past I have had dry, non-sugared cereals for breakfast on the regular. But if even the "worst" form of overnight oats can taste this good to me, there's one permanent change I should be able to sustain no problem

I have actually started paying attention to the pharmaceutical ads on the internet ... what is this drug for? maybe I will have this disease soon? It's nice to think about being able to take things that reduce pain and suffering.

About a week in and I am successfully keeping my pulse under 170 during run-jogs on the mill. And I finally landed a sub-70 sleeping heart rate last night … little steps

Thank God some things DO change.😉
Bless your hearts....but not my 45. pic.twitter.com/P2Ceesh2UY

— Tarita (@EveryAlbertan) December 31, 2022

I dunno, though; there’s still a decent chance I’ll look like Steve Martin and/or Diane Keaton in four months.

Pretty sure I look worse at 43 than Steve Martin does at 75

I look 42 but like a different species

43 years old, same species, but fatter, with much less hair

lol even in 1995, 45 year olds did not look that "square" ... it was peak baby boomers who did not want to turn into their parents era ... like that was what 45 year olds looked like in 1965.

i danced a lot last night & my decrepit body’s takeaway today is that I am dying

🥳

I feel really lucky...

- i had gerd but gum + slippery elm tea has nuked the symptoms
- i messed up my knee and it hurt for years but despite half-assing the PT its all better now
- my hearing isn't getting any worse
- my insurance let me do the poop in the box thing (up thread) and it came out negative this time (my wife's insurance didn't let her do that)

But i didn't dance the night away last night. I just went to sleep at the normal time.

gonna be 42 in a few weeks' time and haven't stayed up to ring in the new year in at least a decade. cheers.

slippery elm you say

Yeah try slippery elm tea! There's actually studies showing it works. Don't drink more than a few cups a day though because there are side effects if you have too much.

But yeah i had it really bad 10 years ago and now basically no problems.

Gonna have to look up 'gerd'

My dad has GERD but it didn't manifest until his 50s/60s, so I have some time still

vision update - it took me a while from noticing my first presbyopia symptoms a year or two ago but i now have a couple of pairs of off the shelf reading glasses, mainly for low light or when the print is particularly small. even with just +1.25 the magnification is quite something, so now when i peer at a label without my glasses on i basically turn into an old man - 'why do they make this writing so small? it was much larger in my day'.

i hurt my knee really badly last year and am accepting that it will probably never be 100% in my life again, maybe, but it is doing a lot better and i'm really grateful for that!

I went through something where I could barely get up the stairs because of my right knee. Wore one of those stretchy knee brace things under my pants.

Kept putting off going to a doctor until one day, I realize the problem was gone! It was a gradual thing, not overnight.

Still have no idea what that was or where it came from.

Still having weird auto-immune issues w/low platelets and also some upper GI stuff, maybe all related maybe not. Doing everything I can think of - intermittent fasting (not eating until around 2pm and then just having some bone broth until dinner), no gluten, sugar, or nightshades, etc. Not sure if any of it is really helping or not. Meanwhile everyone says "you look great, did you lose weight?" as blissfully live their pizza & beer lifestyles. Sucks.

Actually it's not that bad as long as I'm in my daily routine, and not having fomo about going out, meeting friends for dinner, or traveling.

started ab exercises today.

4 minutes and I felt like a 93 year old man afterward

then again, i even struggled w/ those as a kid, but not this bad!

pplains, i went to a doc and did physical therapy for my knee. my doc said that 9 times out of 10 knee things heal on their own O_O

It took a full 12+ months for my knee to get back to normal post-ACL and meniscus surgery. I was convinced it would never get back to 100%, but it did! It just took a long damn while.

Still having weird auto-immune issues w/low platelets and also some upper GI stuff, maybe all related maybe not.

I have a bunch of auto-immune stuff in my family and I suddenly developed psoriasis (which is auto immune I believe) about 5 or so years ago. It kept getting worse and worse, though treatable with medication, and then about 3 months ago started getting a lot better. Very weird.

Feels like auto-immune issues are rife these days. Hopefully this stuff will go away one day, although I feel like it's all gut-related and I wish I knew how much all the diet & lifestyle stuff was actually affecting this. Got an appointment for a breath test for SIBO etc, but not until five months from now, lol.

started ab exercises today.

I have abs of steel and yet am apparently the least healthy person in my friend group.

Sorry, trying not to feel self-pity but I'm spiraling a bit today, I know everyone's got their own issues and it doesn't make sense to compare.

nah it's all good, say what ya need <3

Ok fine, fuck all these fat healthy people enjoying their lives :)

Yeah, don't worry about it. It would rattle anyone.

I do miss my abs

pplains, i went to a doc and did physical therapy for my knee. my doc said that 9 times out of 10 knee things heal on their own O_O

I'm just about convinced that you can say that about the whole body.

But that 1 out of 10 will getcha!

Sorry, trying not to feel self-pity but I'm spiraling a bit today, I know everyone's got their own issues and it doesn't make sense to compare.

― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, January 18, 2023 9:29 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

I'm sorry, Jordan! It sucks for sure. I also struggle with eating "healthy" foods that are harder for my body to deal with than unhealthy foods. Like on a lentils vs steak level, steak will go down fine and I'll feel great except for my cholesterlol levels.

Psst idk if you can get it there but Against the Grain is a northeast brand of gluten-free pizza that's a pretty good base if you add more toppings at home. The pesto pie (sans tomato) is a great building block, even my bf loves it (he is not gluten-free).

Dang, that's so close (tapioca and pesto are fine), but believe it or not I'm trying to avoid canola oil and non-aged cheeses, lol.

Really we've got the hang of making delicious food for dinner at home, it's just the fomo and leaving the house that I'm having issues with. Last night was sweet potato curry soup with sorghum (which is surprisingly delicious in its natural grain form, a lot like couscous) and an egg, almond flour biscuits, and salad.

I do miss my abs

― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Thursday, 19 January 2023 11:45 (seven hours ago)

I miss having abs a reasonably flat stomach but I like food why because it tastes nice.

I can eat whatever garbage meat / cheese / dairy / garlic / chile / wheat concoction you can come up with and have no digestive issues but of course broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and any legumes wreck me. I moved to a place with lots of middle eastern places and realized that falafel with hummus is like the worst thing I can eat.

I can load up on beano and have falfel or channa masala or dal but only once - if I have leftovers the next day my body will scoff at any chemical intervention.