I've Lived Too Long (long)

The BBQ Pit
1

Curse Words.

I went to the doctor today to get diagnosed with rosacea. Yep, probably got it, but they have to rule out something called Cushing’s Disease first. That’s because in the last year my blood pressure has gone from an average of 128/80 to 165/110.

So I have to do a fast next week, take a pill and then go in for a blood draw and blood pressure check. If my BP remains high, I start on meds. MY blood pressure has only gone up in the past 6 months, it was always 128/80.

Feck.

I’m 40. I’m 20 pounds overweight, smoke three packs a week and drink about 30 beers a week. I know it’s excessive, but I work out regularly and hike about 4 miles a week. My cholesterol is the envy of most everyone. I thought I could get away with this lifestyle for another 20 years, but NO, my doc wants me to start BP meds if I’m still up when I come in on Tuesday.

Shit.

I lived a lifestyle in my teens and 20’s where none of us expected to make it to our 30th birthday. Car wreck, drug-induced heart attack, shot by a jealous husband - the future wasn’t an option. I always felt virtuous with a good diet and excerise, but here I am. 40 and life to go.

So I’m 40, I’m single, my face always looks like I “got some sun yesterday”, I need to stop smoking, cut back on drinking (duh) exercise even more and all the stuff I’ve always said I’d do but haven’t.

The idea of taking daily medication to achieve physiological normalicy really grates, because even with all of my drug and alcohol abuse, the idea of doing a drug because you NEEDED IT ON A DAILY BASIS was a sign of weakness and addiction. You might drink like a fish and snort powders, but the day you felt like you NEEDED the drug, it was time to pull back on the reins and I always did.

So yeah, I need to and will make changes. But it pisses me off.

Fuck

Whistlepig

I’ve reached maximum length, slight disclaimer to follow.

2

Ok, I’ll have to scratch “become alchoholic by 16” and “smoke 8 packs of unfiltered Russian cigarettes” off my lifetime achievement hopes.

3

Old age is not for the weak - I’ll drink to that! :wink:

[sub]p.s. - Smiley - you may wish to avoid sounding like a twit[/sub]

4

Now that’s what I call irony.

5

now, was that nice?

6

No, it was cruel.

I’m going to cry now :slight_smile: .

7

Dude, that’s why you should just never go to doctors. They try to guilt you into doing healthy stuff. Heck, I’m only 23, and I get the lectures from doctors about smoking, health, etc. Since it’s not a crisis-level event yet, I don’t care. I’m gonna smoke all I want, drink all I want, and die by 50. Blaze 'o glory.

BTW, if you smoke, you already know what it’s like to need a drug, don’t you?

Anyway, cheer up dude. It doesn’t sound you’re in that bad of a shape. 20 lbs overweight is nothing. You’re active, so you have that going for ya. Go ahead and take the meds, I suppose, as long as they don’t interfere with drinking craploads of alcohol. In your place, I’d just take the meds, but change nothing about my lifestyle at all.

It’s sounds like you’ve had a pretty cool life man, age doesn’t have to change that. Just keep on being cool.

8

Ah, to be young and immortal again…

Remember “Live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse”?

Young-uns: your time will, believe it or not, come. You will someday be told to start behaving yourselves, and realize, that this time it’s serious. In the meantime, enjoy! :wink:

9

I always pictured getting old as being one of those things that always happened to someone else. :slight_smile:

10

That’s what ya get for living like a rodent!!
[sub]For those not in the know, “whistlepig” is Midwestern slang for a groundhog/woodchuck, a member of the rodent family.[/sub]

11

Hey, when you were in your 20’s you only expected to last another 10 years and now you are 40. Look at it this way, you are already 10 years in the black and ahead of the game. You have already dodged the grim reaper for an additional 10 years.:wink:

12

Wow, whistlepig, are you my evil twin?
Just wanted to let you know ~ I’ve got a copy of Dr. Nase’s book on rosacea. Before you go out and buy one, if you wanna, I can let you know what all it says. Right now, I’m trying the massive-doses-of-vitamin-C-and-flax-oil thing, but next spring I’m probably gonna get some of these spider veins lasered. :wink:

13

Exercising while your still smoking and drinking is like going to starbucks and ordering a non-fat milk latte with whip cream. You can lie to yourself all you want that your healthy, but your just canceling out all that good exercise you do.

And if you think you don’t need beer or smoking because your not addicted to it… try quitting them cold turkey for a week. Then you’ll see what addiction is.

14

Everything past 30 is gravy…
“We all shine on…”

15

Ignore that vegan (macabresoul) over me, I am going to play devils advocate but hey why should you change the habbit of a lifetime, as someone pointed out you already had an additional decade to what you expected. You already know that you wont life forever so why bend over only to enjoy 20 additional years that you hate?