# Signs of getting older **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 6, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194 "2018-08-06T20:50:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![laurieb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@laurieb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurieb)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/1 "2018-08-06T20:50:43Z")
I’m 32, and noticing some of my first crow’s feet around my eyes. My digestive system also seems to be aging like hell. In my teens and 20s, I could eat almost anything, and felt alright. I’ll eat dinner now, and I’ll end up so heavy and full that I have to crash on the sofa and unbutton my jeans. Anyone else feeling like an old man or lady these days? ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/2 "2018-08-06T21:22:53Z")
I still feel _mostly_ like I did when I was in my 20s, though at 42, I have noticed that all my vices are slowly being stripped away. I used to be able to eat queso by the bucket load. Now it tears apart my insides. And ice cream used to be eaten by the pint. Now I have to be careful or I’m wandering around in a sugar fog. I used to be able to drink wine, but apparently I’ve developed an allergy to tannins and get stuffy every time I drink my favorite red. Oh, and sleep! I used to sleep until noon with no consequences. But if I sleep past 7:30 or 8 now, I get sleep hangover and feel weird and gross the rest of the day. I’ve turned into the person who has to eat by 7 and go to bed by 10:30 or it throws my entire next day out of whack. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/3 "2018-08-06T21:34:54Z")
Two words: reading glasses. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/4 "2018-08-06T21:38:36Z")
Two more words: memory lo… something something. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/5 "2018-08-06T22:00:04Z")
Never trust a fart. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/6 "2018-08-06T22:02:23Z")
Bifocals. Arthritis. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/7 "2018-08-06T22:50:27Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > Two words: reading glasses. Reading glasses, small magnification of distance added to multifocals, higher magnifications added, higher magnifications added. Can’t see without glasses. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/8 "2018-08-06T22:56:08Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Never trust a fart. :eek: Yep. When you cannot trust a fart, it’s over, man. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/9 "2018-08-06T23:16:24Z")
Pain in places I never knew existed. Stiff mornings.If I get any injury it takes four times as long to heal. . I am seriously accident prone so basically I am walking around waiting the next for boo-boo to occur. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/10 "2018-08-06T23:32:04Z")
Trifocals Persistent back pain A suddenly sensitive stomach that was not like that before As **Beckdawrek** noted, a long time to recover from injury… And to allude to another thread, people are always surprised when I tell them how old I am, I’ve always looked younger than I am (I got carded into my 30’s), I tell them, I may not look it, but I sure as hell feel it… ---
**Author:** ![Hurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/11 "2018-08-07T00:22:01Z")
Checking in from the Geezer Department: I pretty much had 60 years of great health. Had a hernia repair in my mid-30s but that was about it. I’ll be 68 in two weeks and had the lower four vertebrae in my neck fused in 2011, made it through (so far) prostate cancer in 2012, had a double hernia fixed in 2013, and now one side has popped again – will be getting that fixed before winter. I had a severe (scary) attack (followed shortly by two more) of what turned out to be diverticulitis in 2015, but I’ve pretty much been able to dodge any more problems since then. I’ve had chronic insomnia for 30 or so years, have been on 'script sleeping pills for 14 years but they’re not that effective anymore, so I’m doing other things to address the problem. And of course the usual things from getting old: Twinges here and there of arthritis, memory problems, and I’ve had high blood pressure for the past ten years or so. But I’m still running my business full-time, I walk 2.5 miles every other day, am trim and I feel good, all things considered. My 50th year class reunion is next month. I’ve never gone to any previous ones and don’t plan to do this one either, but I may go to the “social” at a bar the night before. A classmate contacted me last week about all this, and through him I found out that my best buddy in high school died in 2002. We remained friends for several years after school, last time I saw him was in 1975. Oh well, time flies. “When you have your health, you have everything.” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/12 "2018-08-07T00:48:59Z")
It was bad enough when high school girls started calling me “sir”. Now MDs are starting to do it. My doctor retired. His replacement was younger than me. That took some getting used to. The replacement left. His replacement looks like she just got out of high school. And she calls me “sir”. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Hurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/13 "2018-08-07T01:01:22Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > It was bad enough when high school girls started calling me “sir”. Now MDs are starting to do it. > > My doctor retired. His replacement was younger than me. That took some getting used to. > > The replacement left. His replacement looks like she just got out of high school. And she calls me “sir”. :mad: Most of my lunch friends are in their 70s, 80s, and even my neighbor who is 90. He’s lost a lot of mobility but no senility there, believe it or not. Nearly everywhere else I go, everybody looks “young.” ☹ My doctor is my nephew’s age, and my sister will be a great-grandmother around the end of this month. ---
**Author:** ![blob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blob/32/489_2.png) [@blob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blob)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/14 "2018-08-07T01:11:28Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > It was bad enough when high school girls started calling me “sir”. At some point in time, I became “Mrs” despite not being married. Older people are apparently married… ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/15 "2018-08-07T01:32:27Z")
I tend to ignore all those symptoms mentioned up-thread. I just ain’t buying into the idea of getting older. And I believe it is working. Of course, now, I can’t out run the police. Which I miss. So, I try not to piss them off. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/16 "2018-08-07T02:11:05Z")
Surprisingly few things for a dude in his fifties: I finally ended up getting those magnetic reading glasses ([these guys](https://www.clicmagneticglasses.com)) because I got tired of leaving ten different pairs around the house. For the past few months my knees have been bothering me quite a bit on the turns at the gym. That’s definitely a new thing, and I’m going to stick to straight-ahead running on the treadmill for a while to see if it settles. There has been an uptick in migraines. From once every season to once a week or so. They aren’t very painful though, so I would prefer these lightweight ones every week to the total butt-kickers I had seasonally. ---
**Author:** ![UCBearcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/77aa72/32.png) [@UCBearcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UCBearcats)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/17 "2018-08-07T02:31:25Z")
My erections are not as hard as they once were and the amount of ejaculate I produce is less. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/18 "2018-08-07T02:47:16Z")
Difficulty sitting down. Difficulty getting up. Remembering why you are doing either. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/19 "2018-08-07T03:05:52Z")
Can’t go down a set of steps without a railing. Hard to get out of a chair. Go the bathroom at least once during the night and sometimes not getting back to sleep. Everything takes longer to heal. I banged up my knee about 8 weeks ago and it still hurts. Two of my three children in their fifties. Can’t take air conditioning set at 72 (I am visiting my son). Take 5 pills every morning and 3 every evening. Friends dying. ---
**Author:** ![Hurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecc23a/32.png) [@Hurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hurk)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194/20 "2018-08-07T03:15:01Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Can’t go down a set of steps without a railing. > Hard to get out of a chair. > Go the bathroom at least once during the night and sometimes not getting back to sleep. > Everything takes longer to heal. I banged up my knee about 8 weeks ago and it still hurts. > Two of my three children in their fifties. > Can’t take air conditioning set at 72 (I am visiting my son). > Take 5 pills every morning and 3 every evening. > Friends dying. “Friends dying.” Yes, I forgot about that. That’s a tough one to handle. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-of-getting-older/819194.md?page=2)