That practice really, really, effing annoys me - I am scrupulously truthful in relating how much I drink (or don’t, as sometimes I just don’t bother for long periods) and having someone automatically assume I am lying really brings out my rage-monster. And you can’t even complain about it, because that’s seen as “proof” you’re in “denial”
Sorry for the digression, pet peeve of mine.
Emergency doctors have the backup to test the actual level. From my experience I’d say about 30% of people are less than scrupulously honest about their consumption. I cannot talk for others.
Getting better at sex (endurance) was a surprise. I also forget I am old; I wasn’t anticipating that.
Aside from that it’s been pretty much what I expected.
Sorry. It should perhaps be clarified that 30% is for people who end up in the ER for some reason, often related to alcohol, for whom a decision to measure the level is made. That is a different population than a RIDE program. I don’t think anyone should automatically assume a lie. But I think it is prudent to be skeptical in the case of alcohol based on my experiences. I don’t have a problem with drunks not driving. In fact, if the limits were lowered I’d be okay with that. Sorry, back to the pertinent thread.
I’ve come to the conclusion I’m not losing my hair, it’s just migrating 
I’ve lost two of my favorite sleeping positions. (No need for me to describe: TMI. Just…bummer!)
I’m 61 and, for the most part, fairly fortunate. From a physical fitness pov I’ve never been an avid sports guy but I have been an enthusiastic bike commuter and recreational performance cyclist (if that makes any sense) and walker.
So the main thing for me is I still ride a lot (30 - 35 km every couple of days with a climb of Mount Royal (Montrealers will know what I’m talking about)) except now I’m probably about 30 % slower with maybe a 20 % range reduction.
Also mystery pains in random parts of the body as well as degrading vision.
But if there’s a graph of average age-related degradation I’m probably above average, though I also recognize that I was given good genes.
One just came up today, nothing to do with health. My youngest daughter is visiting with my grandson (10 months) and I suddenly realized that she and her sister are both aunts. I always thought of aunts as old people, not people whose diapers I changed.
Since we aren’t just talking about dying:
When I was about 21, I noticed that my eyesight was not perfect anymore. I didn’t know shit, and my mother sent me along to a specialist, who got all angry at me and told me there was nothing wrong.
So I was recounting this story to one of my school friends, and he was enormously relieved. He too had noticed that his eyesight was not perfect anymore, and he too had no idea what it meant.
Not like my younger sibling. As she explained to me, stuff like that didn’t worry her, because she just watched what happened to me 5-10 years ahead of her, and expected it when it came.
Loss of cartilage.
I’m 66 and still ride as much as when I was younger. I got into cycling in a big way about 25 years ago. Typical ride for me being 25-30 miles. I’m probably not quite as fast as before, but some of that is because I was distracted the last time I bought new tires and let them sell me some with a deep tread. That may reduce flats but it also reduces speed. And when I do get flats, they’re a royal bitch to remove from the wheel. Anyway, it may take me 3 hours where I used to take 2 and a half, but I still ride as far. And do the same steep hills.
O my goodness. You’re supposed to use mouthwash.
72 y.o. here. And the tinnitus is a grinding, day-in-day out annoyance that can make you crazy. It is sooo sneaky, started with a little background hissing and now has escalated to the cicada Greek chorus. It means I’m now that stereotypical geezerette that turns up the TV too loud and who’s always saying “Huh?” when people talk to me.
I never was into loud rock concerts and the noisiest machinery I ever used was a lawn mower. Just genetically lucky I guess.
That’s impressive. I am in my 50s and trying to get back into cycling. But even a few miles leaves me quite tired and sore.
I’m in my fifties and there has been some physical decline for sure. I mean, I knew it would happen, but it’s still a challenge. My knees aren’t great and my flexibility is poor; so intense sports are out of the question. Even walking can be tough. I am looking into some physical therapy or training.
But mentally I am fine, as those who read my well-crafted posts here will attest. Financially, things are easier with only one kid in the house, rather than three. They eat a lot!
The sex drive is still robust.
So, all in all, I am happier than I was ten or twenty years ago; even though I don’t play basketball.
I’ve got old man issues, like having bad feet that need orthotics and ache when I walk long distances. That’s surprising in detail but not surprising as I age.
What is surprising to me is I’m 18 months shy of 60 years old, and I still have most of my hair (receded but not that much) and it still has nearly no gray, just some almost invisible flecks on my temples.
I always had it in my mind that I’d go bald eventually just owing to the family tree but never really saw much sign of it. By 45 or so I was starting to think I’d gotten lucky. Now, at 47, when my hair is dry it looks full enough but, coming out of the shower, I can clearly see the top of my scalp about a hands-width wide. Feels like it happened within about a two or three month span.
Although, compared to when my father started balding, I suppose I’m still lucky enough to still pull off a (mostly, sorta) full head of hair for as long as I can.
I feel just the opposite. I expected a gradual decline, but instead have experienced punctuated equilibrium.
In college one of my knees started acting up. It gets better and worse, but I haven’t been able to ride a bicycle more than EXTREMELY casually ever since.
I’ve never “watched my weight”. It’s always been pretty stable. When I had a child, I gained a lot of weight. Never lost it. I gained a lot more weight with the second child. Still carrying that. And having kids made my hair fall out, and be shorter and thinner. And it made my breasts sag.
When my children were young I had some nasty flu-like bug that was going around the office. I had HORRIBLE heartburn. I got over the bug, but I’ve had issues with acid reflux ever since.
A couple of years ago my foot suddenly started hurting. It’s gotten a little better, but I’ve had issues with it ever since. Like, literally, it was completely fine, and I woke up one day and it was a little “off”, and I climbed the Eiffle tower, and it’s hurt ever since.
Recently, I’ve started having issues with one eye. I’ve seen my doctor and 3 eye doctors, and no one has a good diagnosis (they say it’s from vitreous detachment, but it’s not. I had that a few years ago, and this looks and feels completely different. Obviously not in a way I can articulate clearly to my doctors, but I’m certain it’s something else. And it’s driving me up the freaking wall.
I second you on that. I remember when my toddler son fell off the couch and cut his head on a little toy. I called the doctor, described the wound VERY carefully, with precise measurements, and he brushed me off, saying “head wounds usually heal up fine.” A while later when I took the kid in for a routine thing, and there was still a huge scab and a really minor amount of pus, the doctor looked at at and chided me for not having taken the kid to get stitches. Because it was so large a cut.
I literally measured the cut and told him exactly how large it was. And I’m sure he just mentally divided everything in half. #%^$#%^
At least, a few years later when my daughter had a similar cut on her forehead, I insisted on getting a referral to the ER for stitches. The doctor poo-poo’d that, too, but she came home with 8 little stitches. My son’s ugly scar won’t show until he goes bald, and will never mar his face.
When I was a younger man, when I was done peeing, l was done peeing. That sphincter slammed shut like a bank vault door, nothing getting out.
Now I find it to be more of a worn garden hose valve, you try to shut it off but it still keeps dripping.
I knew I had finally grown up when I got excited about getting socks for Christmas (admittedly, they were 100% wool at a time I worked outside in the winter, but still…)
I know I’ve started getting old because I recently got excited about getting compression socks (I stand up all day at work). But in a nod to my inner child I got pretty ones