does everyone fall apart at 40?

[wanda2010]

Despite all the above, none of us are ready/willing to give up biking/running/whatever though are we?

For me reading glasses are a recent annoyance, as is arthritis in my right shoulder. I put my recent thought to speech and memory problems down to peri-menopause but am relaxed about that now. Am finally starting to take better care of myself as I aim to continue running and biking til the bitter end or the nursing home, whichever comes first .

 

[dellzeqq]

I like the deterioration, I really do. It's a whole bunch of new sensations. And I'm really liking my mental deterioration as well. It was always a pain in the rear remembering things that I can happily forget. If only I could remember what I'm supposed to be forgetting.

 

[ColinJ]

I'm still 'getting over' the carbon monoxide posioning I had back in September of this year - that affects my speech to a small degree. My OH notices it the most, I can't seem to say words correctly anymore (or it is the wrong word completely) and have to really concentrate of pronouncing words - assuming I can actually get the words from thought to saying which seemed to be the process that was affected the most for me.

Wow, that really sounds like me ...

The poisoning has left its mark on me. For months afterwards I was slurring and mixing up my words. My sister asked me if I was drunk when I rang her to tell her what had happened because she couldn't make sense of what I was saying. I now suffer from severe motion sickness. I have to double-check everything I type because phantom and rhyming words appear without me meaning to put them there. For a few months, I wasn't confident that I knew the names of my family members. Even now, I struggle with the names of some forum members that I've met on several occasions. I can't concentrate for long periods of time. I feel as though I have a permanent hangover. I gave up drinking for over a year and it didn't go away, so it's definitely not just due to my beer intake!

Colin, you old crock !
You'll still get around the SITD and the SoM when you get over your current health problems !

Definitely!

Despite all the above, none of us are ready/willing to give up biking/running/whatever though are we?

I'm not!

I like the deterioration, I really do. It's a whole bunch of new sensations. And I'm really liking my mental deterioration as well. It was always a pain in the rear remembering things that I can happily forget.

I have only one thing to say to that - 4867715! That is the frame number of the bicycle which I had stolen from me in 1968/9. A totally useless piece of information which seems to have survived all attempts to eradicate it from my memory.

But then I now have totally embarrassing lapses of memory like doing a forum ride with Christopher and taking ages to realise that the reason he looked familiar was that he was the same Christopher who had previously called himself Frustruck and had done another forum ride with me a year or so earlier!

 

[smokeysmoo]

OMG! I hit 40 in early January, but no-one warned me about an M.O.T.

I'd have taken this year more seriously if I'd known

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Wow, that really sounds like me ...

I wonder if it is a common problem with CO posioning then? My mind seems fine and I can think fast, clear replies and that side of things seems just as it was before but I can't speak clearly. I was left wondering at A&E if the conversation with the staff would have been quicker and easier if I could have written it down than try repeatedly to say something and fail.
http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/carbon-monoxide-posioning-confirmed-case-in-me-last-night.111099/

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!

 

[lulubel]

My asthma has deteriorated as I got older, instead of growing out of childhood asthma (since birth), it got much worse (I've been resuscitated twice over the years because of it). Also I can't take some asthma meds - they cause heart issues in me, and I can't have NSAIDs at all or have any dairy in my diet either (all relating to my asthma). Currently I have 3 inhalers and 4 set of tablets for it that I take each and every day, and then there are some more tablets than I have on standby. I have managed to come off 2 lots of medication whilst I was on the aborted RTW, and so far not gone back on them - not sure I will get through the winter without having to return to one of them though. My steriod inhalers (Clenil 250mcg) is at twice the level it should be but the alternative is oral steriods and generally my GP's have prefered me to stay on inhaled steriods rather than take the oral ones even if my dosage is too high (and has been for 10 years or so). I was seen at the asthma section of my local hospital (prior to me going off to try a RTW) and basically they changed a couple of meds and said there was little else they could do except put me on oral steriods permanately (not great and trying hard to avoid, but need them when ill/injured because I don't produce enough natural coritisol) or they would give me a nebuliser for home use - something I really do not want. I manage my asthma by staying fit and avoiding its triggers, so no perfume, make-up, scented candles, changes in washing powder, any smellies, varnish, paint, etc.

My asthma is bad enough to cause major concerns when I have had to have surgery - the last op required 2 senior registrars in attendance.

As a rule my last GP pretty much took my word for it when I was ill, the receptionists knew if I rang up and said it was urgent, I meant it and I would be able to tell my GP which antibiotics were needed and if I needed to take oral steriods etc, but given I have only met my GP once so far (to get a my repeat prescription set up) I don't yet have that relationship that I had with my old village practice and we now live 250 miles away from where we used to before the aborted RTW. I tend to avoid taking antibiotics unless whatever I have is affecting my asthma.

That sounds tough. I keep mine under control (under control enough, as long as I don't get ill) with meds that are available over the counter here in Spain, and always keep an emergency box of steroid tablets in the kitchen drawer "just in case". I was also born with asthma and didn't grow out of it, for which I blame all of my family (except one grandfather) for smoking around me when I was a baby, and continuing to smoke even after I'd been diagnosed at 18 months. My mother still smokes. It's taken me a long time to admit that I wasn't given much of a chance to grow out of asthma.

I've been in hospital a few times, but never had any operations (so don't know what level of risk I would be for anaesthesia) and fortunately have never reached the point of having to be resuscitated. The idiot specialist who was in charge of my care last time I was in hospital told my mother my condition was life-threatening, though.

When you're asthmatic (or have any long term illness) I think having a good relationship with a medical professional is so important. I had that with the asthma nurse at my last practice before I moved to Spain - her adult daughter was asthmatic, so she'd made it her business to really know her stuff, and she was very aware that the patient has to be involved in decisions about how their illness is managed. I did have a very bad experience once with an asthma nurse when I changed to a new practice. She did the usual "asthma tests", told me the results showed I wasn't asthmatic, and dismissively said that I'd "probably grown out of it". I'm not sure what happened because there was another practice in town, so after I complained about her, I never went back.

My current doctor is a Dutch, pot-smoking, enthusiastic mountain biker, and he's great. I have no doubt that, if my asthma ever becomes an issue, we'll work out how to deal with it between us, and he won't bother prescribing any drugs I'm not happy to take because he knows perfectly well I wouldn't even pick up the prescription!

 

[Alun]

"If I'd known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself." — Eubie Blake.
Although I first heard it in a song by Waylon Jennings.

 

[lulubel]

Oh, another asthma related question.

I noticed your posts in the touring forum about touring in (what I would consider) pretty extreme conditions. How do your lungs cope with the cold air? Mine don't like it at all.

 

[Alun]

I get used to cold air after a few minutes, but going back into a warm room sets my asthma off every time.

 

[mrandmrspoves]

I am nearer 50 than 40 and generally my health has improved over the last 20 years. I used to be a severe asthmatic but decided to give it up. I used to be hugely lardiferous with severe attacks of lardosity (Words I invented to say fat and gaining even more weight despite being obese already!) I used to be a couch potato - but gave that up as well.

To be serious for a few seconds - I think describing your asthma as moderate SatNav is a bit of an understatement. As you have had life threatening attacks your new GP should have this flagged on their system so if you call and say you have an asthma problem you should get the same prompt attention you are used to. (You seem to have the right attitude though - be enabled by your abilities - not disabled by your disabilities!)

I have been extremely lucky with my asthma - it has nearly killed me twice and on one occasion when I called the GP out in the night he was so concerned he dragged me to his car and drove me straight to A&E himself.....considering I lived less than 3 miles from the hospital I guess he thought I was more ill than I felt! (often the case once your oxygen level drops far enough.
I was one of the first people to be put on Singulair (Montelukast) and for me it was truly miraculous. About an hour after taking my first tablet my lungs started to feel different as if bits of cotton wool were being removed from them. I haven't looked back since....over the last 15 years I have steadily reduced all my asthma meds and now just take a steroid inhaler and the occasional puff of Salbutamol. I have to be careful if I get a chest infection - but apart from that I could almost forget that I am asthmatic.
I do realise that my current asthma status may not be permanent and my symptoms could all return tomorrow - such is asthma's unpredictable nature.

Once I was off the steroid tablets, it made it easier to lose weight and to exercise - which also helped the asthma improve further...
I now weigh 5 stone less than I did in my 30's and feel much better for it too.

Currently just my shoulders that are causing me grief (calcific tendonitis and impingement syndrome) and I hope the Awful Paedic (No Jimmy Saville jokes please!) Surgeon will have some good news when I see him on New Years Eve. They are so painful that good news at the moment would probably be we will have you in and operate on them.

As others have said, I wouldn't want to give up cycling.......which is why I had to resort to buying a bent recently.

As we cycled along the promenade on Sunday while cycling a 40 + mile route, one of my friends pointed out that bicycles were not allowed on the promenade - my reply was that I was not on a bicycle.....I was on my disability scooter!

For all of you struggling with your health - may I be one of the first to wish you better health in the coming year!

 

[Peteaud]

I am 45 next year, and much much fitter now than since my teens.

As for doctors, i dont go to them.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Oh, another asthma related question.

I noticed your posts in the touring forum about touring in (what I would consider) pretty extreme conditions. How do your lungs cope with the cold air? Mine don't like it at all.

I am used to the cold, don't generally have the heating on even during the winter and am rarely known for shutting windows. the joke about do you live in a barn and open doors, sort of applies - it is a converted stable block and we never shut windows. I consider closing the bedroom window if it gets down to -10C, but the truth is, out an about in the countryside, I am far less allergic to what is around me than in a house/city etc and sleep better in a cold tent with a down sleeping bag and down filled mat, than I do in a house in a bed. for me the worst thing I can do is stay in a hotel/B&B. I have to have windows open, have to stay away from smellies. I also don't worry about how slow I am and I know when to say we have to stay put for the day. There are several days in my journal where the entry just says "today did not happen" or something similar. That invariably means I was too exhausted and my reduced adreanal gland issues or my asthma had kicked in and we stayed put to play it safe.
@mrandmrspoves
Regretfully, singulair is one of the meds I am going to have to see my GP about. some of the generic versions contain a variant of lactose in it that I am very allergic to and apparently Singular comes off patent at the end of this month and my prescription says 'monetlukast' rather than 'singulair'. the brand singulair seems OK, as does some of the generic ones, but I have very recently reacted badly to the italian generic montelukast - mild anaphalatic shock from the dairy in it! Why anyone would put a dairy product in asthma medication is beyond me, but there we go. Where we go from here is another matter, I have actually yet to meet my new GP, (when I saw the Dr to get my repeats, it was a locuum, so they did what I asked and nothing more!).

Abroad on tour, it depended on where I was as to what I did to obtain my meds. In Scandinavia I simply paid to see a private dr who wrote a private prescription for what I asked, no questions asked - having suffered from it all my life and having undertaken an advanced medical training course for those going far from help (so can do sutures, canuala, IV antibiotics etc) I am pretty literate on the matter to say the least. Other countries we just asked for what we wanted at the pharmacy and purchased it... I rarely had problems.

I realised in my early 20's after the last rescuitation that I had to take matters into my own hands, stay fit and keep the weight off - luckily for me with a love of the mountains, staying fit has never been much of an issues and since the coritisol issues from too much inhaled steriods, ironically keeping weight on is the issue rather than loosing it. I did drop to a UK size 2 before being diagnosed, though ironically still weighed 54kg and was not classed as underweight! I am currently holding around 70-71kg and at 5'6" am a UK size 10-12. In lycra is shows it is closer to the 10 than the 12!

 

[summerdays]

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 look at my siblings, ok I carry a few extra pounds than I would like but not the amounts they all carry.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I look at my siblings, ok I carry a few extra pounds than I would like but not the amounts they all carry.

same for all my siblings (3 of them in this country that I am related to ) and all of my parents - mother and 3 father's.
I grew up with a fear of fat (anorexic teenager) still can't cope with it, and apparently got my asthma from my father (as well as both parents smoking, but after the 1st divorce my mother was told categorically that she was killing me and it was enough for her to quit). My love of the outdoors/hiking/mountaineering also came from my real father, but some how I ended up moving motorbikes to bikes - my real father, one of my brother, both uncles, grandfather and 2nd step father all are bikers. one of my brothers was a bike courier in London for a while, but moved back to motorbikes, otherwise I am the only cyclist in my family. I suspect my real father being having an alcohol and drug habit probably did not help my early years either!

 

[biggs682]

i scrolled down the page , got hear but cant remember what the question was !

who said 40 was old !