You see the pictures of twins where one suffers chronic pain and the other does not? There is a very noticeable difference in their appearance.

I know I look a lot older now then I did 3 years ago. I can see it in pictures, no doubt about it. Much more change than you would expect going from 45 to 48.

To add icing to the cake, Lamictal can cause hair thining yay, lucky me...

Who was it that said "Gettin' old ain't for sissies!"?

I can so totally believe that article. I know sometimes I feel at least 20 years older...

My mother and my mother in law are the same age. My mother smokes, lives a sedentary lifestyle... She uses a cane to walk. She is in very poor health.

My mother in law has never smoked, plays tennis - even though she has had both knees replaced, and goes all over the place - she is on a quilting retreat as we speak! She says "when the Good Lord is ready to call me home, He'll have to find me out on the interstate somplace!"

So, I think what I was getting at, pain takes its toll on us - for sure. I'm just trying to figure out a way that it doesn't win!

Interesting topic of conversation here, Gwennie!

My parents feel younger than I do!

i'm 62 but extreemly good lucking, smart, sexy, and a bon vivant, but all humility aside, i walk like a 162 year old. i look like one of those guys who slumps over and needs a cane. i used to run 10 miles a day for years, play tennis, swim 1/2 mile everyday, and now i can't even walk 50 yards without extreem pain. when we go to san diego, i can't walk on the beach and when we go to disneyland, i need a motorized wheel chair. it is depressing as hell. i walk like 162 year old and feel like one and finally look like one. i've gained weight also. sometimes i feel like, to hell with it. pain or no pain, i'm going to try to pick up my racket and try to hit the old tennis ball around. i forgot what it was like to be active. even my sex life has gotten bad. no desire, my unit needs help to function even though i take hormone replocements. i wish i had the desire, but for reasons unknown i don't know why that is leaving. this is what really depresses me. it upsets my wife also, but she is at least somewhat understanding, at least i think she does not have an 18 year old around when i am at work. how do you cope with these problems? is it the meds, i think the 4 back surgeries have played havoc with my sex life, ie nerve damage etc
well good luck and if you have any suggestions please post
jon

Have you talked to your doc about viagra?

it is not the mechanics so far it is the desire that is missing. the whole playboy mansion could be my home and i would feel as much desire as if i was locked into a closet with liver, est nada
juanito

Me comprhendo lacko desiro...It's disgusting to just not care enough to want to.

Myself I just hope that it is the phase, we have one son in his Sophomore year of Engineering, fighting to keep his grades above his scholarship needs. TWO houses to take care of, a 17 year Junior in Highschool who gets straight A's in EVERYTHING and all he does is talk about Lacrosse. Sounds great, but it all is emotional overload for both me and my wife with work and all.

I just hope that once we get past the second kid moving out, hey, we might get bored and think about...it again I have read it is quite common to rediscover it once the kiddies move out!

As for the old age, I walked into work yesterday and I guy I have not seen in months looked at me and asked me what I was angry about when I said Hi! I said," Why, what do you mean"? He proceeded to say I just looked like I was angry and mad about something. I said, "No, I hurt and I'm worn out". Too much stuff going on right now indeed. I hate the fact that I am not the "nice guy" I used to be. I know he is in here, somewhere...I suspect he is hiding from the angry me...who looks and feels OLD.

I'm a 36 year old, once very active woman. I feel like I'm in my 70s, actually I've been told I have the neck and knees of someone in their 70s or 80s. My 65 year old mother has more "get up and go" than I do!! I don't know where she gets it from, I certainly can't keep up with her, lol. I used to run everyday, I miss it. I miss participating in sports at work. I miss participating in my mixed martial arts club (not like UFC, but instructed by black belts in various forms of martial arts) I miss my athletic body. I miss being able to go for a 15 minute gorcery shopping trip without being slumped over the cart by the end of it!! I know I've aged considerably in my looks in the past 3 years. A co-worker saw a picture a few weeks ago of me taken 4 years ago, and he said "Wow, how long ago was that, you look so young!!" That definitely put a damper on my day. I also miss having an active sex drive. My boyfriend misses that, too, lol. I know he can't help feeling it's partially him, which makes me feel worse. Some medications have that affect though, especially anti-depressants, I know that is my culprit, but being in constant pain certainly takes it's toll as well.

who said "Old Age Ain't fer Sissies," and she wasn't just a-whistlin' Dixie either. So, I guess I'm not exaggerating when I say I feel like I'm 90 years old? I'm 55. I was always fairly active, worked out at the gym, cut firewood with my brother (including running a chain saw and splitting wood with a big splitting maul), gardened, did a couple of breast cancer 3Day walks (20 miles a day for 3 days), etc. Libido? Hah! Not that I don't have the desire, I'm just afraid I wouldn't be flexible enough or be able to handle the pain. It's a good thing I'm a spinster.

Linda

I believe there are three different type of people that you can pick out in a crowd and recognize what they are dealing with:

1- Smokers. There is always a drawn yellow look to those that have been smoking a long time. I guess I would not have noticed all of that, except for the fact that my wife , being a Respiratory Therapist as well as a Pulmonary Nurse, I have seen some of the horrors of what smoking can do to a person
2- Cancer Patients. Its that sollen drawn look. Its just about impossible not to tell
3- Those living with Chronic Pain. The EYES.

Any three of the above will age you beyond your years.

When I pass a mirror, I wonder, who's that old ba$tard!!!
Good luck, Jim

My daughter and I used to be mistaken all of the time for sisters. It used to really pi** her off Not any more Now, by the time I get home from work the lines in my face look like the Grand Canyon, old and wrinkled. When I look in a mirror I see my mother looking back at me, as she was when she passed away at the age of 76, and I'm nowhere close to that, LOL. Oh well, I'm waiting for a brain transplant into a 18yr old body

Maggie