Thread: Getting older

Originally Posted by Glider

Here's an idea. Find a person under 30 yo and bet them $10 that you can close your eyes and stand on one leg longer than they can. . . .

The longest I can go for is about 5 seconds.

SWMBO has an unusual form of vertigo whereby if she tries this more than a couple of times she will vomit.
The other thing that triggers vomiting is while blindfolded having a small stream of warm air played across either ear.

Mum is 93 and in a dementia care facility but according to the nurse she has the facility record for longest time being able to stand on one leg (no eyes closed and hanging on to a walking frame)

Live fast, die young and have a good looking corpse.

Originally Posted by BobL

The other thing that triggers vomiting is while blindfolded having a small stream of warm air played across either ear.

Then don't do that !?

Originally Posted by damian

Then don't do that !?

Its not me - it's a standard vertigo test that she underwent during one of the testing sessions she underwent a few months back.
BTW they still have no idea what is causing the vertigo.
She's had it on-off for more than 20 months during which there have been bouts of several months long of not being able to drive.
I must have taken her to a dozen different physics, docs etc during that time
She went on the Ghan in Oct but was doped up to the eyeballs in anti nausea meds the whole time.
When she got back it took her a week to sleep the off.

FWIW speaking (typing?) as someone who has been immersed in the medical system for 10 years now it seems as the older doctors are retiring it's becoming increasingly difficult to find someone with a clue.

I thought initially that this was the usual queenslanditis, but report from friends indicate it's a malaise across the country.

I actually had a urologist suggest to me removing my bladder and using a permanent external bag to address my pain in that area.

I am certain most doctors mean well but the stupidity is stunning and getting too common. One by one the great doctors I've had the services of are retiring and it seems really difficult to find replacements.

I lost 2' of bowel and a couple of organs a few years back unnecessarily, and I suspect the dog's breakfast that surgeon made of me brought on my strokes. You could never prove it of course...

I hope very much she gets a diagnosis

my old ? 72 year body has been given me the gripes for a while so off to the doc, full medical
Then called into his office, "I hate you, you healthy bugga, theres a lot of people would give their right arm for your body." YAH Iam going to be rich
Only concern was low vitamin D. Curious as I spent 70% of the day outside, but a bottle of quality pills has picked me up amazingly.
How stupid can chemist assistants be. I go in and ask
"my doc has requested I get a bottle of Ostilim vitamin D. tablets."
"yes sir, may I ask why?"
"Yes you may ask but I as its none of your business then no is the answer." (I can be a surly bast ard when pushed)
" Oh, may I suggest you have these, instead they are cheaper and have vitamin C as well."
" Have I asked for anything with C in it?, then why would I want it. If its cheaper than the quality cannot be as good."
" Humph, (snotty nosed bit ch) very well then".
"If my doc has requested I get a specific item, and he is highly qualified, then why should I buy an inferior product at your suggestion with your far lesser qualifications."
I have also been finding it difficult bending over to cut my right foot toenails, left foot is fine. Hmm thinks me so off to physio I troddle and the cheeky sassy young thing says... "Tony, your 70+ years, your getting old, there are some things you may help with" "pigs " says me, just show me some exercises to do.
Man its been great, getting into an exercising frame of mind is hard, but I do enjoy her pressing on my butt muscles.

So while being a healthy 72 years old, fitness still has its plce.

I have a T shirt that reads in fact I think this will become my signature...

Dont off older people. At our age the term Life in Prison is not a deterrent

I wouldn't be so dismissive of pharmacists although I'll agree that some of the assistants re pretty flakey.

My ex-phrmacist MIL diagnosed my Shingles (before I even had any blisters) over the phone after a raft of doctors could not work out why I was getting these debilitating stomach aches. If you end up seeing several different doctors/specialists and they all prescribe something, pharmacists are also the ones looking at all your scripts and need to know if any are going to counteract each other.

There's no doubt that some pharmacies are in business to flog all manner of useless crap but I still rate my pharmacist pretty high up there in terms of medical trust.

Speaking of shingles, the normal shingles vaccinations are free for over 70’s, however it’s a live virus and not suitable for some with certain blood conditions (me). On a recent visit to the doctor he tells me a a new one has been recently approved that is suitable for me but it’s two injections six months apart at a cost of $282 each.

I had a couple of bouts of shingles in the past and at the time would have gladly paid that to be rid of them. I did get $50 back from the health fund which helped.

Yes. I read about the new shingles shots. They are said to be highly effective.

As for vitamin D, you buggers are getting fleeced... Buy these: Healthy Origins Vitamin D3 10,000 IU (Non-GMO), 360 Softgels

One a week of these will put some kick in your step.

While you're at it, consider B12... specifically cyanocobalamin.... I'd wager 98% of you are deficient. As we age, our guts/bugs just process it properly and if diabetic, at all! Nature's Own Vitamin B12 1000mcg

The B12 will really put a rocket in you. Talk to the doctor, she can give you a fat needle of pure B12. Excess is saved in your liver for 12 months

I am on the fortunate end of the health spectrum....I think. At this tender stage of my life I am on no prescribed medication and never have been, which does not necessarily mean I have no health issues: Just nothing that would benefit from increasing the bottom line of the pharmaceutical companies. However, at the insistence of SWMBO, I did visit a very well regarded herbalist, who is one of the founders of Medi Herb, a few months back. As it happened I had very recently had a raft of blood tests taken and they all came up within range. All good except that the herbalist noted that my vitamin B was at the very bottom of the range and arguably not enough.

The consequence of this was that he recommended I take Vitamin B12. I would very much like to tell you that it has been of enormous benefit. I can't do that as I have noticed no difference whatsoever. Having said that I am not sure how I would realistically evaluate the supplement. I continue to take one tablet a day as I have them and I am now on the second bottle of tablets (with another two bottles in reserve).

The reason could be my low, but "in range," Vitamin B reading was sufficient after all.

A little more reading here:

Vitamin B12 - Consumer (nih.gov)

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I am on the fortunate end of the health spectrum....I think. At this tender stage of my life I am on no prescribed medication

Me too, however choosing the right parents might have helped. My last stay in hospital was when I was born. touch wood (taps head). I spent my early professional years working as an industrial chemist in the development lab of a drug company and later establishing a lab and QA methods/assays for a major manufacturer of vitamins and galenicals (herbal medicines). In the early 70s, they had no quality checks, zero. The major pharma companies also had little in the way of bio-availability studies for their tablets either.

Significant vitamin deficiencies need treatment but a healthy diet, exercise and limited frequent exposure to the sun should suffice unless an existing morbidity interferes with absorbtion of the remedies. Most vitamins end in the sewerage system. More importantly, some can have serious side effects such as B12.

Any googled questions will yield serious answers if you add .gov .edu after the question and ignore any ads which pop up in the answers.

mick

My vitamin D levels are screwed by my Sarcoidosis. Vit D is just the precursor of other necessary
chemicals required by the body some of which are used for Ca metabolism. My bloods show I’m constantly Vit D deficient. Trouble is the Sarcoidosis makes the same followup chemicals as VitD which makes me hypercalcemic - too much Ca in the blood which can lead to severe heart probs. If it gets bad enough you have to regular blood transfusion replacements. The specialist recommended I eat a low Ca diet and stay out of the sun. But the latter dropped my Vit D levels even further that this interfered with other things like skin health. So the doc upped my cortisone and hydroxychloroquine and put me on 1000 mg of Vit D a day. So now my blood VitD is nearly normal and my blood Ca went down! Not quite where it should be but better than before. Can’t stay in sun too long cos hydroxychloroquine makes you sun sensitive- get very tired (like heat stroke) and sunburn easily. Talk about a circus!

Originally Posted by Glider

Significant vitamin deficiencies need treatment but a healthy diet, exercise and limited frequent exposure to the sun should suffice unless an existing morbidity interferes with absorbtion of the remedies. Most vitamins end in the sewerage system. More importantly, some can have serious side effects such as B12.

Any googled questions will yield serious answers if you add .gov .edu after the question and ignore any ads which pop up in the answers.

mick

Thanks Mick

Always good to hear from people with direct involvement in an industry.

I googled your recommendation and came up with this:

Vitamin B12 | Nutrient Reference Values (nrv.gov.au)

Are there others to which you could directly link?

The statement of yours above regarding side effects pricked my interest as it seemed to fly in the face of much of the publicised data that excess B12 was not an area of concern. I appreciate that what is published and the truth are not necessarily the same! Monsanto will tell you Roundup is benign, just to quote one example.

Regards
Paul

BobL: At least you won't get the covid

I take 2 1/2 grams of magnesium a day and 2 1000iu of vit D along with all the other gumph.

Note I took coloidal silica for years for my nails. It thickened my nails and hair a lot but I got serious bladder problems. A hippie medicine bloke did arm waving on me and identified it as the cause. I stopped a couple of years ago and my bladder is gradually improving. Could be a coincidence but I've not found anything anywhere talking about this problem. It's worth a try if you happen to have that combination. I guess everything has potential consequences.