Feel ive 'got old'.......

[Im a BusyBee]

I was poorly 16 months ago, had 10 weeks off work sick, but i feel ive never been the same since. I had my 49th birthday during that time and so much about me and my outlook changed its unbelievable, for instance........the radio station i listened to was trendy now i listen to our local BBC, i only wash my hair twice a wk and can relate to my grandmother saying how she couldnt do anything with her hair the day it washed, rather than washing it everyday. Couldnt eat welldone toast now i only eat it blackened. I now worry for england totally and utterly unnecessary - i could go on and on it really is everything about me. Why is this? im finding somethings about it very frustrating.

[albaqwerty]

I think it's delayed reaction to having been poorly for 10 weeks. Have you been back to your GP and explained these feelings to him/her? I'm not recommending any medication for it, but a right good chat could help wonders.

[Sipowicz]

You get used to it!

[smurfchops]

I do feel that as I get older I moan more (and a few ABers will agree with me on that one, they know me ...) and worry about everything. Not as happy as when I was young and carefree, that's for sure.

[mrs_overall]

I was seriously ill in Sept/October last year and had major emergency surgery. When I came home I found myself just sitting doing nothing for weeks on end. It worried me because I have always been very active and sporty. What worried me most is that I actually enjoyed sitting and doing nothing. I couldn't be bothered to read or watch TV.
As I gradually recovered physically I found it hard to change the way I felt about things, basically I just couldn't be bothered. It would have been very easy to stay in that mindset.
I set myself a simple challenge to do each day, sometimes a mental activity, sometimes physical. As time went on things improved and I am now back (mentally) to where I was before September.
Don't be too hard on yourself - take it slowly. 49 is no age at all!
(Mind you I must be getting older - I had Radio One on and thought "what a load of garbage" and then when I was stuck in traffic behind a caravan, instead of raging out loud, I found myself admiring the caravan. Argh!)

[Sqad]

\\\\I was poorly 16 months ago,\\\

With what medical condition?

Aged 50years old? You shouldn't be feeling "old"

[rowanwitch]

I worry about less of the trivial stuff.... but if you are letting self care stuff slip you may well be depressed not uncommon after a long illness... see your GP 49 isn't old

[Im a BusyBee]

It was a water infection nothing serious but it really knocked me for six at the time. I keep thinking i will start to get 'back to normal' but its not happening yet! My sleep pattern is also erratic, from one extreme to the other just never 'normal'. I wouldnt say im depressed just soooo frustrated!

[mrs_overall]

Sorry, but it sounds like depression to me.
Have a chat with your GP.

[rowanwitch]

Sounds more and more like depression its not always sadness its often more a feeling of not being bothered about anything or general anxiety about everything and can switch between the two...

[Im a BusyBee]

If you knew me you would not say my 'self care stuff is slipping' i just dont wash my hair everyday (which a lot of my friends never have done anyway!).

[Sqad]

This is how I would play it:

Go to your GP and suggest some routine blood tests which might ell give a clue to your condition. (not sure why a water infection would knock you for six and 10 weeks of work)

If the tests show an abnormality....Fine....get it treated, but if all the tests are normal, then we are looking at a psychosomatic disorder like reactive depression at which stage sqad steps back and leaves further management to the "experts."

[rowanwitch]

Ok ... still think you need to get back to your gp just for your own reassurance.... could also be your subconscious trying to make you align to a conditioned idea of what older people do... in which case everytime you find yourself doing something like listening to Granny FM ask yourself is this really where I want to be right now if it feels comfortable fine if not find something else... And don't worry about England...

[NOX]

I have a long standing brain injury and had to have surgery for a problem it was causing a few years ago. I am super active, super competative, very driven and energetic yet the same thing happened to me, I couldn't be bothered to do anything, didn't care how I looked, what I wore, what I ate (or didn't), how it affected anyone else- it was depression pure and simple brought on by being incapacitated. Took a while to get back to normal and I did it by imagining my whole life was a job with set things I had to do at certian times, so I would wake up at 8.00, make breakfast, wash up, go out and walk the dog, come home read two chapters of a book, make lunch, do some work,write, go running, chekc on my business's (sons were running them whilst I was ill), go home shower, go out to eat, do a quiz maybe go clubbing- and I had to FORCE myself to do things everyday otherwise I'd just slob on the sofa- but eventually my normal energy and interest returned, but it took a hell of a long time.

[woofgang]

I have stopped washing my hair daily too. It stopped needing it about a year ago when I was 57. Apart from that, it does sound a lot like post viral symptoms. Yes go talk to the dic but also be kind to yourself, eat a healthy diet and do what you feel like , sit in the sun, read a book, take it easy.

[Im a BusyBee]

thank you for your answers. i try to be normal, i have a routine and ive been at work ever since. I run the house - cook, clean, washing, shopping, walk dogs, but seems very early in the evening i call it my batteries running down, i really ache all over, freezing cold cant think straight and nothing can keep me awake. I find if i dont do too much in a day i am not so bad but if im having a busy time its awful its like i want/need to do things but my body says no! I do go to slimming world so i do eat healthily. Also i have lost my weekday evenings as IF i try to go out in the evening (which means lots a rest before hand) i then have extremely early nights prob for about 4 nights afterwards. Same at weekends if i want to go out i have to sleep during the day. When im feeling ok i have bright ideas about booking things but then wonder why i bothered when the time comes to go and do them.

[237SJ]

Have you had your thyroid function checked?

[tenrec]

Don't want to upset you further, but could you be menopausal?

[woofgang]

sounds like post viral fatigue to me...go talk to the doc to be sure though.

[woofgang]

PS it would also explain the length of the UTI if it had a viral aspect.

[netibiza]

Aww bless, apart from being ill, I felt exactly the same, then I realised that I wouldn't get any younger and this was as young as I would ever be again, so did my hair, got rid of the grey, downloaded 60's music onto my android phone , wore modern clothes adapted to my age (ie no mini skirts, I am 68) then started going for long walks skipping and dancing to my music, 2hrs in the rain was a lovely experience and I began to feel better, so then I joined a zumba class, I was the oldest there and loved it, now I have new friends and love life, I do get the odd whistle (until I turn round and they see the face!) My family love the new me, cos I have stopped worrying about them and have started thinking about me, which has eased the tension that I caused. You are still young, so get out there and enjoy!