Those Mid-life Body Changes

Like countless women, about the time I turned 43, perimenopause hit and it hit hard.  Thankfully, I have a great doctor.  She’s also a UCLA alum and she loves all my handbags, but what really makes her great is that she allows me to ask questions, like, “Why is this happening?”. My doctor likes to say that multiple switches are built into my DNA and at a pre-determined moment, certain ones just turn on. In other words, if I wasn’t hit by a bus before today, all these changes were predestined to occur according to some hidden internal clock.  Wow!  And the switches just keep turning on, each one bringing its own surprise and challenge.  This post is about my ongoing journey through the aging process and my 2017 response to the newest changes.  Women of a certain age may relate to the challenges presented in this post while others can gain new insights into the plight of their menopausal wife, mother, or friend. Younger women can get a preview of the days ahead and prepare for them.I like to think of myself as a healthy person in a somewhat flawed body.  After all, I was an athlete up through high school and until just a few years ago I could boast about having the blood pressure of a teenager. But then those damned switches started turning on.  Both my parents died young, so I have no idea what to expect.

I’ve never smoked or done any kind of illicit drug. I’ve always been what you might call a tea-tootler who consistently exercises.  I technically suffer from asthma, but it is mostly under control. So much so that I  spent 3 weeks in China in 2005 without having to use the inhaler my doctor insisted I take with me (Did I mention that she was from China and aware of their air pollution problem?).  Anyway, I gave birth to three healthy human beings (sans the drugs) and was able to nurse all three and lose the baby weight pretty fast. I did have two surgeries for benign growths before my 30^th birthday, but I recovered quickly.  When my asthma acted up in my early thirties, I put on some weight from a combination of the steroids that enabled me to breathe and from a slowing metabolism.  I finally weaned myself off the medication and figured out a new eating and exercise routine that worked for me and I lost the weight. 

The menopause switch came on gradually. Going through menopause was annoying.  First, I never knew when or if I was going to have another period, so wearing white pants and skirts was out of the question.  I experienced terrible insomnia, weight gain, and the worst hot flashes imaginable.  I landed in the emergency room several times for what resembled a heart attack, but wasn’t.  I went about 5 years without ever feeling cold.  My collection of sweaters and coats stayed stored away in the closet for years.  I was either hot or really hot and sweating, regardless of the weather. I had a large collection of personal fans that were strategically placed in every room.  My favorite was the ball point pin with the fan on the end that I took with me to meetings.  I changed pajamas several times each night. I couldn’t stand covers or the heat from my husband’s body. I was on the constant hunt for cooling pajamas and stay cool pillows (none measured up to their claims).  When offered hormone replacement therapy, I refused because I was convinced that the estrogen replacement therapy my mother received was responsible for her breast cancer and ultimately for her death at just 57 years old. I tried black cohosh and it seemed to be working until I heard that I was experiencing a placebo effect.  Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. The only thing fun about menopause was the comedy production of “Menopause” in Las Vegas. The show had  menopausal women performing for an audience of women all going through it, too. I’ve never laughed so hard in my life.  Misery really does love company.

Menopause seemed to be the gateway to aging.  The next thing I knew my eyesight began to fail.  I went from great vision—no glasses needed for most of my life, to first reading glasses in my early forties to stronger reading glasses, to the trifocals and the lack of night vision I now have to contend with.  The weight I lost in my mid-thirties gradually began to reappear, so I now have entire wardrobes in four different sizes.  And this weight gain is despite all my exercise and generally balanced diet.  I love fruits and vegetables, but I also ate a moderate share of potato chips, cookies, and expensive chocolate.  I’ve never been a drinker, so the calories from alcohol weren’t even in the equation.  That low blood pressure reading went from normal low to high so suddenly that my doctor thought the blood pressure reading was a fluke.  But it wasn’t.  My cholesterol readings went from normal to somewhat high.  From one annual physical to the next I went from no medications to taking a statin, blood pressure medication and a baby aspirin every day.     

Eventually, about 15 years later, the worst of the menopausal suffering ended. In 2016 I could feel cold again and I gleefully began wearing sweaters and coats at appropriate times.  I sleep at night, only waking up to use the toilet, and I fall blissfully right back to sleep.  The hot flashes are few and far between.  The weight gain is a bit stubborn, though, but my doctor assured me that once my hormones settled down, I’d be able to lose the weight.  So, 2016 was going to be that year!    

At first things were looking good.  At my annual eye checkup, the prescription for my glasses remained the same for the first time since I began wearing glasses.  My 6 month dental check up revealed healthy teeth-no cavities.  My annual mammogram looked good–no suspicious growths.  But then I went to my annual well-woman appointment on March 1.  My labs came back a little off and my doctor asked for a repeat.  I also had this strange growth on my side that needed looking at and a strange looking mole on my left breast, (where the sun don’t shine)  that would require a biopsy.  So, the mole was removed, biopsied, and was not skin cancer.  Yay.  The growth on my side was removed through surgery, biopsied, and was benign.  I filled the surgeon’s prescription for the strong pain killers, but never touched them because the pain was bearable and really not worth the risk of addiction (there’s an epidemic, you know, that begins with pain killers like the unnecessary ones he prescribed to me).  Anyway, I ended up dropping them off at the local police station.  The lab work came back again with numbers indicating poor kidney function.  Last year my kidneys were great—full functioning.  2016 brought me stage 2 kidney disease for no apparent reason.  Really?  Another switch went on.  Pre-diabetic, too. 

So, 2017 will be filled with new commitments to my health and well-being.  I’ll keep exercising five days a week, getting my annual flue shot, check-ups with the addition of a dermatologist and kidney doctor (sigh) and I’ll eat more like a type two diabetic.  I don’t do well with moderation in my eating habits.  I may not binge on junk food, but if I say “yes” then I find a way to say, “yes” all the time.  So, I say, “no”.  I no longer take sugar in my coffee as of January 1. I don’t eat cookies, cakes, and candy.  I only eat whole grain bread and I avoid processed foods, except potato chips.  I’m not giving up my Kettle Cooked Lays potato chips! Life does have to be “worth” living.  I eat the low glycemic index fruits like strawberries, grapes, and apples instead of drinking juice. I said goodbye to watermelon!  My plates will have more low glycemic index vegetables and very few starches like rice, pasta, and potatoes.  I eat a handful of nuts every afternoon and my drink of choice is water. With the help of an app called, “Simple GI” and a fantastic cookbook, titled “Diabetes Meals by the Plate” I’ve made real adjustments.  I initiated most of these new eating habits in October 2016 and my new labs showed an improvement in all my numbers.  I don’t require any medication for my kidney disease and my sugar levels are now close to normal. With these changes, I’ve lost 10 pounds.  Just 40 more to go and maybe those numbers will keep on improving, too.  One thing I know is this: We can’t control the switches that come on if we’re lucky enough to age, but we can control how we respond to them. 

I welcome your comments and subscriptions.  If you like these weekly posts, tell your friends.  Have a healthy 2017.