Members in their 70s?

[3Ts]

73 next month - As for statins - there are side effects to it just like all drugs. The biggest impact to me was to lose the desire to get up and do things. After I'd been on statins awhile all I wanted to do was sit in a chair all day and vegetate! It took me a while to realize what was going on. I talked to the doctor about it and I am now off of statins. I try to control it with exercise and diet, but I'm not very good at it. My numbers are borderline high, my doctor would like to see them lower but is willing to accept them. I enjoy life a lot more not being on statins.

 

[DKCDKC]

Now 78 and aging in place. I still can do almost everything I could at 60, just slower. And I sometimes now look at a project and decide the effort is not worth the time. I love to overhaul equipment, but find my patience is now limited, so I don't look at things that will take a lot of time. And I do find myself hopping on the tractor for an errand in the forest when I once would have just walked. Hills are no longer my friends.

 

[BravoXray]

73 next month - As for statins - there are side effects to it just like all drugs. The biggest impact to me was to lose the desire to get up and do things. After I'd been on statins awhile all I wanted to do was sit in a chair all day and vegetate! It took me a while to realize what was going on. I talked to the doctor about it and I am now off of statins. I try to control it with exercise and diet, but I'm not very good at it. My numbers are borderline high, my doctor would like to see them lower but is willing to accept them. I enjoy life a lot more not being on statins.

I had a similar experience with statins. Got a new doc, and she put me on them for cholesterol, even though is wasn't really high, just a little above where she liked it. Took the statins for a week and had the same effect, no energy, no motivation to do anything. I quit taking them after two weeks and refused to take them in the future.

 

[Cougsfan]

Took the statins for a week and had the same effect, no energy, no motivation to do anything.

My wife had the same reaction as you to statins, which caused me to delay taking them for years. But everyone reacts (or doesn't react) differently to their various side effects. When I finally did start taking them, my blood pressure and cholesterol both dropped significantly, and I actually have more energy and feel better since I started taking them. No negative side effects at all. But, everyone has different tolerances and reactions. I have seen the same kind of difference in reactions within my immediate family with other drugs, like melatonin, caffeine, and even ibuprofen. I agree you are usually better off minimizing the use of every kind of drug unless there is a specific need.

 

[CalG]

Now 78 and aging in place. I still can do almost everything I could at 60, just slower. And I sometimes now look at a project and decide the effort is not worth the time. I love to overhaul equipment, but find my patience is now limited, so I don't look at things that will take a lot of time. And I do find myself hopping on the tractor for an errand in the forest when I once would have just walked. Hills are no longer my friends.

I built an electric motor assisted bicycle. Hills were no longer my friend, and that I there is around here. It's up hill both ways home. A new lease on life. I get out 100 times more often. ;-)

 

[Oaktree]

Wow. Texas is a community property state, but assets owned prior to marriage are not included. That is not to say that a shy..um, lawyer, would not find a way to abscond with the assets.

If you don't mind sharing, where do you plan on leaving assets with no kids?

I don't know the particulars on my stepson's situation, I do know he had a very expensive settlement.

There is a conservation organization I'm leaving whatever's left to. The will (and to a lesser extent) pre-nup were a bit complicated, and involved putting most of my assets in a trust so my wife's taken care of as well.
The lawyer who drew it up said similar arrangements are not uncommon in 2nd marriages, especially in middle-aged or older people (we were in our 50s).

 

[Fxfymn413]

Then I could afford to go to doctors and went for a checkup.

I was very fortunate in that my employer required an annual physical that they provided which included a cardiac stress test. My current doc is young and believes in treating everything he finds with drugs regardless of the side effects. My cholesterol went to 125 and he tried to put me on statins and I refused based on the 30 plus years of records I had of where my cholesterol level was. 125 was the gold standard for years, but now the medical establishment puts you on drugs for that. So what changed besides the need to sell more drugs?

My outlook is that I have outlived my expected life span based on my career as a firefighter and that quality of life is more important that life duration. As Woody Allen said "I'm not afraid of dying, I just don't want to be there when it happens."

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I was very fortunate in that my employer required an annual physical that they provided which included a cardiac stress test. My current doc is young and believes in treating everything he finds with drugs regardless of the side effects. My cholesterol went to 125 and he tried to put me on statins and I refused based on the 30 plus years of records I had of where my cholesterol level was. 125 was the gold standard for years, but now the medical establishment puts you on drugs for that. So what changed besides the need to sell more drugs?

My outlook is that I have outlived my expected life span based on my career as a firefighter and that

Nothing changed, except the need to sell more drugs. Statins are a HUGE revenue stream. IMHO statins are poison. Darn near every American over 40 is on the things and our life-expectancy decreased by two years.

 

[3Ts]

My outlook is that I have outlived my expected life span based on my career as a firefighter and that quality of life is more important that life duration.

This!
Quality of life is the most important thing! I had a disagreement with my BIL over my MIL care. He thought she should be put in a nursing home so she would live another year or two, but unable to do anything except lay in bed and watch TV. My approach was to support her at home with care givers and whatever help she needed. She loved her garden and spent a lot of every day in it. The risk was that she may fall going up and down stairs or fall when noone was around. She would have enjoyed that more than the nursing home.
Note: I had an uncle that fell in the bathroom of a nursing home and died. I also had an uncle that fell in the bathroom at home and died. One enjoyed his last days more than the other. We will all die eventually, no way around that.

 

[duffer]

73 next month - As for statins - there are side effects to it just like all drugs. The biggest impact to me was to lose the desire to get up and do things. After I'd been on statins awhile all I wanted to do was sit in a chair all day and vegetate! It took me a while to realize what was going on. I talked to the doctor about it and I am now off of statins. I try to control it with exercise and diet, but I'm not very good at it. My numbers are borderline high, my doctor would like to see them lower but is willing to accept them. I enjoy life a lot more not being on statins.

I was on statins but I had such severe joint pain side affects, I couldn't get out of a chair without screaming.
My doc tried several things, but now I'm on "Gemfibrozil" which is a statin substitute and its been working for 8-10 years now. Cholesterol is in check (and I eat what I want), and no more joint pain.
Can't say it'll work for you, but you might want to ask your doc about it.

 

[Snobdds]

Nothing changed, except the need to sell more drugs. Statins are a HUGE revenue stream. IMHO statins are poison. Darn near every American over 40 is on the things and our life-expectancy decreased by two years.

Correlation does not mean causation, Bill.

 

[tallyho8]

Nothing changed, except the need to sell more drugs. Statins are a HUGE revenue stream. IMHO statins are poison. Darn near every American over 40 is on the things and our life-expectancy decreased by two years.

Darn near every American is on high fructose corn syrup and our life-expectancy decreased by two years.

Easy to blame almost anything.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

Darn near every American is on high fructose corn syrup and our life-expectancy decreased by two years.

Easy to blame almost anything.

Corn syrup doesn’t alter you liver function. Corn syrup doesn’t remove an essential building block of brain tissue from your blood stream. Corn syrup predates the Alzheimer’s epidemic by a hundred years, at least.

The brain contains the highest level of cholesterol in the body; it contains approximately 20% of whole body cholesterol.

One third of American adults are on statins at a cost of 19 billion dollars a year. They keep lowering the bar for who “needs” to be on statins. This is the same industry that was flooding the country with opioids because it was really profitable.

 

[Snobdds]

Bill you have a giant blind spot...you talk as if all cholesterol is bad for you. It's not. Not everyone over 40 is not on statins. When you argue in absolute terms, it's like shooting ducks in a barrel to debunk you.

The biggest thing American's need to do is get rid of seed oils in our diet. They are, more than anything else, the worst thing you can put in your body. The obesity epidemic can be traced right back to the prolific use of seed oils like, canola, corn, rapeseed, safflower, margarine, etc.

The only cooking fats one should use are; butter, lard (if it is shelf stable, it has seed oils in it), ghee, Beef Tallow, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, and Coconut Oil.

 

[Oaktree]

The only cooking fats one should use are; butter, lard (if it is shelf stable, it has seed oils in it), ghee, Beef Tallow, Olive Oil, Avocado Oil, and Coconut Oil.

The only fats you mention that I'd consider even remotely "healthy" would be avocado or olive oil. I have no idea what ghee is.

The obesity epidemic has many causes, including an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

 

[deserteagle71]

To get back to the OP's original question...

Closing in on 80, the one thing I wish I could do over is to have done those things that require physical endurance back when I was still a "young" 50 and 60 years old. I love to hike/explore the back country and have been doing that all my life. I'd always had plans for some extended back country hikes when younger but always put them off due to job and family obligations. Now my body tells me it is too late...........

 

[Gale Hawkins]

To get back to the OP's original question...

Closing in on 80, the one thing I wish I could do over is to have done those things that require physical endurance back when I was still a "young" 50 and 60 years old. I love to hike/explore the back country and have been doing that all my life. I'd always had plans for some extended back country hikes when younger but always put them off due to job and family obligations. Now my body tells me it is too late...........

Good point. After dealing with a blood clot in my Right leg running from my ankle to my groin that lead to 28 clot fragments I lost a lot of ground health wise.

When the wife broke bones in her hand/lower arm last October I had to force myself back into the horse if she was going to recover. Six months later after cutting out added sweetener and grains again my stability is returning and my pain level had dropped like a rock.

Initially I got the mini horses to help my daughter in her early teenage years and that was very successful. I had planned to get rid of them but my wife got attached to them and I realized they were key to me walking death backwards after the pandemic side effects. If I let my butt take root I'm a goner.

 

[DaveinValdez]

71 this year. Not much I still can't do.
Vitamin D, daily.
Get away from the TV.
Remember that if your retired that the job will be there tomorrow too. You don't have to accomplish everything at once. Pace yourself.
Exercise!!
Most of my meat is harvested by myself. Moose, bear, hares, shrimp, salmon, halibut... Too much snow to raise chickens.
Avoid processed foods.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. You probably have more favors owed to you that you will ever use up.
Never give up, never surrender.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

71 this year. Not much I still can't do.
Vitamin D, daily.
Get away from the TV.
Remember that if your retired that the job will be there tomorrow too. You don't have to accomplish everything at once. Pace yourself.
Exercise!!
Most of my meat is harvested by myself. Moose, bear, hares, shrimp, salmon, halibut... Too much snow to raise chickens.
Avoid processed foods.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. You probably have more favors owed to you that you will ever use up.
Never give up, never surrender.

 

[tallyho8]

One year after my minor heart attack at 74, I attempted to get on my horse for a ride again and failed to mount from the ground. I had to stand on a railing in my arena to mount up. I knew I lost a lot of muscle in the last year but have hesitated to try to regain it through exercises since, at this age, you have to exercise so much longer to regain a little muscle than you had to do in your younger years.

I am so jealous of those trainers who are able to teach a horse to lay down while you get in the saddle and then get back up afterward.