How well are you aging

[tinacarroll27]

Hi Just interested to see how others are aging since getting ME. I recently looked at an old photo taken 10 years ago and then looked in the mirror and didn't recognize myself. I know we all age after 10 years but this seemed so extreme. At the time of the photo, I was the healthiest I had been in a long time and even though I was in my 40s at the time I looked more like in my late 20s. 10 years on and I am in my 50s looking more like my late 60s.

For the last 10 years, I have had severe ME and fibro with lots of pain. It's not even the grey hair which I am too ill to dye but it's my skin that looks haggard and so dry and really bad dark circles. My skin in the photo looks full of colour while now my skin is so pale and ill-looking and as if it's not getting any nutrition.

My hair was really thick and shiny in the photo and now looks thin and dry. Even my eyebrows have fallen out. I never had very thick eyebrows but I did have them. Now eyebrows are completely bald. Is this normal for ME? I am subclinically Hypothyroid but my GP says with Subclinical I shouldn't be having symptoms so It's probably all the ME. How has your ME manefested over the years? Are you aging faster then you think you should? Has it effected your apprerance?

 

[Rufous McKinney]

I think this illness takes its toll in many ways, one of them is collagen and connective tissue seem to weaken, and get possibly used by our bodies. This affects the physical "structure" of all KINDS of things. This may be caused by the viruses. We "see" it on the outside: its also occurring inside and possibly everywhere.

I say that as a 69 year old who has had some version of this my whole life.

Another part of this illness is extreme dryness. Part of what the Chinese would call Yin Deficiency, leaving the Body overheated and inflamed (yang)

That also takes a huge toll on skin, hair, nails.

I have a fabulous head of hair, still. With almost no grey. Recent discussion: Melanin production? also tied to something about the illness?

My nails and skin are awful, I lost quite a bit of weight in my 50s (about 45 pounds) and there was very little "improvement" skin wise. And so much for ALL NEW cells every seven years.

I had a minor little procedure recently at the dermatologist and I healed really well. Ok, THANKS for that..

 

[Insomniac]

I used to be on the yahoo CFS experimental group in the early 2000's. The posters there said that people with CFS tend to look younger than their years, then have rapid aging.

Now years later with all the research in hypermobility and CFS, it's been discovered that patients diagnosed with CFS have a higher incidence rate of hypermobility than in the general population, Therefore they look younger due to the difference in their collagen.

Another explanation is that even without hypermobility, ME sufferers are forced indoors more due to lack of energy, intolerance to light and heat. The lack of sunlight makes them wrinkle less.

The rapid aging I can't explain.

 

[lenora]

There are so many causes for each of these symptoms. The sun and cigarette smoking add years to the face, neck, hands and arms (anything exposed).

I've also noticed that gaining and losing weight affects the skin's elasticity. Winter causes exceptionally dry skin as we age....even my granddaughter (San Francisco) and only 14 had her skin cracking b/c of dryness.

I do think collagen can play a role in this.....but at this time, apart from a diagnosis of Ehler-Danlos, can anything be known or done? Even then a diagnosis can be made, but there is no cure.

Healing well is a good sign @Rufous McKinney.....I do the same, and yet I'm very unhealthy in many important organs of my body. So I'd say that we feel older, we have more wrong and perhaps we're a lot like the general population as we age. Everything is just considered as "getting old." I do know that any youthful indiscretions catch up with us, unfortunately.

How do people do with plastic surgery? Does it hold for long? I have no answers to these questions but it would be good to hear. I don't want to mess with my body more than it has to be bothered.

e.g. My youngest daughter actually looks older than her sister (3 yrs. apart). Why? She's out in all weather, has long played sports year round (outside & didnt' wear sunscreen 50% of the time), is thin and even now exposes herself to the elements. Also, she's thinner and works out a lot. I think all of these things can take a toll on the body.

If your hair is still it's natural red then I believe that's considered a sign of youth. Mine is white (I'm also 75) and even though it's supposed to be untrue, it abruptly turned silver and white over one summer, during a period of stress and illness. In the end, I have no answers either. Yours, Lenora

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Healing well is a good sign @Rufous McKinney.....I do the same, and yet I'm very unhealthy in many important organs of my body.

These days, if something seems to be working right, well fall to the ground in Praise and Gratitude.

If your hair is still it's natural red then I believe that's considered a sign of youth.

I have so little grey and my hair is now so DARK. Like Maroon.

Its so ODD as I was always sort of a blond/sandy red like fawnskin.

 

[lenora]

Boy, they certainly weren't kidding when they said the body changes immensely as we age. Losing 3" doesn't help one bit. Yours, Lenora

 

[Rufous McKinney]

Losing 3" doesn't help one bit. Yours, Lenora

My husband has really awful connective tissue problems, can't hardly walk, in alot of pain and its not a good situation. HE was six feet tall, now he is shorter than I am (around 5.5 or 5.4 or maybe I"ve shrunk, too!)

All his joints, his feet his hands. If he is sitting down in a chair, mostly things don't hurt, but it all hurts constantly the rest of the time.

And then they report everything else about him is so Healthy.

I'm having to do more physical stuff for him, and thats not going to work out longer term.

 

[lenora]

That's a tough @Rufous McKinney. He really needs to do something about the pain. No, it isn't easy, but there are things that help and then help immensely. For that you'll need an MD though, preferably a rheumatologist or neurologist. I wish both of you well. There are probably meds that I'm not even aware of today.

Yes, this osteoporosis "thing" is a major problem. Too bad we can't click our heels and be back a number of years....although a lot of things appeared then, too. Yours, Lenora

 

[Tammy]

My skin started to take a turn south approx 5- yrs ago? It was OK before then. I had super skin tone prior. My neighbor who is 20 yrs older than me has much better skin than me! At 62 yrs, my skin tone I would say looks very abnormal for my age. My picture/avatar was when I still had nice skin and hair. I would say I have about 1/2 as much hair now! ugh

 

[2Cor.12:19]

I’m 71 and feel at least 100. My skin looks great except that I haven’t had any hair on my arms for decades. I felt older than my 99 yr old grandma back when I was only 39. I’ve had ME/CFS for 36 yrs.

 

[lenora]

I'm 75 and couldn't tell you how I look. I have fewer wrinkles than many people my age, have gained some weight (or a shifting around of it) that comes with menopause and think that genes make a great difference in how we look at certain ages.

I'm happy with things...let's put it that way. Sure, I'd like to look like I did when I first met Rod, but I've never found wrinkles to be ugly or offensive on anyone. White hair is the same. It some ways it's proof of being a lifelong warrior and it was time for the real me to show...no more dyes, etc. My hair is thick and healthy and I do take vitamins for that purpose (and many others).

Skin takes the toll of smoking, too much alcohol, high altitudes, sun, wind and lack of sunscreens when we were younger. I often wonder if Ehler-Danlos Syndrome makes some people look aged more than others.

In the end though, it's this: I'm not young, I'm the age I am and even though I don't go out often now, I dress fashionably and know that I'm probably invisible to most of the people around me. There are days when we all look better than others....and yes, I still wear make-up and do my hair for my husband. Not much make-up....I've never been that type, but I do make use of things that will matter. Rod notices and yes, that makes me feel good. I noticed that he had a particularly nice shirt on today. And then tomorrow will find something to bicker over for 5 minutes or so. This is marriage in the later years. Yours, Lenora

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

Now eyebrows are completely bald. Is this normal for ME? I am subclinically Hypothyroid but my GP says with Subclinical I shouldn't be having symptoms so It's probably all the ME. How has your ME manefested over the years?

From what you've posted, my money's on your thyroid, and your Dr's evaluation of it as 'sub-clinical' is suspect, and depends on what metric he's using for tht determination.

A lot of Drs use the results of the TSH reading (thyroid stimulating hormone), which measures the output of your pituitary gland, not your thyroid. And to make it even worse, the range of 'normal' is so HUUUUUGE that it's virtually useless as a diagnostic tool, beyond the fact that it protects Drs from malpractice lawsuits.

You might want to request a full thyroid panel from him, and then re-evaluate your thyroid function.

 

[tinacarroll27]

You might want to request a full thyroid panel from him, and then re-evaluate your thyroid function.

Thanks will do that! I think I will have to get labs done privately as I can't see my GP (I'm in the UK) doing anything I ask but I will try and see If he will investigate further at my next appointment,

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

I can't see my GP (I'm in the UK) doing anything I ask but I will try and see If he will investigate further at my next appointment,

You might be surprized.

If he refuses to provide adequate testing in the face of symptoms that seem to absolutely demand it, he might be open to actions that he'd find ..... uncomfortable.

If he continues to refuse you, I'd suggest sending him an email or a snail-,ail note outlining your symptoms and reasons for feeling the need for further, more exact, testing and see if he responds. A lot of Drs rely on the innate trust we're taught to feel for them, coupled with our own lack of information on what constitutes adequate treatment to keep them off the hook. But once a full exposition of why you feel you need that testing has been sent to him, there's a lot less wiggle room ....