Didn't think 50 was "old" anymore!

[Asta19]

I'm nearly 50 and menopausal. Apparently, according to a few comments on threads I've seen on here recently, that makes me a bit loopy and a candidate for dementia! Ok, I'm not 20 anymore but I don't think I'm ready for a care home just yet! I thought people were less ageist nowadays but it seems if you do anything "unexpected" after the age of 50 then the first thing some people jump to is dementia! I don't know the stats but I think it's still pretty rare in people of my age. I am suffering from menopausal symptoms but again that doesn't render me incapable of any intelligent thought! I think ladies over 50 should be given a little more credit!

My wonderful uncle got dementia at 63ish and that was still considered “early onset”.
It wouldn’t even be in my radar till 70 at least.
My parents are 70 & 73 and very active travelling abroad seeing cultural sites doing independent city breaks in places with other alphabets.

62 here and don't feel old. I like to think I don't look too bad for my age either.
I think its quite common to start thinking about things like dementia and your mortality as you get older. I'm hoping that keeping slim and active will stave off the worst for a good few years yet but you just don't know. My wonderful apparently fit and healthy dad died suddenly sitting in a chair on the sun terrace at our house in Spain. That's the way I'm hoping to go.

MN is very ageist at times. Just ignore it

I think it’s relative - when you we’re in your 20’s I bet you thought it was ancient but when you get to 50 you don’t feel it. I think it’s a personal thing, I dated a guy lots older than me and didn’t feel like he was old and he was mid-fifties. He was a young soul.

As someone in the same age bracket, MN annoys me when they assume we are all technophobic idiots.
Who brought home computers and mobile phone and the internet into the mainstream? We did!

MN annoys me when they assume we are all technophobic idiots

This made me chuckle. Just yesterday my 28 yr old DD asked me if I could hook up her speakers to the TV as she didn’t know how! I was building websites when some MNers were still in primary school!

fussychica that sounds the perfect way to go!

51 here. Same person (and size) as I was at 20... only with more confidence, less stress! Perfectly happy with technology thanks (and love gadgets). I started Taekwondo at 45, got my black belt at 48, started learning classical guitar at 49... and about to get my first dog at 51.

Not dead yet!!!!! Nor demented or wearing twin sets (to be fair I will probably be buried in jeans and a t shirt)
OK I haven't got hoards of men knocking at my door, but I don't want them.. I have a good DH, good adult kids... and I am not old!

My step mum is just turning 80 and has recently taken up bee keeping... she doesn't consider herself old either!!!

I'm with @AuntieStella here - often to be seen challenging ageist posts.

And when it comes to tech, I was the one who was training other members of my department to use the computers. (I have no idea how I knew how to use them - I just did!) and so new tech has never been an issue for me. (I'm 59 now)

So @Asta19 I'd be very interested in any examples of ageist posts you can give - because I'll challenge the fuck out of them!

I'm in my 60s. My grandparents died younger than I am now. My mum was a local town councillor and mayoress in her 80s. To me it's all about attitude I know people decades younger than me who are old in their attitude and outlook
I've experienced things that are quite awesome. I've been to greenham common anti nuclear protests, I've been through the troubles in N Ireland, I was part of the generation that welcomed the Beatles, I spent 6 years at art college in London, I was the first in my family to get a degree and an MA. I've been on protest marches. I've taught myself computing skills and now help fix friends computers

When someone tells me I have nothing to contribute, or I know nothing because I'm old I think to myself oh yes, do you actually take the time to know me?

Camilla Cavendish has just written a book about how rubbish society is about age. Well worth a read, now where did I put my feckin' glasses.......

www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/extra-time-10-lessons-for-an-ageing-world-by-camilla-cavendish-review-a4137946.html

I am 50 and certainly do feel old (although the DCs do like to take the piss).

I'm planning my next tattoo, have multiple piercings and generally don't give a shit.

don't feel old, not do

I'm 49 and in peri. My memory isn't as sharp as it used to be and I seem to have become clumsy, both of which annoy the hell out of me and make me feel old.

If/when I ignore that, I feel fantastic. Have lost a lot of weight and I'm now the same size as I was at 19 but much fitter. I was doing synchronised burpees at 7am yesterday with a man half my age. Most of my friends are younger.

I am so much more confident, but more importantly, I feel at peace with myself. I wish I'd had the same self-knowledge in my 20s and 30s. I am most definitely embracing it now. I love fashion/style (I always have) but I try hard to make sure I'm not being too "mutton" and keep it stylish/edgy rather than following fashion blindly. I wear what suits me and I don't care what people think (but I seem to get lots of compliments so I think I must be doing something right).

I went through the menopause early-ish (42) which was miserable at the time, partly because I seemed to be the only one amongst my friends who was going through it and it felt like some slippery slope to nowhere. It also aged me looks wise at the time but everyone catches up.Now 50 and feel younger than I did at 40. With clarity. Most of the people I work with are younger than me and always have been and they don't see me as any age, I'm just older than them, no numbers attached (we have a new person in the office born in 2001 - the 30 somethings can't deal with it!) The biggest change I've noticed in myself over the last couple of years is my zero tolerance for petty squabbles and game playing and gossip. Just not interested. Be nice or piss off.

"Apparently, according to a few comments on threads I've seen on here recently, that makes me a bit loopy and a candidate for dementia!"

You will find that the same ageists who call you old would be outraged if you were able to claim your pension now.

The same hypocrites likely cheered on the state pension age rise.

Well I'm just short of 50 and in the process of menopause and my mind is dulled and confused and creaking and my body is stiff and clumsy. I've ballooned up in weight. Its shit. Hrt was a saviour until my blood pressure shot up and now I'm on medication for that. I used to have such a sharp wit and now I hardly ever laugh Fuck 50.

I retrained for a new career aged 50, five years into it now. I certainly don't feel old.

@Asta19 It’s a Mumsnet thing. It’s the same as, whenever a child is naughty, people on here suggest he must have Aspergers. Or if your DH is being a shit he must have depression. People like to over-diagnose on here.

The World Health Organisation defines old age as over 60 or 65, depending on pension age. Of course many of us are working past that (some of us pretty much have to). For me, working part time (0.8 FT) in a somewhat less demanding job has made me enjoy work again. I do feel sorry for younger teaching colleagues who will be expected to keep going to 67, I don’t think it’s possible without reducing hours (and income) drastically.

You all need to read this book called the Middle aged Brain. All about how the brain changes for the better in mid life through experience, gets more white matter and connections etc. Very interesting.

For many years, scientists thought that the human brain simply decayed over time and its dying cells led to memory slips, fuzzy logic, negative thinking, and even depression. But new research from neuroscien tists and psychologists suggests that, in fact, the brain reorganizes, improves in important functions, and even helps us adopt a more optimistic outlook in middle age. Growth of white matter and brain connectors allow us to recognize patterns faster, make better judgments, and find unique solutions to problems. Scientists call these traits cognitive expertise and they reach their highest levels in middle age.

www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Life-Grown-Up-Brain-Middle-Aged/dp/0241953073/ref=sr_1_1?s=gateway&keywords=middle+aged+brain&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1557559283&sr=8-1

Hmm...but I did get the title wrong! only 43 here...

Not old at all. My mum will be 50 this year and she is exactly the same person she was at 30 (albeit much slimmer and more glam). She hasn't aged at all, which is odd given she had 3 horrible children my nan is 73 and I am only just starting to think that she is bordering on old.

59 here.
Fitter and stronger than I was at 50.
And happier.

My parents are 83 and 81, still work (part time), do sport, totally up to date with current affairs, go out more than I do.

My dad got chatted up, this woman (also 80s) has a thing for him and spilled coffee on her blouse, oh dear, she had to take it off. There she was standing in our kitchen in her red lacy bra, washing the coffee out of her blouse. My mum was furious. My dad amused...

Nothing stops because you are old, you are still exactly the same person just in an older body.

That's why dementia is so awful, it changes who you are. But most old people are still the same person they were at 50, or 30

Only young people are alarmed by the look of age.

Waffle you will come through it and start to feel "normal" again . I experimented with lots of herbal remedies but found Estroven the best and it was on offer at Boots. Best remedy of all was laughing with my mates at our "old lady " moments .

You are not old !