Weird side effects of getting older

[MiserableMrsMopp]

Already gone through menopause. That was fun. Hot flushes, dry vag, shrinking lady bits, lack of libido.

But a new effect of being old is starting to hit. As always, I thought it was just me, but when I searched online, it's a recognised feature of ageing.

Response to the cold. I don't shiver anymore. I don't really even know I'm getting cold. The first thing I notice is my hands being cold. And then I realise my body is very cool. Good old Google says this is a known effect of ageing. It's how elderly people succumb to hypothermia. Their core temperature drops without them even realising.

And I think I'm getting this. I notice my hands being cold. Recognise my whole body is cooler than is comfortable and try to warm myself up (heating up or heated throw etc) and it takes a good half an hour to improve.

So take this as a PSA (public service announcement). Not only will you shrivel and dry up in the nether regions, you'll also be at risk of dying from hypothermia without really even noticing! Bloody ace.

Can I ask how old you are OP? I'm 70 and yes I do feel the cold (have hypothyroidism) and have noticed since 60 that my hands and feet often feel cold. However I do still notice the cold, I shiver and have to put a coat on or something. I'm off to find some scientific papers on this as it is interesting for sure.

Here we go:

https://sagahq.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Syllabus.pdf#page=22

Elderly patients are unable to regulate their body temperature to the same degree as young adults because their responses to changes in body temperature are altered. They do not respond normally to hypothermic challenges. In general, geriatric patients neither vasoconstrict nor shiver in response to cold until their temperature has fallen to levels below that required for activation of these defense mechanisms in young adults. The relationship between impairment of thermoregulation and age is not linear and it does not occur in all aged patients. Rather, it is most common in patients over the age of 80. While younger patients will shiver at a temperature of 36.1°C, most patients over the age of 80 will not shiver until their core body temperature falls to 35.2°C, on average. Furthermore, the ability to vasoconstrict and reduce skin blood flow is reduced with age, making obligatory heat loss in a cold environment greater than in young adults. These alterations in the elderly patient's ability to regulate body temperature result in more frequent and severe hypothermia in this patient group.

I'm only (only! ha) 60. But I've been thinking for a while that it was weird that I don't seem to feel cold in the same way.

I think it's noticeable because I've clearly hit the 2nd phase of swift ageing (44 and 60). But I just find it odd.

Yeah it's unfortunate! Not weird though, as our bodies gradually run down as we age and of course we're all different at the rate we do so. I do notice I can't heat regulate properly at all. In hot weather I just can't cope like I used to.

God, I'd never thought about that (not getting a lot of heat in the UK). The last time I lived abroad, the heat I once would have loved gave me heat exhaustion. Didn't occur to me it was my age!

I know exactly what you mean, it's annoying.
I have permanently cold hands and can't do without my wristwarmers until about June!
Also, although past the night sweats stage, I still struggle to get comfortable in bed at night. Too hot, too cold, the covers flap about over and over all night long! 😒

I don't want to laugh but 😂!

And now Google's AI has made me chuckle, re the second phase of swift ageing:

Key Aspects of the Second Phase (Around Age 60)
This second, "terminal" phase of accelerated aging involves significant, widespread molecular changes that are different from the first peak.

(Hahaha 'terminal phase' - unfortunate wording, Google!)

Then this classic:

"Smurf" Phenomenon: In aging studies, this second phase is sometimes referred to in animal models as the "Smurf" phase, where a sudden increase in intestinal permeability indicates a, high risk of imminent mortality.

So I went to a paper on that and am cracking up at possibly being a Smurf (although it's a paper about fruit flies!) 😂

"As time passes for a non-Smurf, its gene expression becomes noisier until it reaches a point—an hypothetical “Smurf Transition Point” yet to be characterised—at which individuals undergo an abrupt modification of the transcriptome."

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11034523/

I wonder if I have transitioned into a Smurf yet! 😂

Oh bloody hell, I'm a dying smurf! What a way to start the day. A sexless smurf husk, in the 2nd phase of aging, on the way out.

😂

Never mind OP, there are lots of us!

The upside of being a husky smurf is that I DGAF about many things that used to plague me. Men being fairly high up on that list.

Mumsnet absolutely hates you…..

Not as much as you dear.

I'm 75 and haven't found that, just the opposite, I overheat quickly, I always have.. after 17 years on hrt we moved new GP wouldn't prescribe it,so Im one of the 10% who still gets hot flushes. I'm pretty fit for my age though, workout weights,f bike,2 border collies, and live very near the Downs. We did the downsize near the sea thing. All my elderly neighbours have their heating on really high, and a friends df who died last year insisted on having the heating ridiculously high.. I was nursing over 40 years and didn't see this with patients.. I can't tolerate heat 23 is my max.

I read the first article it said younger people shiver at 36.1c, it's never been that hot in the UK..my teenage dgks can't stand the heat. At 14c they are in t shirts..I notice it says "Geriatric" that term was phased out by 2000.

I think @CurlewKate was referring to the rampant ageism on MN.

The temperature they refer to is core body temperature, not the temperature of your surroundings. Optimum body temperature is around 37.2 (roughly, cant remember exactly) so a body temperature of 36.1 is a fair bit below a healthy temperature.

I have always felt the cold but not to the extreme I do now. I think it’s a combination of two things. Massive weight loss and I’m now in my 70s. Only this last night I woke with freezing cold feet at four in the morning and had to put socks on. I now layer up so that I can try to keep my body warm.
I also never get a full night’s sleep. Husband thinks something wrong with me and my reply is that most of my friends are the same.

Second swift stage of aging? I’m 58 and I feel like it’s all suddenly gone South. I have aged in my face loads in the last couple of years, hair’s changed and I now, all of a sudden, have loads of aches and pains. I feel older. Getting me down tbh.

The body ages at 44, 60, but these habits help, doctors say

It does seem to have happened this way with me. At 41 I looked great. Glowy, plump skin, shiny hair. By 45 I'd aged 10 years. Same at 58/59. Still looked OK. 60, everything is drying up, I'm more tired, facial ageing and this weird cold thing.

Wait is the swift ageing reference to Fruit Flies or human females ?
Gotta focus on what you Can do, not what you can no longer do as well. Keep healthy, stay connected to interesting , uplifting people and Count yr blessings 1 by 1. X

I find it harder to get warm in bed at night. Must always wear socks and sometimes another layer on my top.

Ps
Earwax. What's that you say £6 a bottle! I can still hear tho.

OnGoldenPond,ah right..mind you my core temp runs around or below 36, 4 tog duvet all year. I want the window open at night.With COVID at 37.5 I was feeling rough.

But you retain your witty turn of phrase which will be a support to yourself and others!
Getting old is ghastly in an astonishing variety of ways, but it's kind of interesting and challenging too.