Anyone in their 40s/50s plus had a health wake up call?

I am just turned 54 with diabetes that had got out of control wake up call when dr said I was at high risk for kidney disease blindness or losing a leg my niece is only 4 and I want to live as long as I can for her and hopefully any future grandchildren
That gave me the wake up call I needed now I make sure to take my diabetis meds and statins and since november have cut out chocolates sweets cakes and biscuits from january I have been cutting down on portions and making healthier choices . also limiting carbs
It's a really slow process as I have pcos and am going through the menopause
I have lost about 12 pounds since january am determined to keep going Inneed to up the walking though as I work from home
my daughter is getting married next year so that is giving me another incentive
Sadly I lost my mum at the end of feb to dementia but I didnt turn to the chocolate etc must keep going

I also apparently have numerous fibroids so another thing to contend with those that are saying about joint pain I get a lot of that also broke my ankle just before covid and have rotator cuff shoulder in both shoulders and have had steroid injection in both shoulders which has made a slight difference apparently the scan showed up tendinitis and spondylitis

I ended up being rushed into hospital today, with a suspected TIA. The irony was that today, after being inspired by this thread, I decided to start on my new exercise routine, gentle mind - nothing bonkers. By 11:15am my left side and arm all went dead, my speech started slurring and I couldn't stand up. I got blue-lighted into A&E and sm currently Mumsnetting from my hospital bed.

The weird paralysis has worn off now but I've had numbness in my arm and hand for weeks and only saw the GP about it yesterday - so consider this a wake up call!!

I'm 50 now, but had my health scare last year. After bereavement during the pandemic, I piled on extra weight, was incredibly stressed with a soul-destroying job and lost all joy in my life. Then last year, I had some worrying symptoms, related to the type of cancer my oatent died of aged 52. The blood tests ruled that out, but flagged up liver and kidney dysfunction. CT scans showed mow scarring, cysts or fibrosis, but basically I have Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), due to obesity. Scary stuff. I started on a very strict eating programme with support, 5.5 stone to lose was really daunting and seemed impossible. Nearly 5 months in, I've lost over 3 stone, reduced my BMI from 38 to 29.9. I'm aiming for 25. I feel really empowered and proud of the progress I have made to date. I'm still working on my weight and fitness, but I know I can do it. I have repeat blood tests next month, and am really hopefully liver function will have bounced back, the GP thought the NAFLD might be reversible due to the lack of scarring 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

well done @CreepingCrone can I ask you what diet you used? I have a sibling who is pretty down after a health scare & Imm trying to cheer her up

@CandyLeBonBon eek, glad you're ok.

Bit scary, not gonna lie!

I would definitely be up for this, everything is so much easier with support and just talking to people going through similar makes you feel less lonely.

Wow 🤩 this is really inspiring.

We can be in the NAFLD club together 🖤 I felt embarrassed too, then very scared. But this is where we are, and we can do our best to manage and limit its impact

@soffa I'm following the Cambridge 1:1 plan. It's extremely strict and not for everyone, but I tried every single diet. Tbh, I think the reason I've been able to stick with it is because I was so scared by the NAFLD diagnosis. I'm deathly serious about lifestyle change, so this feels very differently to previous attempts to diet

Felt fat and unhealthy. He said let's get things sorted one at a time but to start with healthier choices and lose weight. Xx I didn't know it can be hereditary xx

I’m 54 and have been overweight much of my life, thyroid disease at 31. Have tried lots of diets, walk my dogs, hike occasionally and just got a used pedal assist ebike that I love. I started having lots of food allergies with rashes with blisters around 5 years ago getting progressively worse. Saw an allergist which said allergies to milk and lots of veggies. In January went on the carnivore diet. Lots of info on the web and you tube about it. Have lost 22 lbs since January and only have a rash flare up if I eat a vegetable. Now food is a fuel that I use for my body. I am rarely hungry and don’t use food as a comfort. Emotional eating was a huge part of my life and was addicted to sugar. Had bloodwork done about 3 weeks in and finally no more anemia. All cholesterol, sugar levels good but have been on bp medication for years. I need to lose about 60-80 more pounds but feel I am finally on the right path.

Wow you've done amazing this has spurred me on reading your story. He said to be about the lack of scarring too so I did feel better about that. My stomach doesn't feel as painful as last night because I've had little fat today apart from full fat milk in my coffee. I've done fasting before and liked it x

Had mine last year - BMI of 45, working in a very stressful NHS job with a lot of nights. Ended up in A&E with a resting heart rate of 160bpm (tachycardia) and diagnosed with atrial fibrillation.

Have now left the NHS for a less stressful job with more normal hours, and I threw everything at losing weight and getting fitter.

BMI is now 40 and going down. Luckily my blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol etc have always been good, and I've usually got a low heart rate - they put me on beta blockers after the A&E visit and my resting heart rate was in the 40s and 50s so they gave up on that idea. Cardiology have now signed me off.

So - for me (now age nearly 53) this has been an agent for positive change which maybe I needed🙂

OP you can request title change to over 40's x

Amazingly inspiring lot, you are!

I'm 51 in a month. I've had 4 years of hell with the pandemic working full time in a stressful job and two kids at home, then 18 months of really poor health due to menopause, more work stress and other random ailments.

I've been told to reduce my hours at work to 60% from today! Under OH and GP, and I think I'm basically burnt out and still very peri menopausal.

I'm 2 stone overweight but have suffered chronic fatigue, so I haven't been able to exercise. Have just started walking longer distances again.

I've done Joe Wicks' 90-day plan v successfully in the past, so I am planning on restarting in a few weeks once I've cooked up and frozen some meals and start to recover.

I'd love to be part of this group. I need to build up my exercise slowly as I start to feel better, and having a community would help.

@Stickytoastandhoney did you keep a food diary at that time? What sort of meals helped you? I like to batch cook so I can grab from the freezer.

This is a lovely thread. I began years ago with improving the microbiome of the gut by upping the diversity of vegetables and focusing on colour, and all sorts of surprising things (mood, anxiety) improved. Then the pandemic came along... Also got a high BP reading that spooked me out... Am keen to get it down, and to not get any of the associated problems along with it.

I was just reading a book by Robert Lustig called "Metabolic", where he was saying the best food for your liver was fibre from fibrous vegetables. It also feeds the good bacteria in the gut, which do a raft of good things for us in return. And that he had had to send two overweight 15 year old boys to get liver transplants from cirrhosis due to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease caused by excessive ingestion of soft drinks! He blames a lot of things on sugar, so I sort of wrote him off before, but this book was very interesting.

@surrenderdorothy very interesting! Inspiring me to (yet again) try to improve my diet. Why oh why can’t I stick to it! I must have porridge, I must have porridge…

Oats are very good at lowering bad cholesterol! I have had porridge by choice almost every morning for decades; discovered more recently there are ways to make it tasty without adding any sugar. But if you don't like porridge, it must be disgusting!

I am 51. Was diagnosed with high blood pressure a couple of years and take a pill for it. I did lose some weight.
Then a few months after I turned 50, I was diagnosed with lymphoma plus my mum died and other shit was going on. Currently in the midst of chemo but have mainly been ok. Walking the dog daily and doing one or two very short weights sessions. Week.
I am looking forward to treatment finishing and feeling better. Have put on a few pounds and definitely not doing as many steps a day.
My main issue at the moment is waking up insanely early and not being able to get back to sleep and then feeling crap from lack of sleep- not from chemo...
I am also on hrt.

Hi @CuriousMama, thanks for the thread! Do you have any links to the beetroot lowering BP thing? I've just sown some yellow beetroot seeds but I bet you're going to tell me it's just the purple ones now 😂