What is your life like if you have no health problems?

[AbsentmindedWoman]

I went down a mad mental rabbit hole wondering about this! I have had type 1 diabetes since 11, I do remember a carefree childhood before that but it is so long ago now. I am constantly scanning my body (and, as of lately, my medical tech that gives me info) for feelings and clues to keep myself safe, and constantly analysing where I'm going/ what I'm doing to make sure I have contingency plans for all eventualities.

What is it like to live with no health issues? Can you describe that?

What is it like to live in a body that works in a straightforward fashion? Do you ever think about it, or no?

Would be very interested if anyone can offer explanations of what their lived experience of a 'healthy body' is!

I've never had any health problems except a cat allergy which I cured by becoming vegan. I've also had flu 3 times and 2 weeks of sciatica. Apart from that nothing and I'm nearly 50. I sometimes feel very fortunate, but I have had other misfortunes in my life so I'm not always feeling grateful. When I had flu the last time I did feel very, very happy to feel well again afterwards. I can see how long-term or lifelong illness can make a massive difference to mental health.

My uncle recently went into hospital for the second time in his life in his very late sixties for a minor op. The first time was his birth :)

I’m grateful for my good health. I’m 48 and I always go for a run on my birthday’ because I can’. And by that I’m thankful that I can. A few aches and pains and dealing with menopause but on the whole ok.
Genuinely feel for those who don’t have such good health

mindproject, it was becoming vegan I realised I had a soya allergy...

I really have never had even any 'low level' health problems, no aches, no bowel issues, no glasses or blocked ears or even an ingrowing toenail. Not even a painful period.

I've had a couple of boken bones that were a mild inconvenience, an impacted wisdom tooth whilst pregnant which hurt like a bugger and couldn't be treated until I'd given birth and an incomplete miscarriage that caused hemorrhaging. But they were all very temporary and treatable (with modern medicine, no doubt a couple of those would have taken me out a few hundred years ago). Other than that, I'm from a family that dies in its late 80's from heart failure.

There's always a little voice in the back of your head though that tells you smug twats will be punished!

I can not imagine living with chronic ill health and managing pain. I’m incredibly blessed and do not pay my body the respect it deserves in terms of diet or exercise. I love my life a and feel utmost respect to those who live with pain.

@AbsentmindedWoman
I’m 51 and incredibly lucky, good fertility and easy pregnancies, no operations or health conditions bar occasional colds- I’ve not needed time off work for a decade. I’ve had glimpses of what it would be like, insomnia and anxiety, and I sat down a few years back and worked out how to avoid the big looming health issues- menopause and joints- every family member in the generation above me has had to have numerous knees and hips replaced. That meant being as light and flexible as possible but avoiding weight bearing exercise (joints) and stopping drinking (anxiety and sleepless+ problem drinking felt like a time bomb.) I’m also incredibly grateful I have great digestion, the headspace and pain of intolerances and allergies must be a dreadful mental load. I really do appreciate my health.

Hi. It sounds really hard and must be exhausting. I'm late 30s and have been lucky health wise. In answer to your question of How does it feel?? I know I'm lucky. I feel well: I'm rarely tired, lots of energy and motivation, can exercise a lot, like to plan activities and I just feel happy with my body and self. I know that makes me super lucky. I'm a GP and see tons of people who are unwell or tired. I think tiredness is just shit. It means people can't do what they would like to do and is frustratingly difficult to manage (provided no underlying cause which there rarely is) so yes, it does feel good and I don't take it for granted.. I hope that doesn't come across as boastful and I hope you get to a place where things are well controlled and its not such a daily battle for you x

I feel incredibly lucky that at 63 I have no major body problems, a slightly bad back but that's it. three years ago I fell and fractured my wrist and couldn't believe how limiting it was having a cast on my arm, I totally am so grateful each day that what should work does work

Very interesting thread. It's only really through mumsnet that I've become aware just how many people are living with pain or chronic illness and I can't really imagine how hard it must be.. I feel very lucky so far but also much more aware of how I might not always be in good health. That said I have always suffered from low self esteem and low level anxiety which though are in no way comparable to many more serious things, have really impacted my life in many negative ways. I always hope to overcome these issues but it's a struggle. I'm not sure how I would cope if I had major illness or life limiting physical condition as well.

Someone can have a health issue but be happier and more active then someone who is supposedly healthy.

Still stressful because I'm in a coercive control relationship. Everyone has challenges but they come in different packages. My health has generally been good but my personal life has always been an emotional rollercoaster / shambles.

As people have said, it's something you don't really notice until you don't have it. I've always been very healthy and I've always theoretically known it's a blessing to count but in practice taken it for granted. I had three miscarriages before DS and I felt almost outraged at the third - I felt like my body shouldn't have let me down like this, that my body always does what it's told. Which is awful written down, but I think I had thought I was physically invincible. I still do on some level - last year I had to have a lump on my thyroid removed because they couldn't tell if it was cancer and DH was terrified but I just thought 'it won't be cancer', and it wasn't. Which, again, seems terrible, almost entitled, written down, and very out of character as I'm generally quite pessimistic.

This is such an interesting thread OP.... I think people may have a subjective view of 'good health' maybe?
I'm sure many people look at me and think 'poor bugger, stuck in a wheelchair or on my sticks' BUT I actually think I've been very lucky in terms of health, by that I mean I've never had the flu, rarely get colds, etc and have a cast iron constitution!
Yes, physically I'm pogged and I can't remember a time when I wasn't (had my first knee reconstruction at 14) but I still see myself as healthy, it's just the body that's falling to bits. Does that make any sense? I'm probably not explaining myself very well I'm afraid x

I don’t have any physical health problems but I do have autism. Life feels utterly relentless most of the time. I do feel your pain op

I am not suggesting anyone's life is easy if they have good health.

I am just curious about the lived experience of 'good health', in your body, what that means, how it feels. It is not a scientific question, it's not an equation of absolute truth.

I've name changed, my first ever.

I don't think about my health really. I've never had anything seriously wrong with me and I've only been to hospital for births. We don't have a well stocked medicine cabinet and I would never carry paracetamol or anything like that around in my bag.

One of my dc has anaphylaxis so we went to the doctor about that and then the hospital for tests when he was diagnosed as a,toddler. When the epipens expire, sometimes the GP asks to see him and other times they give you a repeat.

We lived in a country with only private health care for just over a decade and only ds was registered with the GP as he was the only one who had to go in that time. You only needed to register when you needed to go and none of us did need to.

I’m 49 and I am incredibly lucky, I keep very good health. I don't think about it at all which I think is very normal. I have reached an age that when I do think about it, I am keen to stay this way - so I’ve started managing my health a bit more actively - exercise, diet, Pilates, etc.

Just minor niggles - mild depression which is very manageable with medication, usually one cold a year, one or two ibuprofen tablets on the first day of my period (not needed every month though), occasional achy knees and shoulders, pollen allergy to trees in April. Very minor though.

I am 52.
I have always been healthy, physically and mentally. Life has had its moments, but when you deal with those from a basis of good mental health, I think they are easier to cope with.

I think that 99% of the time I don't think about it. I don't have to consider what I eat or what I do, or even things like wearing socks/slippers to look after my feet (my friend who is diabetic always thinks about her feet).
It is one of those things that we totally take for granted until it is gone.

I've dealt with infertility which involved pregnancy loss and necessitated surgery before (successful) IVF which included OHSS and a ruptured ovarian cyst which put me in hospital. But other than a broken bone in adulthood that healed just fine and a bout of scarlet fever as an adult I am healthy and fine at 42. I do have diastasis recti from pregnancy which causes me back pain occasionally but nothing major. I am able to be as active as my current fitness allows and plan to get fitter.
I have though lived with years and years of chronic illness including cancer of various types, rare autoimmune diseases and the more common arthritis and heart failure amongst my close relatives which have left to some people taking upwards of 30 tablets of 10 different medicines a day and it has been heartbreaking and stressful for them and us who love them.

I'm 40 and have had type 1 diabetes since the age of 11 also. Yep it can be a pain sometimes but after 30 years most of the time I don't even think of life being different. I also think that there's a lot worse that could be wrong....if I take my insulin I can have a normal life whereas many other conditions that's not the case. I've done the same as I would've done in life if I wasn't diabetic.....uni, career, marriage, kids etc

I’m 43 and to be totally honest the only times I’ve probably been genuinely thankful for good health is after I’ve had a bad cold and one time had flu, and those were a few years ago. Can’t recall the last time I had a cold.
Like pp said it’s only when you feel crap that you realise how good you actually feel when nothing’s wrong. So most days it’s not on my radar.

Being on MN has opened my eyes to how many people are going though a variety of issues which has made me more grateful and I count myself blessed. Also as you get older inevitably thoughts of mortality increase so there’s that too.

Honestly I have good health now , haven't always , but as pp say mostly it just never factors in and I recognise there is a massive freedom in that. It doesnt occur to me now that I cant nip to the shop , run across the car park and be back in 5 minutes whereas of course if I had health issues that can be a huge undertaking.

Having experienced quite Ill health I realise the freedom of not having to jump barriers like mobility issues etc. However being human I dont honestly appreciate it as often as I should.

The older i get though the more i do appreciate it and i realise a clock is ticking I'm unlikely to be as lucky as this forever . I've made lifestyle changes to protect it and where in my twenties i didn't think twice about my health and in retrospect actively tried to damage it , now I'm seeking to retain it for as long as possible.

I’m pretty healthy but DH has a life limiting genetic condition and the two of our four DCs have the gene.

I’d swap in an arrhythmic or ectopic heartbeat.

@stardust40 fist bump

How are your eyes and kidneys doing?

I have lived a pretty 'normal' life too but my a1c was 8 until I finally got my pump a few years ago, and that a1c has definitely done me some damage. I do feel angry that I didn't have the tools that I need, for such a long time. I should've tried harder. But really also for a long time I hated the idea of the pump hanging off me permanently. I still don't sleep as well as I did pre pump, I'm constantly aware of it.

It's 6 now and I will probably get it even lower, into non-diabetic numbers, but this takes a lot of work - checking Dexcom every 20 minutes while awake, having very tight ranges so the alarms are alerting me every 90 mins at night, switching basal dose up or down, calculating corrections, bla bla and so on.

That just isn't a normal life to me, and that's without the work that goes into eating, which we all have to do.

It isn't sustainable to focus this intently forever though. I need unbroken sleep!