Is it that unusual to be in your 60s and not on medication?

[Mumblechum0]

This is just something that made me think this week; 3 separate groups of friends and family, all late 50s or early 60s.

im finding increasingly that a lot of conversations turn to various ailments etc. I find these very dull.

amyway, in all 3 groups (I know how bizarre this sounds), they talked about what medications they’re on, and were surprised that I don’t take anything, not even vitamins, hrt etc.

i had cancer over 20 yrs ago but have been to the GP twice in 10 years. If I get ill, I tend to just wait for it to pass.

anyway, I wondered idly whether I just hang out with a lot of very unlucky people in terms of health, or is it usual to be on 3 or 4 meds?

(one friend had an alarm going off on her phone all day to remind her to take her tablets which led to today’s conversation)

I am really sorry this happened to you. However it wasn't bad luck - tardive dyskinesia is a well documented and well known side effect of some anti psychotic medications and is one reason why i think these drugs should be banned. The other reason is that they destroy sexual function in some people and kill others. Psychosis is better treated in other ways and there doesn't seem to be any rationale at all for why you were prescribed it. Psychiatrists minimise and gloss over how harmful the drugs they prescribe are and anti psychotics are one of the most harmful.

My mum is 80 and it’s only over the past few years she’s been on omeprazole and a statin (statin is a preventative thing due to familial high cholesterol)
Prior to that, no meds

I’m 54- no meds. Do take Vit d3. DF is 86 and no meds- does take red wine.

I’m early sixties. Have been on HRT for over a decade and will stay on it forever. Saw all my older female relatives with crippling osteoporosis so I do everything to avoid that. I’m fit, bang in the middle of BMI and a size 10. I eat a really healthy diet, low carb, no chocolate, cakes, bread, alcohol etc. never smoked

annoyingly I have high blood pressure and slightly raised cholesterol so am on blood pressure drugs and statins which give me no side effects at all. As all my older family members have had strokes at some point I’m keen to do everything I can to stay healthy so have no problem taking the drugs I need

I’m 64, on two medications, thyroxine for underactive thyroid and Citalopram for anxiety - but neither of those conditions is age related.

My DM lived in a cul de sac of elderly people and the conversation was either about their medical care or someone else's - 'they had to call an ambulance at 2am', 'he's waiting for an op', 'very sad about x,y or z', 'the doctor said....' etc
I swore I would try not to do that and find other things to chat about.
But as I approach my 70s lately there has been, among close family and friends, heart attack, op for cataracts, 2 fractured wrists, early type 2 diabetes, unexplained dizzy spells, meunieres disease, stress from caring for elderly parent.

I think illness and medication comes with age (all the above lead active lives) and it's hard to avoid.

........ but when I hear about the failure of the NHS I think it isn't the failure that is the problem it's the success at keeping all us oldies on the road - only for us to need more care at a later date - a bottomless pit

This is a bit harsh: you can be compassionate towards people with health conditions and still find it boring when health and ailments are people’s only topic of conversation.

There’s a time and a place: I wouldn’t bore people at a social event or a catch up talking exclusively about my health.

The last person who told me they weren’t on any meds or didn’t get ill much died suddenly with a stroke. Early 60s.

My mum and dad are in their 60’s and neither are on any medication.
We actually joke often that my mum has some sort of superhuman immune system because I can count on one hand the amount of times I can ever remember her being ill. Even normal coughs and colds she seems to be completely immune too 🤷🏻‍♀️😂
My dad, I put it down to the fact that he still plays football twice a week and goes to the gym inbetween. He had a cardio check up a few months ago and his results were in line with someone in their mid-40’s.

I'm a mental health nurse by profession, and yes I think the majority of patients I meet are on meds. Aside from meds for depression etc( which obviously I see a lot) the most common conditions for meds are high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, and under active thyroid.

Most GPs invite you in for an over 40s screening, have you not had one OP? It's worth at least regular BP screening and routine bloods, most of these are easily picked up and then treated and either have no symptoms or ones that are easily dismissed.

I think genetics play a big part. My grandmother’s sister died recently she was 103! To be honest she was in a home and told us she had enough because all of her immediate family were dead. For all I know I could drop down dead tomorrow life is very uncertain. My dear friend died at 46 of a brain tumour leaving two children. I just try to be healthy and don’t horse ride anymore just in case I fall off a break a bone at my age.

I was invited for one at 43 but not since and I’m 54. I do have a blood pressure machine at home and mine is always 100/70 ish. I eat much healthier now and cholesterol back then was 4.0. I’m rarely ill and never smoked, have reduced alcohol to less than 5 units a week.

Im 52 and would love not to be on medication. However, despite being very slim and active - I developed a high bp in my early 40s. So now take a daily medication for this.

Huge family history of early onset hypertension so i think genetics plays a part. Id love not to take it but the other option would be to have a stroke.

My mum didn’t take anything between stopping the Pill in her early 50s and starting thyroxine in her early 70s. My stepdad has had asthma meds all his life but didn’t have anything else until 70+.

I get my vit d checked every year in April and it is always in the 70s. I do eat sardines and wild salmon every day though!

Thank you for your kind words.

It's not my GP's fault for my TD but it's always stayed with me how she told me not to look up the side effects of the antipsychotic prescribed. I was in a terrible breakdown and state, lacking insight into how ill I was, therefore unable to rationalise the type of medication I was given.

She'd polydrugged me too but it hadn't worked, so the antipsychotic was a last resort for severe insomnia and anxiety.

I'd literally give anything to turn back time 😢 Niw I am pretty scared of even things like paracetamol, and i worry about how something like HRT might impact the involuntary movements so I guess I am.not helping myself with my perimenopause symptoms.

I'm adopted too, and my adoptive mum has always had great genes. No medication or anything. I often wonder how I would have fared with her genes 🤔

I take levothyroxine (hypothyroidism) and Candesartan (blood pressure), I'm 56
Often older adults who never see a GP have high cholesterol or BP but have no idea, they are the ones who just "drop dead" from a heart attack or stroke, having been fit and well on the surface.
I work in the NHS.

I'm mid sixties. Apart from asthma inhalers for use when I get a bad cold, I'm not on anything at all. But I don't consider myself anything other than very very fortunate - I've seen people younger than me having knee, hip, shoulder replacements, having chemo, and my younger brother is diabetic and on all kinds of tablets.

I just got lucky, that's all.

Just to add to this, I’ve recently had cataract surgery (which means I no longer need glasses except for reading, which I am very pleased about!) but cataracts do run in families - my DM had them.

My dad wasn't on any meds until a couple of months before he died, aged 77.

@Spidey66 over 40s screening isn't available in every part of the UK. I'd quite like to have a screening but it's not done where I am.

Oh the person that works 8 hours a week in our surgery ( 2 mornings) Sure she also has tons of time in between smear tests, baby jabs and everything else she does daily

Tbh id prefer a quick sudden death than being kept alive for many years slowly deteriorating and losing quality of life

And what are you meant to do about the bone density if you can't take HRT? You make it sound like everyone has a choice to

There are plenty of things you can do to protect bone density without taking HRT.