This is the inevitable thread for ILxors in their forties

My blood pressure has rocketed up this last year or so as well -- I'm reasonably confident it's the combination of my SNRI and not really quitting alcohol. So I'm tapering off the former and basically cutting out the latter for the next month or so to see if that has a measurable effect.

If not, I regret I might have to stop eating macaroni and cheese.

I don't have any nutritional or dietary issues myself (thank goodness), but sorting donations at the food pantry in accordance to their requirements has made me acutely aware of things like sodium and added sugars, their two biggest bugaboos. It's kind of amazing how much stuff does not pass muster as "healthy."

Had a colonoscopy once, they sedate you, but you are semi conscious - they let you watch if you want, I declined.

Upside - got diagnosed with IBD, so worth the test! Luckily, not really had a bad IBD flare for a while.

Sedation during colonoscopies -- I don't know what the deal is. I've had, like five of 'em, and have been knocked out cold each time. My wife has had the experience jel describes, awake but not in pain.

And listen to table -- colorectal cancer is completely treatable, if caught early. There aren't always signs that something's wrong which is why regular screenings are recommended. If the cancer is localized, still in one place, you've got a 90% recovery rate.

Seems like they keep dropping the age where you can be screened without too much hassle. Used to be 50, now it's 45. Within the next ten years, colorectal cancer may become the #1 cancer suffered by people between 20 and 50.

I don't even want to know my bp, if I knew I might have to do something about it.

Did my stretches this morning, esp hip flexibility ones. As long as you can move easily enough to do what you want, that seems fine! But my life is measurably worse without hip flex and range of motion.

Topic shift away from physical selves: I'm so much happier and more comfortable in my 40s even though I'm financially/professionally precarious right now--it's not just because I have more money or security bc I do not--I'm still much happier with the person that I am and the relationships and networks I'm part of. Previous decades suggest that this is an upward-trending line overall so I'm psyched for line goes up future decades!

why do you get given an anaesthetic for a colonoscopy in the USA? they don't give you one in the UK. is it just so they can charge more to your insurance or something?

Colorectal cancer rates among people 25-44 in the US have skyrocketed in the past 5-10 years— while the jury is out on causes, there is a great suspicion among medical professionals and dietitians that the preponderance of heavily processed food (including excess nitrite use) in our diets has something to do with it.

That said, I just have a genetic marker making me more susceptible to colorectal cancer, tho the years of smoking and etc probably did not help.

I'm so much happier and more comfortable in my 40s even though I'm financially/professionally precarious right now--it's not just because I have more money or security bc I do not--I'm still much happier with the person that I am and the relationships and networks I'm part of. Previous decades suggest that this is an upward-trending line overall so I'm psyched for line goes up future decades!

this is nice to hear, i'm happy for you.

i'm also generally happier than i have been at any point in my life. my story is shaped pretty foundationally by religious and family trauma and also financial precarity. the former hasn't gone away but it's less in control thanks to boundaries and stuff. the latter is still not amazing or anything but i've made significant progress. i'm also in a really loving relationship. could help to find a broader network but it's hard in this culturally awful place in which i live. i do rely on posters here a lot for more meaningful social interaction so thanks for putting up with my prickly ass.

I'm also in a better place, as far as general happiness. I don't have much in the way of social interaction (beyond occasionally hanging out with other parents). My marriage is messy and a source of constant anxiety. I'm dealing with mental health issues. Money's better than it has been, but is still precarious - could use a lot more! But despite the challenges, I've been more comfortable with myself lately.

heavily processed food (including excess nitrite use)

This is interesting. I had 1 relative die of colon cancer and my mom was correspondingly cautious of feeding us any preserved meat products! We never ate ham, and if we had hot dogs one day, we had to have oatmeal the next day lol. Maybe she was onto something.

Hmm another point in favor of The Diet

I'm still much happier with the person that I am and the relationships and networks I'm part of. Previous decades suggest that this is an upward-trending line overall so I'm psyched for line goes up future decades

yay! For me it's often two steps forward, one step back ... but there is a forward motion. I'm doing the thing right now that is realizing which people in my life I value the most and trying to maintain/build on those relationships and letting go of the ones that are better off as friendly acquaintances. A bunch of it has to do with doing a lot less drinking than I used to, and the associated activities and stupidity that goes with drank. I still have that feeling of being in a prolonged adolescence because I am not married and don't have kids.

wrong age group thread for me personally, but need to ask UK'rs on this thread.
have any of you been offered a colonoscopy on NHS as part of a regular check up thing, as opposed to an investigation for relevant problems ?
i am 54 and have never once been offered such a procedure
in fact, i suspect even if i asked, i would be end of the very long queue due to not having any major relevant issues.

just an update i rescheduled the scope for a monday in december because fuck going to work on mondays in december

Enjoy!

(Not being sarcastic--the prep is painless, the procedure is painless--the drugs make it even somewhat pleasant--day off from work, sense of satisfaction at having done a Good Thing for Health, interesting experience, and later, color pictures of your own rectum!!! What is not to love about a colonoscopy???)

The prep is technically painless but highly distasteful, in quantity. But yeah definitely a good thing for everybody to do. Maybe I won't put off my next one.

quincie otm

They even upped my dose of anesthesia cause I told them I drink and smoke the ganja

as opposed to ... sensimilla?

doc was like "give them the good stuff"

I always say something like, "You can't knock me out, I'm too strong!" to make them step harder on the gas.

At one point mid-procedure I went “oof” and the tech was immediately like “I GIVE U MORE DON’T WORRIES!”

"was that a good oof or a bad oof?"

It didn’t really hurt, I just felt some pressure and doc was like yeah that’s a tight turn right there

xps to mark
no never been advised to have one by a doctor. but then again I've never known anyone in UK go to the docs for a general check up or 'physical' which if I go by us tv is apparently a thing.

oscar - once i hit the big 50 i got summoned for a general MOT : blood pressure, Cholesterol, weight, chat re booze etc.
got summoned back a few weeks later for a discussion re my Cholesterol.

this week i had to have my covid/flu boosters and at the same time they were checking records and asking people for blood pressure/weight measurements for those they had not seen for a while.

but when it comes to the ££ stuff, then yeah, i guess its a case wait until things become visible.

I turned 50 last year, all I got was an invitation to get a flu jab which I took them up on. no other questions or tests.

at least this digression has reminded me to get this winters flu jab so that's something.

Yeah, flu is definitely going around right now - much more than covid.

The c scopy fasting makes it easier to fast at any given time

miralax, dulcolax, apple juice, lacroix, gatorades, bone broths, fentiman's. might get gum later if can stir myself from my fainting couch, without food i am lost *sobs* only slightly kidding

I didn’t think gum was allowed. Don’t swallow it by accident

two day hangovers ...

hope it went okay, map

a camera up the ass - what is life

thanks table, it went fine, clean as a whistle thank god!

the anethesia they used is good shit, which i will "possibly" be getting a separate bill for

worst part of the whole thing, including the prep, was sitting in that godawful waiting room for 45 minutes

The first time they did me, they gave me a small amount of fent, which was extremely surprising. Of course, that was when they found the cancer, so it was probably good that I emerged all groggy from getting dosed with opioids.

i noticed a section on the anesthesia release form with two drugs listed. fentanyl was an option, but the other one was checked, i forget the name of it

probs dilaudid

which is also great, tbh, and is perfect for colonoscopies— shorter duration that morphine, but deeper sedation.

I don't touch opioids in any recreational way despite ample use of most other drugs at some point in my life, but have had to have them for various medical reasons, and I think dilaudid is actually my favorite of them.

IIRC versed is a popular c-scopy benzo.

well it's a good thing i have no intention of ever touching opiates either or i'd be s.o.l.

I guess this is a forties thing to have slept on my elbow in a weird way so I'm on a week of dealing with shoulder/elbow pain and tingling like I've hit my funny bone. Seeing a doctor on Thursday, but it's annoying as fuck and I keep hoping it will get better, but no luck.

maybe its a neck vertebrae issue " Maxmillion D. Boosted (jon /via/ chi 2.0) "

Oy, 3 years into my 40s have not been kind from a health perspective. Yeah yeah, pandemic etc. But just came back from my physical with significantly elevated blood pressure and sharply higher lipid panel than I've ever had in the past. Quite a wake-up call

ever since I turned 45 i feel like my body is breaking down in the stupidest and most boring ways possible

i'm not 40 but next time you're due for a colonoscopy see if your doctor is willing to try 'cologuard' instead - it's where you poop into a box and mail it to a lab to be analyzed for cancer, should replace a colonoscopy iirc.

jon, I got a new pillow earlier this year, which resulted in weeks of weird pains as I adjusted. real dumb to live in bodies like this imho