Conundrums of Aging

As I get older, I find that new conundrums—problems with no easy answers—are appearing. I haven’t sought them out, nor given them much thought during my life, but they have arrived, so face them I must.

First, there’s the issue of energy decline. When I had the flu and RSV this past winter, I attributed my increased fatigue to them. But now that I have fully recovered from these infections, I see that my lowered energy level is here to stay. I suppose it was happening gradually as I aged—the research says reductions in energy start in the late 30s or early 40s. But given how busy I was in those years, I never noticed a change. Now I do. So what’s to be done? I decided that I can linger longer in bed in the morning, and when I feel like it, I take a nap during the day. But I find that most important is how I schedule my day; I can’t do more than one active task in the same day, like going food shopping and visiting a museum. This is manageable, and actually makes for more leisurely days, I don’t rush from one activity to another anymore.

• Ok, got that one handled.

And here’s another, about memory

Research indicates that declines in memory start in the 30s and 40s, and become especially noticeable in the 50s and 60s. Well, I can attest to the fact that it continues to decline after the 60s. It can be awkward, especially if you meet someone who remembers your name, but you don’t remember theirs. And it can be embarrassing if you are with someone and another friend comes over, but you forgot her name and it’s obviously expected hat you will introduce them. I’ve developed some strategies. First, I have found that the use of an endearment, like “dearie” or “sweetie,” can be very useful, like “Hi dearie, nice to see you.” Also, when I am with someone and another person comes over and introductions appear needed, I may say something like “why don’t you two go ahead and introduce yourselves”  and I may add “I need to go see someone over there, I’ll be right back.”

• I think this one needs some work.

And finally, a problem that I find most vexing to resolve involves the need to stay hydrated. This is highly recommended for older people, since insufficient water intake can lead to dizziness, fatigue, and other negative outcomes. But changes in pelvic floor muscles, sometimes due to childbirth, and bladder changes, mean that we may need to go to the bathroom more often. So how to balance this? When my doctor said my blood tests indicated that I wasn’t sufficiently hydrated and needed to drink more water, I told her that drinking a lot of water during the day may be problematic if I am out and not near a bathroom. She then suggested that I drink more in the evening when I am home. But this is also problematic, as then my already more frequent need to go to the bathroom during the night (due to normal hormonal and bladder changes), means that there will be further disturbance to my sleep. What a conundrum this one is! So I make sure to use the bathroom before I leave the house, even though it reminds me of when I told my young children to go to the bathroom and “try” before leaving home. I also am cognizant of where the bathrooms are wherever I go. And while I try to increase my water intake in the evenings when I am home, I don’t do it after about 9 PM, a time well before I am ready to go to bed.

• No easy solutions here, this is a work in progress.

The good news is that all these conundrums are normal, and I expect to encounter more of them in the future. I will continue to seek solutions, so they have the least interference with all the things I want to do.