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Retirement can be very traumatic and some people don't adjust well to it. I retired for a few years in my 40's and decided to start a new company a few years later. Can you feel good in your 60's? Absolutely. I started climbing mountains several years ago at 59. If he hasn't done so I would strongly recommend a "thorough" evaluation by a doctor.
All my father would talk about when he was in his 50s was his 62nd birthday, when he would retire and live the good life. His finances were set on his 62nd birthday and getting his first pension and Social Security check was so exciting. He had so many plans to do all kinds of interesting things when he retired, he could not do when he worked 60 hours a week.
But once he turned 62, he told me he felt terrible. Can't sleep, gets up multiple times a night to pee, stiff and sore, low energy, cloudy head, and just run down. He has gone to doctors and they told him to get more excercise. But he says he is too tired, stiff and sore.
So, my question to those of you who are in your sixties. Did you once feel like my father, but through hard work, training and diet, turn that around and now feel just absolutely great? Is it even possible to in great shape after letting yourself go in your sixties? (I mean feel just great in your sixties AFTER you feel terrible for years.)
If his doctors have eliminated a physical cause, has he considered seeking counseling? Did his ailments begin shortly after he retired? If he spent most of his life working long hours, this is quite a change. Sometimes the reality is that expectations don't live up to the dream, maybe retirement wasn't what he thought it was. Maybe all he needs is a little more structure, a PT job, volunteer work, a passionate hobby?
Let me clarify my question: Has any of you felt like my dad in your sixties and turned it around and now feel just great?
He does lots of walking and some weight training and tread mill but afterwords he feels like a truck drove over him.
As someone else mentioned - could be he is depressed. Maybe the best thing for him is to go back to work. Retirement can be over hyped and its not for him.
I think that people who do not have a reason to wake up often don't want to. In too many cases, people retire and now lack a purpose for getting up in the morning.
Personally, I do a lot of volunteering and help a lot of my neighbors. When I see what many of them are going through yest still maintain a positive attitude, it is hard not to be positive.
Health wise...Is he on statins? He sounds like me before I realized I was having a bad statin reaction and the doctor took me off. He needs a good medical exam and then some exercise (or PT if it is needed). Getting out and meeting new people or new experiences might clear up the "cloudy head" although statins can also trigger that.
We roller skate with a 92 year old on Friday mornings. Our neighbor who is 65, morbidly obese, and can't walk across the street nearly died of an insulin over dose last week. Guess who I want to be like when I grow up?
I'm nearly 60 and yes there are aches and pains, especially if I ride my bike for three hours. My knees hurt the next day. It doesn't stop me from getting up and moving. It's unfortunate that your father is choosing to age the way he is JPC but it's his life. Just like it's our neighbors choice to almost die a few days before his first biological grand child was born. I know how much better I feel after a strenuous bike ride and I'm addicted to that endorphin rush. It's difficult to understand the appeal of allowing food or alcohol to dictate how you live after you experience that endorphin rush. It's also difficult to teach an alternative lifestyle to someone unwilling to change or can't grasp that concept.
In the end we all choose different paths to walk and you have to respect your fathers lack of enthusiasm for being healthy. Yes it's sad, but it is what it is.
He's at an age where he needs his hormones checked. Testosterone is likely low and will make any man feel like ****. That is the problem more times then not. Get those hormones back into optimal range and keep them balanced and everything starts coming back. Today, a man well into his 70's can do anything most men in their 30's can do if you really want it. There are countless examples to be found of this out there. Get his hormones balanced and get him on an intense exercise routine.
He needs a complete physical including bloodwork. Do not start him on supplements or buy him a pet or get him a job. Get him some medical tests and see what's going on.
Your OP said he saw a doctor who said, get more exercise....did this MD run any tests? Did he/she advise your father to return if he continued to feel poorly??
Having aches and pains at his age is probably normal. I hang out with lots of older people and they just keep on going no matter what.
My roommate is in pain all the time but he is still out there. It can be mind over matter.
Just this week I have noticed weird things happening to me. Pain and other things that my 56 year old body is finally experiencing. I have been exercising more - so that could be it. Will be tracking it.
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