Normal, Not Optimal

Exploring the world of functional medicine

Last year, I listened to Jeff Daniels being interviewed on a podcast. He’d recently turned seventy and made a point of telling the host that the decade between sixty and seventy is one of the most physically debilitating.

Okay, in fairness, that’s how I heard it.

What’s actually been determined, is that we go through a couple of aging “bursts” throughout our life: one at forty-four and the other at sixty. If you want to go way into the weeds, you may take this path. Otherwise, one of my favorite organizations, AARP, has a simplified version here.

I turned sixty last September and immediately declared that 2025 was my best year ever. Little did I know how prescient that thought was. Right after the holidays, I would begin a significant downward spiral, which I wrote a bit about last month.

Photo by Douglas Fehr on Unsplash

We all know how the mind and body are connected, and mine feel especially so. As long as I’m able to get around and live my life relatively pain-free, my mental health stays positive. So when, in January, I suffered some of the most severe pain I’d experienced in years, it took no time at all to begin that downward mental and emotional slide.

Not long after the onset of the stabbing sensations in my low back, glute and hip, our government murdered Renee Good. And lied about it. And started covering it up.

Then, our government murdered Alex Pretti. And lied about it. And started covering it up.

My former life as a prosecutor—working closely with law enforcement—came rushing back to the front of my brain, along with a flood of emotions. I submitted a piece to the local paper, which they rejected. It’s available to my paid subscribers, if you’re interested. Beyond that, I felt abject grief at the cruelty being inflicted on people who 1) were actually following procedures, 2) happened to be non-white, or 3) were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So…along with pain that flared up every time I took a step, a new form of grief popped up for people I didn’t even know. The curse of being a Highly Sensitive Person.

I tried talk therapy again and it was, by my assessment, a complete waste of time. (Note to self: Type A people need Type A therapists!) That said, as certain clouds started lifting, I was able to see how lots of people were in the same boat as me. A boat that seemed to spring a leak every few days. In fact, an article was written about this!

To manage the physical pain, I shut everything down, which made me depressed. Donuts and brandy Manhattans helped, until they didn’t. When I finally decided to get serious about getting some answers, I was referred to a functional medicine practitioner. I wept through the intake and then gave about a pint of blood to various test-tubes.

When all the labs came back normal except for A1C (prediabetic, surprise, surprise) I wondered what would be gained from our follow-up appointment. The pain in my back and hip had started to subside, thanks to a series of nerve and joint injections coupled with PT. I started to allow space for hope that maybe my sixtieth year wouldn’t be a complete train wreck after all.

Friends, at that follow-up appointment, I learned about “ranges” of normal.

My vitamin D and magnesium levels were “insufficient.” My ferritin level was “low normal,” as was my folate and DHEA (it’s a hormone).

As the PA explained: with the exception of the vitamin D and A1C, these levels, while normal, were not optimal. She then made recommendations for how to improve these “low normal” levels.

As a result, I’m embarking on my first science experiment on myself as a sixty-year-old post menopausal woman. I’ve added a bunch of new supplements to my daily routine, and so far, I’m pleased that none of them disagree with me. I’ve also quit the donuts and Manhattans. As I explained to the PA, my medically-induced menopause was traumatic in and of itself; I just didn’t have the time or energy to do anything more than just tough it out. But if there are ways to help my body in postmenopause to become its optimal self, I’m down.

I joke with my similarly-aged friends about the pill planners. Here we are!

As part of this journey, I’ve also learned that hip and glute tendinopathy is a common condition in women as we go through menopause. You can read more about that here. Again, probably normal, but certainly not optimal. I’m excited to be on the other side of this nonsense.

What’s your aging experience? Leave a comment!

Until next month!

~ Debbie

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Garden update:

It’s waaaaaay too early to even talk about planting, but the garden menaces are already out and about. At least one bunny is keeping the dogs agitated as it nibbles its way towards the plants I cherish.

Here’s Walter Woodchuck grazing in the back yard. Hopefully my upgrades to the vegetable garden will keep him at bay…stay tuned!

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APRIL BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

FICTION: Day: A Novel by Michael Cunningham

I read this several years ago and was struck by its captivating portrayal of a family as they go through the trauma of the pandemic. I’m a fan of character studies, and this has plenty of those!

NONFICTION: The School of Life: An Emotional Education introduced by Alain de Botton

The School of Life was founded ten years ago by writer and philosopher Alain de Botton, with the purpose of equipping people with the tools to survive and thrive in the modern world. This book focuses on emotional intelligence, and is a crash course in emotional maturity.