Wellness

[jlkz]

@Sweet_Serenity

Believe me, you are not alone:  was 5'7" but now 5'6"; weight gain though eating less and exercising; trouble getting up from floor; can't kneel; heel Spurs; need readers.  Oh yes, where was the larger bra when I was younger ?

Despite all that, I am still happy and active.  If the above is the worst that happens, I am OK with it....I can handle it.

Not bad for 72.... 

[151949]

Yes, I have gone from 5'10" to 5' 6 " last time I was at the doctor. That is quite a drop! I have arthritis in my spine that accounts for most of it. I used to need 32" inseams on my pants - now I only need 30".

[LexPex]

I just got weighted and measured since I am having knee replacement surgery later this month.  I knew I had lost an inch but now I am 5'5" down from 5'71/2"

Where did those 2 1/2 go?  I have been lifting weights for years and my bone density is great.  I know my knee is crooked from the arthritis.  However, other than the knee, most of me feels good on most days.  My DH has also shrunk

[SilleeMee]

Lifting weight will help slow bone loss. I have severe osteo and have not lost height and my BD scans have remained stable over the past fifteen years despite my diagnosis. My mother had the same problem with her bones, too, but she never lifted weight and she got shorter over time and eventually lost about four inches from where she was when she was younger. 

Lift weights! Start light and slow. It doesn't take a lot of weight, just something you can pick up repeatedly for about ten times and again twice more.

[151949]

My bone density is fine and I have done weights for years. However, the arthritis in my back is destroying the cartiledge between the bones in my spine and as that disappears I shrink. Not everyone has the same conditions nor does the same treatment work for everyone.

[chlema]

In my younger days I measured 5'5 1/2.  Ah but now that I am an old old lady, even though when they are measuring me and I stand as tall as I am able I am now 5'3.  Bah on that.

[blackhole99]

Make sure you are being measured accurately, I have only been measured correctly once and I was 5ft3. At 66 I'm still 5ft3 if measured correctly, but I have no skeletal problems. I sometimes think the nurses or techs that measure you don't realize how important taking the extra time to measure accurately is. One time a nurse who was very short and would have had to stand on a stool to measure me just said,"you are around 5ft2 right".

[LdyBugz]

Yep, I'm shrinking.  I'm down one and a half inches since high school, which was a gazillion years ago.  When I mentioned this to a friend, she said "You're not shrinking.  You're just "settling"."  Ha!

[qualitygal]

I just went in and sang the Lollypop song that the Munchkins sing in the Wizard of Oz. We laughed!!!

[RedTop]

My 82 year old mother is shrinking in every way possible.   When I was growing up, Mom was about 5' 5" and weighed 130 lbs; she was up to about 145+ when my dad died in 2004.   A week ago at her doctor appt she measured 5' 2" and weighed 114 lbs.  

I never remember my mom being this tiny, ever.   I am suspicious something more is going on, but she made the decision two years ago to stop all testing, and has made it clear thru advance directives she will not treat any serious condition.   I do not necessarily agree with her decision, but will support her wishes to the end.