Turning 28 in a month and in the past year everything has gotten drastically worse.
Is this just a normal part of aging or am I unlucky? I mean I am almost 30 but it just seemed kind of sudden idk.
Like for example my varicose veins have gotten exponentially worse this year, I feel like my skin is sagging a lot over my whole body, and I feel like I’ve lost muscle mass, like significantly. To be fair I wasn’t as active as usual but in other similar situations I was never looking this way.
Doctors said I’m fine btw. I’m just so exhausted and it’s depressing seeing this shit.
Short answer, no, it is not normal unless you have some kind of illness.
28 years of age is usually too young for your body to fall apart. It is enough time that your bad habits begin to show results, such as muscle loss, muscle imbalances, etc. This is usually caused by your life style. As you get older, its more important for you to do maintenance on your body and watch what you are consuming.
If your life is too stationary, then you will start to see yourself falling apart. The old saying of “If you don’t use it, you lose it” starts to hold true with time. How “aged” your body feels really depends on how active you are with it, to an extent. There are people twice your age that are in fantastic shape, that is because they put in work to maintain their bodies.
It is time to introduce some good habits to your routine. Eat a bit better, move around more, more active activities, etc. You will start to feel better again before you know it. Good luck.
Seconding. Early 30s, went to the doc with a set of strange new pains. Turns out I’ve been too sedentary and much of it started to improve with just a couple hours of walking every day
I started to develop a gut for the first time around the same age (after being so skinny people would comment about it). I think you’re probably noticing regular aging, but you can probably slow the trend via a healthier lifestyle. Get active, improve your diet, maybe check with a different doc just to be sure.
This is what I was going to say.
Falling apart at 28 isn’t normal, but what is normal at 28 is having your body suddenly stop giving you a hall pass. That’s very relatable.
Get 8 hours of sleep a night, walk and bike when you can, eat your greens, etc. and you might notice a difference.
having your body suddenly stop giving you a hall pass.
Great way to put it. I’m close to OPs age, and while I won’t say I’m “falling apart” to the extent they are, things definitely are starting to have consequences. Sleep deprivation was the most shocking; used to be able to get 4-6 hours of sleep for several consecutive days of activity, then sleep on over the weekend and be completely fine. Now, if I get less than 7, chances are pretty good that I’m not gonna have a great day tomorrow.
I was starting to go that way in my late twenties. Started training in the gym. Thirties now, looking and feeling better than at any other point in my life. I beat my high school time for the 1 mile run by 30s recently, I couldn’t believe it.
I’ve seen people much older than you or I totally turn their lives around. I think for most people, it’s not getting older that is the problem, but rather, being sedentary over the long run is just way more destructive than we realize. Even just daily long walks makes a night and day difference
Yup I didn’t get back to a healthy weight until after my kid was born at 40. Really till he started running around so closer to 42-43.
Then I got Covid just before the vaccine was available for our ages and have been underweight since. Just finally started gaining back decent muscle this winter but still having trouble keeping weight on (I’m 6’3 and 170-175lbs (~190cm ~78kg)).
Was around 200lbs (90kg) while my wife was pregnant.
Roughly the same age here. Sure, some minor issues start to accumulate. I broke some stuff that will probably haunt me forever. My teeth had some issues earlier. But everything else? I finally started doing enough sport, and the effects are visible in just weeks. No, you should not fall apart, and if you do, it is high time you fix it.
Keep doing exercise, don’t. Ever. Stop.
I’ve stopped multiple times over the years and it gets progressively harder to get back in shape. Just stay in shape and even then, yes, your body will deteriorate over time, just a lot less
Do you stretch often? I remember feeling like this in my early 20’s and my friends suggested I do yoga which helped immensely. My legs will also feel terrible if I don’t stretch them or place them above my head every day. Supposedly putting them above your head (like lying on your bed with your legs on the wall) will prevent varicose veins by draining the blood from them and letting them heal. Maybe it’ll help a bit with already varicose veins.
Also you’re getting to that age where your diet will have a larger effect on how you feel, so try to eat more vegetables or whatever your body needs. I’ve found that meat does not sit well with me if I eat too much of it, so try to find out what you need.
Do you sit around a lot? Do you play games instead of being active? Do you eat sugary foods and a lot of soft drinks? What sort of exercise are you doing?
I’m 48, I work in computers, but I’m in about the same shape now than I was at 28: I weigh the same if not a little less, I eat well, am active, and when I’m not working, I stay the fuck off of computers, games, and other shit that keeps my ass in a seat.
Exercise increases energy levels, improves mood, and makes you healthier.
Your young enough that everything should be working fine
Change your diet to not be hostile to your health
- remove sugars
- remove alcohol
- keep your blood glucose as low as possible all the time
Get some sunlight exposure everyday, on your bare skin
Do some level of daily exercise, walking, stairs… anything to get your body moving and the blood flowing
If you want more guidance you can see a functional medicine doctor and get checked out, or explore more extensive eating pattern improvements like a ketogenic diet.
I am assuming as low as possible means not eating huge amounts of sugar, not going into hypoglycemia regularly ;)
s/huge/any/
Unless your diabetic, you don’t really have to worry about hypoglycemia, not eating sugar/carbs is the single biggest thing people can do for their health.
No this doesn’t sound normal. Do you have any other symptoms, including things you might think are normal but that other people your age don’t deal with, joint pain or fatigue for example?
I thought I was just someone with the knees of an 80 year old, but then I got diagnosed with fibromyalgia, which is almost certainly a misdiagnosis of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Severe varicose veins at a young age is a known symptom of vascular EDS, not something you want to take lightly, I’d suggest trying to rule it out if you do have other symptoms as it’s life threatening.
I have no reason to diagnose you, so don’t take my suggestion of EDS that way. It’s just worth taking things seriously if your quality of life is being impacted because it might save you a lot of pain in the future. Hence be on the lookout for other problems and consider that they may be related. You should also be careful of doctors dismissing your symptoms as it’s extremely common for illnesses like this to be dismissed as “all in your head” especially if you’re a woman.
Regardless of other symptoms, I’d still suggest you take it seriously and be sure your doctor is doing the same and not just declaring you healthy for no obvious reason.
Here's a list of other symptoms I have
- Non restful sleep (I wake up feeling exhausted)
- I sleep with a body pillow because my body is too uncomfortable to support itself
- Insomnia
- Brain fog
- Extreme fatigue
- Tendons that like to dislocate (clicky/crunchy joints)
- Constantly getting injuries from light exercise
- Joint pain from everyday activities (it’s physically painful to use my phone while I write this)
- Regular muscle twitches
- Widespread aches and pain
- IBS
- Acid reflux/heartburn
It’s less that “everything goes to shit at 28” and more that “as you age your body becomes worse and worse at recovering from shit it used to shake off like it was nothing”
Allergic reactions, pains from being sedentary or from doing exercise wrong or from overwork, drinking and hangovers, obesity, genetic conditions you were always prone to – Stuff that as a younger person wasn’t so much of a problem even if it was there, start being more and more of a problem. And more and more of a danger.
Breaking a leg as an 18 year old and breaking a leg as a 30 year old are radically different experiences.
The better you take care of your body, the less bad it is. But well. You’re aging.
The trick is taking care of your body more like how you take care of your car than how you take care of the ant hills in the cracks of your sidewalk.
Wait for the service light to turn on then ignore it for months until you hear a grinding sound?
That’s the way I’ve been doing it since the second kid. But YMMV.
Doesn’t work on me, my car is all banged up and I don’t give two shits about it as long as it remains road-legal.
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The 30’s are supposed to be the decade where the “check engine” light finally comes on.
Stretch your arms and legs, go take a walk outside for 30-60 minutes nearly every day, and get some steps in. Make that the new thing you do now. Eventually work in some more exercises. You can at least avoid being a heart disease statistic by doing that.
varicose veins
wasn’t as active
lost muscle mass, like significantly.
Find a workout or sport routine you enjoy and commit to it. Be mindful of you diet. You’ve got another 10 years at least before things start to get sore.
Exercise dude
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No, that doesn’t sound normal. If you are dead idle physically, maybe. If so, try increasing your physical activity gradually then exercise.
But if the exhaustion persists, insist on getting screened for diseases, maybe you have something treatable?
I will say my 30s were the WORST and it got better in my 40s and have maintained healthy. Was just thinking the other day about how I feel really good, and weigh 10lb more than I want to but not sure I should try to lose it, maybe healthy just doesn’t look exactly like I want it to!








