It's Not All In Your Head: What To Do About Subtle Changes As You Age

Are you feeling sick and tired? Are you tired of feeling sick and tired? Or are you just plain tired? How do you know if this is "just stress", because you're not getting enough sleep, because of the post holiday "blues" and related hustle and bustle- or is there something really wrong with you? Or, are you just getting older? Or. . .is it "just in your head"?

The age of 35 and over is a turning point for women and their bodies. At this age, there are new and increased risk factors for various diseases and disorders and the body's metabolism-how it works and how fast it works-changes significantly around this age. However, if you have those "sick and tired" feelings-or any other systemic, albeit vague and non-specific feelings--they shouldn't be dismissed until the problem is thoroughly evaluated, first by you and then by your doctor.

There are three general categories for the source of these problems:

1. Lifestyle: includes everything around you
2. Specific behaviors: includes everything you do to you
3. Specific medical problems: includes physical and mental or emotional problems.

Now is the perfect time to discuss this topic. It's ironic that we make our New Year's Resolutions right after the worst month of the year in terms of our worst physical behavior as well as the time of the worst mental, social and financial stress. After a month of running around in stressful traffic, shopping, overeating, overdrinking, undersleeping, overworking, etc., most of us repent on New Year's Day, beat ourselves up, look in the mirror and make unrealistic New Year's Resolutions like "I'm going to lose 20 pounds this year".