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Apparently Shrinking, Peeved, Need to Vent

AnnPT77
AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
in Social Groups
Hi, all -

Normally, I'm pretty upbeat, but I'm feeling a little cross this evening, in a way that I'm guessing some of my fellow over-50s can relate to, and I just need to vent a bit.

I went to my OB/GYN today, and this was the first time anyone's measured my height in a few years. As a youth, I was 5'6" or close. Last I knew - and after an osteopenia diagnosis - I was 5'5". Today, they measured me at 5' 3 & 3/4. Arrgh.

Admittedly, I didn't make an effort to draw myself up to my full outraged height before the measurement, but jeesh.

I already had a bone density scan (coincidentally) on my calendar for tomorrow, so we'll see how they measure my height (as I assume they'll do), and what they say about my bone density. I'd been attributing the osteopenia to an anti-estrogen drug I had to take for around 5 years, following cancer treatment, and I took drugs (bisphosphonates) for the osteopenia for about 4 years (after which there was improvement and they said I could stop). But this sounds like bad news.

I guess we'll see. Hrmph. :angry:

Replies

  • kardsharp
    kardsharp Posts: 618 Member
    Everyone needs to vent once in awhile. I hope your news is better tomorrow.
  • kardsharp
    kardsharp Posts: 618 Member
    Is today a better day for you?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    kardsharp wrote: »
    Is today a better day for you?

    Aww, thanks for asking. Yes! I stretched myself up to my maximum height - such as it is - and they measured me much closer to the 5'5" I was hoping for. Must've been slumping more at the OB, I guess/hope. I won't have the bone density report for a bit, but am keeping fingers crossed. I'd really prefer not to have to go back on the bisphosponates . . . not that I had any obvious side effects, just that I prefer to keep prescription drugs to a minimum. :)
  • kardsharp
    kardsharp Posts: 618 Member
    I am glad it was a better day. You are fit and that will help a lot. I am not quite 5'4" (at least the last time I was measured) and I always stretch up as much as I can. I always wanted to be 5'8" all in the legs.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    kardsharp wrote: »
    I am glad it was a better day. You are fit and that will help a lot. I am not quite 5'4" (at least the last time I was measured) and I always stretch up as much as I can. I always wanted to be 5'8" all in the legs.

    I always though it would be quite nice to be really, tall, too. Now, I'll be happy if I can just stop shrinking! :)


  • BBee5064
    BBee5064 Posts: 1,020 Member
    Ann you can vent anytime... as long as your heath is ok that’s what’s most important. I too have shrunk a few inches over the years. They say “ theirs good stuff in little bundles”

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    BBee5064 wrote: »
    Ann you can vent anytime... as long as your heath is ok that’s what’s most important. I too have shrunk a few inches over the years. They say “ theirs good stuff in little bundles”

    Thanks, BBee! :flowerforyou:
  • mtaratoot
    mtaratoot Posts: 13,106 Member
    I have lost some height, and it surprised me. I presume mine is compression of the discs between my vertebrae. I thin it's part of the program. I'll take it if I'm otherwise healthy. It does affect the calculation of BMI which is the only thing that really bothers me. I have never been tall, that's for sure.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,935 Member
    mtaratoot wrote: »
    I have lost some height, and it surprised me. I presume mine is compression of the discs between my vertebrae. I thin it's part of the program. I'll take it if I'm otherwise healthy. It does affect the calculation of BMI which is the only thing that really bothers me. I have never been tall, that's for sure.

    This is one of those things where the law of averages kinda favors women, I think, in that most of us have less muscle mass than men.

    That's obviously generally a negative, but it does make it more likely - though not guaranteed - that if we've found a really good spot in the normal BMI range, it's likely to allow for a little shrinkage without blowing out the top of the normal range, or at least not range super far into overweight (which is statistically not a hugely dangerous place to be, if lower end). If I start at around BMI 22 (mid-normal range), I can lose 2 inches and still be somewhere around BMI 24.

    I doubt that it makes an actual health-risk difference (the BMI range being lower for our shorter selves so we're arbitrarily higher in it with shrinkage), though the conditions causing the shrinkage do involve health risks, of course. Nonetheless, I know some ignorant insurance companies and such are beginning to use the metric in inappropriate ways, rather than just as a screener.

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