People say that getting old sucks. In my humble opinion, it’s still better than the alternative. Yet each decade comes with its own perks and woes. Interestingly, according to research, the 5th decade of a person’s life is the least joyful. You see, a person’s happiness correlates to their age: we get a U-shaped curve if we were to look at a person’s entire life.

We’re happiest when we’re little, and we’re the least happy in our 40s. Then, after our 5th decade, the happiness starts to rise again. In 2020, Economist David G. Blanchflower concluded that the U-shaped happiness-age curve applies to many places, not just Europe and America. So, it seems to be a universal experience, not just for developed countries.

But what’s it like to be in your 40s? Is it really that bad? One netizen wondered exactly this because they asked: “Hey y’all in your 40’s: what are the physical changes you start to see in your body once you leave your 30’s? What should we expect to experience physiologically as we get into our 4th decade?” As a person entering her 4th decade soon, I’m starting to wonder: should I be afraid?

#1

I’m gonna be real. There is a day in your early 40s where you wake up weirdly tired, and that never goes away.

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#2

Despite all the negatives, your “give a f***s” plummet at 40 which is pretty great.

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#3

All of your old injuries come back to haunt you. That banged up knee that you got sliding into home plate when you were nine? Hello, again! That time you tweaked your back lifting that grocery bag? Did you miss me? Blurry eyes from staying up too late on the computer? Well, now they’re always blurry!

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#4

Tired. Just tired. If you were already tired before 40, then you’re gonna be more tired.

Until it’s time for bed.

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#5

What the f**k is up with all this ear hair?

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#6

It takes longer to heal from everything!

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#7

D**k quit. Hair quit. Eyes quit. Brain quit….annnd I forgot the last one.

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#8

I like to joke I hit 40 and the check engine light came on. You’ll get random aches and pains that just come and go, and sometimes stick around permanently. If you injure yourself, expect healing times to be 2-3 times longer at least. Same with illnesses, you just don’t bounce back like you used to.

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#9

Body’s gonna be sore. You want the soreness from exercising or the soreness from not exercising?

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#10

Body started degenerating a lot more after about 45.

It’s still healthy and works but I have to be careful about feeling it properly, getting some exercise, and the like. But now I look old and people treat me differently because of it, and that’s sad.

Image credits: OnlyPants69

#11

Mid-40s athletic male here – All my joints constantly ache and it takes longer to recover after exercise and playing sports. I’m always feeling stiff and I was recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my shoulder. I can’t get comfortable when I sleep at night and when I do fall asleep I have to get up multiple times to pee. I wear glasses to see far, but have to remove my glasses/contacts to read. That’s how the 40s have impacted me physically.

Image credits: Narwhal2424

#12

If you’re a woman, perimenopause. You don’t realize how much hormones contribute to the overall running of your body until they start to go away.

Horrible periods at random times, acne, hair loss, weight problems, extreme fatigue and muscle wasting, violent emotional swings, inability to concentrate. Fun times.

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#13

I barely drink anymore, the hangovers suck, but it also makes my heart race. Like I’ll wake up in the middle of the night like with my heart going as fast as if I’ve been working out.

Image credits: klitchell

#14

Let’s see…

I threw my back out and wound up on the sofa for 3 days moving a trowel full of dirt from a bag to a planter.

I developed cataracts in both eyes. Yes, both.

Years of terrible work posture (I assume) led to a bulging disk in my neck.

Washing my face with bar soap if I remember has morphed into a whole multi-product routine more complicated than anything I had as an acne-riddled teen.

There is more gray in my hair than brown.

My right knee can tell when it’s going to rain.

I don’t really drink anymore because the hangovers last for days and just aren’t worth it

Sleeping in a weird position means at least one full day of back/neck/shoulder pain

My periods come every 3 weeks now instead of every 4.

I’m pretty sure I could grow a goatee to rival any teenager’s if I stopped my daily search for hairs in places I do not want hairs.

Falling asleep is hard. Staying asleep is hard. Waking up rested is a pipe dream

Every so often, I get to wake up in a pool of my own sweat.

But, I wake up.

I’m at a good place in a career I love.

I care less about what others think with each passing day.

I have found friends and activities that bring me joy.

Image credits: that-1-chick-u-know

#15

43 here.

Ladies, at some point in your late 30s you will wake up and realize everything is b******t and you don’t care what any dude thinks about you, lol. After a youth indoctrinated to seek their approval, you realize it’s all b******t.

Don’t shave your legs and underarms, don’t wear a bra, cut your hair short and dye it blue, get all of the tattoos and piercings you ever wanted. That one dude doesn’t find you attractive? Hahahahaha haha….

That is the biggest and most important physical change you will experience as you age.

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#16

Everything makes you fat. Everything hurts. Meals are a topic of conversation now. Your lawn consumes most of your waking thoughts. You turn to your wife for comfort: she is lawn.

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#17

Skin tags.

Image credits: Skinnee11

#18

Know how when women get older their breasts will start to sag? No one warns you against your Sack creeping down and sticking to your knee in the summer like a hot piece of silly putty.

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#19

I’m 64 and I’m not going to even bother.

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#20

Do yourself a favor and start doing Pilates. Get that core strong and save yourself back problems down the road.

Image credits: Costcorocks

#21

I finally got diagnosed with ADHD at age 38 and started meds that work. I’m 40 now and this is the most emotionally stable I’ve been in my entire life and it’s amazing. So it’s never too late to figure out your life.

Image credits: Roupert4

#22

I’ve noticed the skin on my hands is much more sensitive to dryness and is thinner than it used to be. I feel like Cassandra from Dr Who.

Image credits: Kissariani

#23

You realize you’re going to die.

We all know it, but once I hit 40, I just *knew*, and what it really means. Things hurt more, yet going on 40 years your tolerance for pain is higher than when you were young. So the pains and aches, and the consistently small medical issues pile up over time and you realize your body is no longer “getting older”.

It’s deteriorating.

You’re in a slow decline and you can feel it. Some days you forget, you may even have times when your body feels much better. Maybe you changed some bad habits, or got new good ones. But those old bad habits left their mark and you’ll never recover from it.

We get one life on this world and then it’s gone. I’m not a religious person. I wish for anything that I was and I could take comfort in dying, but I can’t. It’s an absolutely terrifying thought because for me, that’s it. Nothingness, forever. For trillions of years, countless universe big bangs, over and over, and it’ll just never happen again. And I won’t even get to experience a single nanosecond of any of it.

I’ll take these crappy pains forever, any day of the week, than the alternative.

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#24

Brain fog. Not being able to think of the name of that actor who was in that movie last year. Starting one thing and forgetting that I’m in the.

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#25

Don’t stop moving. Ever.

#26

I sneezed once and it felt like I broke two ribs.

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#27

In your 40’s you commit to one of two things: fitness or illness.

#28

Arthritis if you are so inclined.
Vision changes….

#29

My favorite childhood memory is my back not hurting.

#30

For me everything went wrong when I turned 47. Suddenly needed reading glasses, my ears are always ringing, and my metabolism slowed to a crawl.

#31

I just found out today I have arthritis in my ribs. I didn’t even know that was possible.

#32

Thinning and yet MORE hair!!!!!!!! Whether a woman or a man. Also, for women, stupid damn chin hairs. Somehow you get more hair in some places and less in the others.

#33

I now have a few wild eyebrow hairs that need to be managed. Also have to shave my inner ear lobe thingy.

#34

Losing the hair is a big one.

#35

You know when they ask you “Do you have any history of ____ in your family?”

That.

#36

Wait til ur 60! Bad balance, lots of aches and pains. Worry every time u get a checkup or lab test. Enjoy ur forties!! Don’t worry about every little ouch.

Image credits: MikiNiller

#37

If you are married with kids and you are not really out of shape but also not one for the gym, you will pack on the pounds if you are not careful.

I was one of those…woke up in my early 40’s and started hitting the gym and taking better care of myself and of course I thought — why did I wait this long?

So….get off your butt and get going.

Also – as you age you dont put on muscle as easily and you don’t burn fat like you used to. All that stuff you used ot eat and drink without a thought starts sticking to you.

And you are just not as active if you are busy with family and career so you have to mindfully plan to take care of yourself.

Now that Im even older Im so happy I started and have kept going – Im in good health, and good energy, sound mind.

Image credits: plytime18

#38

Small lapses in memory/recall. 

Various boner concerns.

A strange adjustment in self image from time to time. 

Going “heurrghhh” while standing up. .

Image credits: Action_Seal

#39

Peeing more often.

Not being able to get it up as easily.

Forgetting names more often.

Image credits: _funkapus_

#40

Am I the only one that started working out seriously in my late 30s and am now seeing the rewards of it at 43? I feel f*****g great.

#41

Physiologically, you might notice a few changes creeping in, like a slower metabolism making it a tad trickier to keep those extra pounds at bay. But, with a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise, and good skincare habits, you can navigate your 40s like a champ.

Image credits: Hiraciennev2

#42

I didn’t really notice anything until about 45. My eyes lost the ability to read fine print. My back hurts and now I grunt like a pirate when I get up off the couch.

#43

Constant pain and never ending fatigue. On the other hand, my sex life is better than ever.

#44

You become grumpier and tolerate a lot less s**t from people, because you realize time is starting run out for you.

#45

Back pain. Like regular, arbitrary back pain. Moving and lifting tons of s**t.? All good. Bend over to pick your kids’ toys off the ground? Welcome to hell.

#46

Taking time off from exercise gets harder and harder to reverse.

#47

In my 40th year I had just gotten done running my first full marathon.

At 40 I was training, instructing and professionally performing as an aerial acrobat. I started training at age 35 with zero background in dance, gymnastics or acrobatics.

I’m 45 now. Going to do a tough mudder run this summer and am training for a couple half marathons in the fall. I’ve never been more energetic, healthy and fit in my entire life. I have some more gray, and the laugh lines are a little deeper. Just don’t stop moving.

#48

You sleep wrong and you’re sore for a day or two.

#49

Hangovers take much longer to go away…

#50

As a 36 year old this is a seriously depressing topic and I’m wondering why I clicked it.

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