trekmogul 

I notice all the threads about guys in my age bracket are on all kinds of meds and who knows for how long.My questions is..Is there anyothers like that has been and still is totally 100% drug or medication free..? I have never ever had to or take any type of meds my entire life.I am sure there must be others, but a rarebreed mabe..?

McBTC

Me too for over 63 years, until being prescribed medication for high blood pressure.

Dan Burkhart 

Well, I am precisely the same age as you, born Nov '53, and apart from a few bouts of antibiotics, and some topical meds for skin issues that were cleared up with short term treatment, I have been med free as well.

trailangel

Never been on any pills in my life..... and I'm over 60.

Mostly coffee and wine.

tjkoko

Rarebirds, indeed.

CliffordK

You still have a decade on me.

So far, avoiding the private pharmacy. I do occasionally take an aspirin, but even that is rare.

Vitamins?

FullGas

there are wide variations in the effectiveness of people's immune systems. my 96-yr old grandmother never saw an MD until the last year of her life. she relied on various home-made concoctions for colds, aches, pains...

I'm not so lucky, was a severe asthmatic early in life, I've probably consumed my body weight in various drugs.

now, I rarely take anything stronger than an occasional anti-histamine during allergy season.

lot of folks that have crappy lifestyles are on multiple maintenance meds...eat right, exercise...? nah, just give me a pill, I'll be fine...

FBinNY 

Going on 67, still no meds or serious medical intervention --- like the OP EVER. This doesn't mean I was never sick or took meds of some kind on a short term basis, but nothing of any kind over a period longer than a week or so.

BTW, since I do nothing special to take care of myself, and both parents and siblings had/have serious long term issues, such as diabetes, and heart attacks, I chalk my good health to a combination of luck and staying active. How much either factors is anybodies guess.

Mountain Mitch

None for me. Partly luck, partly lifestyle.

Seems to me there are those people who legitimately need a drug (often for very serious conditions) and then there are a lot who go to their Dr. and complain about minor or transient (or imaginary) problems who then end up on drugs for life. Many Drs. are little more than pushers for major pharmaceutical companies.

FBinNY 

I often wonder how many would manage chronic issues by either just living with them, changing their diet or lifestyle, or seek less costly alternatives if they had to pick up the tab for maintenance scripts costing hundreds of dollars per month.

BY the same token, it seems that the medical industry has figured out that there's more money to be made in long term treatment than actual cures.

PaulH

I was med free until 61, when I requested and was prescribed BP dope.

JohnDThompson 

61 here. No prescription meds since I went from full-time to part-time, but I do have significant arthritis in my hands and back for which I take NSAIDs occasionally.

JohnDThompson 

Certainly true for the pharmaceutical industry. That's why it's been it's been over a decade since the last new antibiotic class was developed, despite a proliferation of drug-resistant organisms, but a steady stream of new anti-depressants, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, erectile dysfunction, etc. meds. People only take antibiotics for a few days or weeks, but can use these other meds indefinitely, meaning more profit for the drug companies.

tjkoko

Chiro here and our generation (60+) is living often way beyond what the human body has been designed for. Drugs, surgery, AND better nutrition and designed workouts have extended our longevity for probably the first time since the Babylonian eras. (And we're not gonna' argue timelines here. Just generalities, Grasshoppers.)

CliffordK

The American way. If it can't be fixed by a pill, then it can't be fixed.

I will say that somewhere between age 50 and 55, my dad's knees were giving him major problems. He had ridden his bicycle a lot when I was younger. It was about a 20 mile ride each way to work. Unfortunately, I think that had fallen by the wayside when he and my mother started carpooling once I got into gradeschool, and he never really resumed bike commuting even after moving closer to town.

He had started taking pretty high doses of an NSAID called Voltaren (diclofenac sodium), and had had several knee surgeries. And, around age 55, he had a bilateral knee replacement. And, I think his long-time use of Voltaren led to a ruptured Achilles Tendon just over age 60.

Anyway, my knees aren't good and have been problematic for a long time. But, since going from periodic commuting to essentially car-free, and loosing 10-20 pounds, they've been getting better and better (without drugs).

I do think people get into a cycle. Pain --> drugs --> more pain --> less activity and more drugs.

I'll use an NSAID once in a while to cut certain types of pain (neck cramp). But, absolutely not on a regular basis. Inflammation is part of the body's natural healing. And pain is just telling you something is being stressed.

OldTryGuy

Managed to remain meds free thanks to life style, diet, determination and luck until age 63. Had been prescribed anti inflammation/pain drugs for arthritis as early as age 28 but didn't want them in me. Been dealing with bone on bone pain/inflammation of joints that have needed total joint replacement with diet. At 63 got hit with a parathyroid tumor and goiter right lobe. Took both out so I am now on Synthroid for the rest of my life. Just had a left lobe ultrasound guided thyroid biopsy yesterday for possible cancer. Last year at 64.5 diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer. Not wanting to go the ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) drug route I chose to have a bilateral orchiectomy (castration). For the cancer I had focal cryoablation and a proprietary immunotherapy injection and as of now will be on Avodart with Metformin for the rest of my life along with Cypionate. Attempting to avoid glaucoma using drops and keeping an eye out for macular degeneration.

IMO, LUCK has a large role regarding remaining meds free because living a very healthy diet-active lifestyle sure hasn't worked for me.

bio at 65yo.....5' 8.5", 136lbs, resting heart rate 32bpm, 200 mile/day bicycling not an issue, 2 Ironman finishes, multiple 5K, 10K, 10 mile, half marathon and marathon events with best being a 5K-10K-1/2 marathon-marathon-1/2 marathon-10K-5K on consecutive days at age 65.5

Looigi

Does recreational use count?

John_V 

OP, if you're only 62 and have never been on medication, just wait! You'll get your turn soon enough. I never took any kinds of medication, never had a broken bone, never had any type of surgery or been hospitalized until I turned 60. Out of nowhere, I get diagnosed with chronic leukemia and am now on an oral chemo drug that I will be on the rest of my life. Last year at 69, I had acute high BP and was put on a medication for that. Now that I'm turning 70 and my BP is lower than normal, I'm wanting the doctor to take me off the medication but he is reluctant to do so for now. Also, in December of last year, I spent my first ever overnight stay in a hospital since I had my tonsils out when I was 8. The hospital stay was for acute pancreatitis, which I have never had an issue with.

FBinNY 

Only if by prescription

tjkoko

UUuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh, both are self-cancelling.

Slash5

63 in a couple months and only drugs are a few over the counter anti-histamines in the fall for ragweed allergy.

RonH

To the OP: Do you have annual physicals to check the state of your health?

I'm 71 and when I was 64 I learned that I had inherited my dad's bad heart. My cholesterol is only 165 but I was put on simvastatin because of my family history.

Cycling keeps me young.

rayman54

Me as well

canklecat

If you've never needed any prescription or OTC meds of any kind, you can probably thank your ancestors. It's mostly luck of the genetic draw.

But I'd differentiate between *never needed* and *needed but never taken*.

I know folks who don't take prescription meds because they can't afford them. That includes some of my older neighbors who've fallen through the cracks in the social system. If they can't afford a doctor, they wouldn't have any idea whether they'd need prescription meds anyway.

Heck, I haven't taken any prescription meds in more than a decade. The last one I took, synthroid, wasn't helping with my Hashimoto's so I quit wasting the money. Armour thyroid might help but I can't afford anything until I've switched to the local VA medical system, so we'll see.

And I know folks who'd rather self medicate using homebrewed methods they learned from family or alternative medicine books, magazines and online articles. My granddad preferred a hot toddy for coughs, colds and sore throats rather than taking OTC or prescription meds. He wasn't much of a drinker -- maybe a beer at a restaurant a few times a year -- and a quart of whiskey in the cabinet would last for years in his home. So the buzz from a single shot of whiskey in a hot toddy probably felt relaxing enough to ignore the symptoms of a cold. And for heartburn he'd slug down a foamy concoction of vinegar and baking soda, rather than taking Tums. I think he mostly enjoyed the huge belch it produced.

It's not a bad idea to pare down prescription and OTC meds to the bare necessities. Even my mom's geriatric care doctor says that. They doctor now cares for both of her parents at home, with assistance. She's pared down their meds from dozens to only a handful, after deciding the nursing home where they'd been living was over-medicating them, or combining meds without regard to side effects.

The problem, for some folks, is that it's a delicate balancing act. My mom is in the early stages of Parkinson's, has had multiple TIAs and a family history of major strokes, high blood pressure, etc. So while I accompany her on most medical visits and ask lots of questions to be sure I understand everything, I try not to second guess the doctors about whether she really needs all those meds. And the docs are pretty good about switching meds if we think there are side effects from interactions.

When you need a new prescription med to offset the side effects of another prescription med, it's time to re-evaluate the whole mess. That's one reason I discontinued all my prescription meds more than 10 years ago. Besides the synthroid, I was taking anti-seizure meds that regulate the serotonin level in an effort to minimize the horrific headaches I had after a car wreck busted up my neck. But the serotonin meds were causing other problems, so the doctor prescribed propranolol to offset those side effects even though I didn't have any BP problems, and then another med to offset the side effects of that med, and so on. So 10 years ago I finally declare "Nuff!" and stopped taking *almost* all prescriptions. I do take ibuprofen for neck and back pain, and generic antihistamines for allergies, sudafed for occasional sinus congestion headaches, and still have enough asthma inhalers to last a lifetime from an old prescription. The asthma attacks are one thing I haven't been able to tackle with any alternatives.

wphamilton

@trekmogul yeh, I don't and never have taken any meds. I won't even take pain meds if I can do without, including OTC. But there's no point in being a fanatic about it IMO.

I have made exceptions for antihistamines or equivalent if my sinuses are taking a hit during allergy seasons. Better that than a nasal infection. And I recall having had antibiotics once or twice.