Downhill at 40

People say Life starts at 40 for Man, so Woman?? goes downhill at 40?

I believe it holds strongly for mua. When I was about to turn 40, I was afraid because I had a childhood guy friend who died at 40..he had nose cancer. I remembered him as a gentleman, kind and proud in his own ways and a cheerful being. I regretted not knowing him better and never kept in touch with him after he left for his studies in US.

I then feared that I too can't make that mark because I had signs of the pre-menopause symptoms every now and then. Or was it my mind playing havoc. I called my good old friends and told them my fear. You know who you are buddies..I thank you for being there to listen. I was elated when the clock struck 12am as I finally turned 40. Yeah.

Having said that, turning 40 brought about many problems too. The skin on my face had less elasticity. The fine lines appeared deeper when I smiled. I have lost plenty of collagen!! The skin on my outer hands tend to dry easily and become more sensitive when I touch water. I feel drier than before and all these are not my imagination. My face was so dry it made me look older and believe it or not, my eyebrows were also thinning.

I started bleeding twice a month (yah lost of blood too) and felt weak and DRY. I also felt thirsty most of the time. I thought hey this is it. Am I leaving earth soon? My liver or kidney must have been overloaded with all the supplements and steroids.

My mother saw the changes in me and practically had to drag me to see the Chinese Physician near her home. I went just to appease her.

The sinseh is a young fellow from Taiwan. He can't practice in his own country because he got his degree from a China University.. I was inquisitive and interviewed him to see if he is reliable. Why? I didn't know there was such rule in Taiwan. Weird.

But he was pretty diligent..he referred to books to see what he could prescribe me. He asked me to try out a drink with the following concoction to replenish moisture to my skin:-

Waterchestnut
Cucumber
Chinese Pear
Honey

I left the medicine hall with at least 8 packs of dry herbs and "creatures" to boil. Yulks.

After seeing the sinseh for 3 months, my condition did improve. Maybe I was more cautious with my diet then and took alot of the juice that he asked me to.

My tongue felt less dry and skin looked less dull. I was patient because I can see that this sinseh was also trying his best to help me. Why did I say that I was patient..it was because I had to see him every other 3 days. He would change the prescription in accordance to my reaction to the herbs. I must say that he was pretty good.

The sad thing was he left for China again to upgrade himself and I lost touch with him.

Today, I am still in search of supplements that can boost my collagen level. I saw the advertisement on DHC collagen drink and immediately searched the net for feedback/review. After knowing more of the product, I went on to try it. I drank this collagen drink for about 3 months and felt good. It helped somehow but the price was steep. 10 bottles for $48. One bottle a night before sleep. After that I switched to another 2 different brands."Fine" in powder form and "AFC" in caplets.

Which gives the best results? In my opinion "Fine" contains more ingredients that will boost the skin's vitality and youthfulness in the long term. But the liquid DHC seemed to give me faster results. AFC lacks the ingredients compared to "Fine".

I am also alternating coconut oil and cod liver oil intake. Primrose oil I have been taking for yeeears but did not feel any different when I stopped. I read that flaxseed is good for skin too. Haven't tried that though. Would be good to have some feedback on this..anyone consumed flaxseed before?