Midlife Wisdom For Men Issue #074, January 15, 2007

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· Letters From Readers

· Been Feeling A Little More Emotional Lately?

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Written by Noel McNaughton Midlife-Men.com (c) copyright 2007 midlife-men.com

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If you like this e-zine, please do a friend and me a big favour and forward it to him. If a friend DID forward this to you and if you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting Midlife Wisdom for Men.

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Welcome to this first issue of Midlife Wisdom for Men for 2007.

In the last issue I wrote about saw palmetto for easing the symptoms of benign swollen prostate that affect so many of us. This prompted a few letters.

Have you found yourself feeling more emotional lately? You are not alone.

There are about 1100 words in the articles in this newsletter, which should take you about four and a half minutes to read.

Many blessings in this New Year,

Noel

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Letters From Readers

Saw Palmetto Helps More Than Prostate
I reckon that you have missed on the other benefit of saw palmetto - I reckon it has a marked effect on potency (as in, opposite of impotency). I think there is a marked beneficial effect on blood flow down low!

Have a great 2007 - happy new year!
Regards,
Bruce

A Caution On Saw Palmetto

Hi Noel,
I wanted to give you some feedback on my experience with Saw Palmetto.

After reading your article I thought it seemed like a good idea and what can it hurt so bought a good brand at my health food store. Without boring you with my medical history, I have to supplement my testosterone with a daily dose of AndroGel. Just after Christmas, I absolutely crashed, energy, mood, everything, I could not figure it out because over the holidays I was out cross country skiing every day and felt good.

Fortunately I had an appointment with my Naturopath on Jan. 9th and when he asked was I doing anything differently from before Christmas just by luck I thought of the Saw Palmetto. As you mention often, we are a complicated system of hormones and chemicals, it seems Saw Palmetto has an effect on the synthesis or absorption of testosterone.

This may not be a problem for most men but for me it was enough to send me into male PMS! I am very fortunate to have a very smart Naturopath. I do recognize I am not the norm but really none of us is every time!

One crusade I have been on since my surgery is to have all men get their testosterone levels checked while they are healthy. The normal range is huge and what is normal for one man is far too low for another. If something happens and you have to go on testosterone replacement you don't have a number to aim for without knowing what you were when you were healthy. My crusade has not gone very well, I have told all my friends but they are men so you can guess how many have had it checked?

Thanks for doing your news letter, I do enjoy it and my cautionary tale is probably a one in a million negative reaction to Saw Palmetto. I do trust my Naturopath, he went through engineering at UofA and did not feel fulfilled so spent another 5 years at Naturopathic College and his specialty is hormone balancing for men and women. Bye for now,
John O.
Edmonton

Another Prostate Remedy

Hi Noel,
Really enjoyed your article today even tho' I'm a woman!! I'm just turning 61 and altho' I certainly don't have prostate problems, there are other ones of course!!!!

Just wanted to mention a great product that my partner is trying. I was given a sample at the Health Fair here in Victoria earlier this year. I'd forgotten about it and put it in the cupboard only to find it about a month ago.

He's been taking saw palmetto for years and even gets it compounded at a compounding pharmacy. He started taking the new product (just one a day and one of his saw palmetto), and is noticing a huge difference with getting up at night. He is going to up it to 2 a day and see how that works.

It's by New Chapter and is called Prostate 5lX. You might want to give it a try.
Most sincerely,
D. J.

Ed. note: I took D.J.'s advice and ordered some Prostate 5lx (I googled the name and found a pharmacy in Canada that sells it). Just got it and have used it for a day or two. Will let you know in the next newsletter if I have noticed any marked effect. N.

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Poetry is what gets lost in translation. - Robert Frost

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Been Feeling A Little More Emotional Lately?

I noticed around age 50 I became more emotional. I didn't know whether it was just me, or if other men experienced the same thing.

A couple of years ago, I was a 'guest expert' a number of times on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio call-in show, talking about midlife men. When I mentioned having become more emotional, a lot of men said they were too, and it was good to know they weren't alone.

A friend said he gets choked up, even cries sometimes, when a news story shows people being rescued from some difficult situation, such as a fire or flood. Of course he tries to make sure nobody sees him.

In an article entitled Enormous Changes at the Last Moment: Men's Emotional Challenges at Midlife, Kathleen W. Wilson, M.D., (http://www.mensresourcecenter.org/enormous_changes.html) had this to say:

As men move into their 40s and 50s, the connections among their brain cells actually increase in complexity. This translates into more thinking and feeling. The wonderful part of this is that it allows a man to change--no matter how emotionally limited his parents may have been, he can become more loving, positive, and generative as he ages.

But sometimes these brain changes may affect a man's relationship with his wife or partner, in particular colliding with the irritability that affects many women at the same age. They may also engender feelings and thoughts that are uncomfortable: ruminations about the worth of one's life and occupation, questions about the direction one has taken and the choices one has made, confusion about what to do next, fears about growing older and facing death. These feelings can combine to create what we often call a "midlife crisis," with the potential for depression, affairs, and alcohol or drug addiction.

Confusing and painful as they may be, these feelings, along with the "new freedom" of midlife, also have the potential to transform men's lives into something healthier, more coherent and whole.

If you have been feeling more emotional, don't worry, it is normal.

Now that I am in my 60s, I find the emotional roller coaster I went through during my 50s has settled down, but I certainly experience a wider range of emotions than I did in my 40s and younger. I am less self-conscious about it than I used to be too.

Maybe that is one reason grandchildren and grandfathers have so much fun. We are unselfconscious enough be willing to act silly, and let our feelings show.

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Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children.

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I do this newsletter and host the www.midlife-men.com website as a service to other men, and am happy to do so. Just the same, it costs some money, and if you would like to make a small contribution to help with those costs, I would really appreciate it. If you would like, you can make a donation at: http://www.midlife-men.com/donation.html

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Got your copy of Picking Up The Burning Feather yet? It will help you on your spiritual journey.

Just go to Picking Up The Burning Feather: A Spiritual Guide For Midlife Men.

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Just For You: A Free Do-It-Yourself Retirement Planning Report

If you are a new subscriber to this newsletter, you will recall I promised you a link to a secret page on the Midlife Men's site where you can download a free 27-page report on 'DIY Retirement planning' by George Slater.

Welcome to the newsletter, and for your free report, go to: DIY Retirement E-Report , and follow the instructions.

Enjoy!

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Classifieds

A Destroyer of Compasses by Wade Bell, published by Guernica Editions, (Toronto, Buffalo and Lancaster UK) $15.00 Cdn

One Man's Mid-Life Crisis Led to Spain. Planning to spend six weeks, he stayed five years.

A book of stories the Toronto Globe & Mail called "an assured and sensual portrait of a culture" with "precise and ironic examples of human idiosyncracy." The review went on to call stories "gems."

Available from Amazon, E-Bay and local bookstores.
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I Need Your Questions and Feedback!

Got comments? Questions? I'd love to hear from you.

Just email your suggestions and/or questions to noel@midlife-men.com . I look forward to hearing from you. And thanks.

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Well friend, that's it for now. Again, if you enjoyed this and/or found it useful, and know of anyone else who might like it, please pass it forward. And if you have questions or recommendations, I would love to hear from you.