Early rapid aging in twenties- severe insomnia

[lookyoungagain1328]

I'm only TWENTY-EIGHT!!!  This is soooo sad... I shouldn't be relating to women in their fifities and sixties now at my age. :(

I'm not joking... in the past two years.. I've slowly developed it all... the slightly crepey skin and wrinkles inside the elbow crease, all the loose bunched up crepey skin on the outside of the elbow, skin has totally thinned on my hands- veins stick out (same with my feet), my feet has such loose crepey skin and are so wrinkled I can pull the skin on them pretty good, I have jowls, wrinkles under my eyes, getting wrinkles between the nose, three lines/wrinkles on forehead, lips are lined/ lost volume, boobs dropped and shrank, I get those neck things when I smile, butt dropped and lost firmness, bat wings, wrinkled knees, tons of hair loss, etc.! I am not over-exaggerating.

It all started about two years ago when I didn't sleep for about 8 days. During those days, (it was a few months after I had a baby), I had a nine day period! Ever since I've been getting bad sleep- sleep study showed mostly only broken up light sleep (no deep beauty sleep) and a few hours a night. I would also periodically go another day or so without any sleep. And then I went another ten days w/o any! About a month into this crazy insomnia, my period got light and started coming every two weeks. I also definitely started getting hot flashes and many other symptoms of perimenopause. My insomnia gave me very high cortisol levels which I've heard can cause early menopause. I'm wondering if that is what this is or its my thyroid?

For about the first year, I just noticed a few wrinkles and age spots on my face, wrinkled hands and feet, slightest facial sagging- I could still cover everything with makeup and just looked about 8 years older than I did before. (I looked basically my age or two years older) Then, it started to get bad.. someone asked if I was sad and I wasn't... I just looked like I had a frown! My boobs sagged, etc. Makeup- I dont even wear it anymore- it dosent help. Literally, every few weeks, I had new lines/wrinkles.

I'm trying to fix my sleep, but in the meantime, I want to try to hold on to some of my looks. My family dosent understand... I'm not being selfish at all... I don't think that any woman my age would handle this well or accept it. Especially when I looked YOUNGER than my age before. Right before, guys told me I looked 17! (I was 26.) My whole family looks ten years younger than they are. I've always taken care of myself too- ate healthy, exercised, slept 9 or 10 hours. I used to love buying cute outfits and looking cute and now I can't do that anymore. The worst part is now my facial sagging and loss of elasticity is so bad- I look like I'm sad and frowning and I'm not!! I also look angry (because my face is constantly making that expression where your trying to sleep and when you can't every night for two years has given me those wrinkles!)

This is very hard for someone who used to constantly smile and loves people.. to not look pretty or approachable. You women are in your 50s and 60s and its hard enough to deal with the body changes THEN whey they are supposed to happen! Why should a twenty something have to go though this? :( There has got to be some way to stall it while I work on getting my insomnia fixed.

Do you ladies have any advice??  Does this sound like perimenopause? My periods have gotten less and less days, lighter and lighter... barely existant now. The sagging and loss of elasticity has gotten extreme the past few months.. my jowls are bad. Is that sound like peri? I showed someone a photo of me with a regular expression.. not smiling. They said, oh you look nice and ugly! They were convinced I was frowning, but I wasn't. :(

Should I go on a birth control pill or do bioidentical hormones? Has anyone tried human growth hormone? Would that thicken the skin and make me look a little younger? (I forgot to mention- people now call me a "lady"- I look like I'm in my late forties)  If I can ever get my sleep back to normal, I've definitely considered getting a facelift and fx, but I would have to get a boob job to lift my boobs, butt lift, etc. :( Its so depressing. I had a great young figure before and now its gone.

ANY advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!!! Just be thankful you arent in my position. I need to look good to feel good about myself and be a good mom.

[lookyoungagain1328]

I understand. At 26, guys hit on me constantly and thought I was 17. I too became very suicidal at one point.... what normal woman wouldn't be? I understand, I feel trapped in my own body. Two years later, the premature aging has now gotten so bad that I now wear my sunglasses everywhere I go, I can't go into public otherwise. Its painful to live sometimes. I too feel like a prisoner in my own skin. You aren't vain, nor am I! We're just normal women! If beauty or youthful skin wasn't supposed to be important to us, we would be MEN. (Sorry I'm so adamant about this because my family has made me feel so guilty and crazy and they basically abandoned me and that is why I just had to sit like a passenger in my own life the past four years and let this happen to my body) It is NOT selfish or vain to be upset about this rapid premature aging...its human. The thing is, I was a very balanced emotionally healthy person before...beauty wasn't the most important thing in my life..I understood it was important, but I wasn't obsessed... I even had a large nose that I didn't like but I learned to love and accept my whole self and came to see my whole self as really pretty... I often didn't even get too much into makeup because I didn't want to lose proper focus. Its really messed up that this happened to me.  What is really sad is I honestly wanted a solution when I posted back on this forum on 2010... I loved my life and my daughter. (Menopause hadn't completely changed my personality or body yet then.) I posted looking for solutions, and I definitely had ideas of what I needed to do, possible great solutions, but my parents were unsupportive so I couldn't try ANY... as I look back I realize that because I was unable to take any needed action to stop the aging or insomnia or change things, I realize I began to just become hopeless...and was grateful to find others who were also going through somewhat similar tough things...maybe because someone finally showed empathy....I started to just live in my situation and accept it and own it...what else could I do...I had a strong spirit and will and kept trying to find ways to take action, but had a really unhealthy toxic family and was trapped to be a passenger in my own life. Even the strongest fire/spirit burns out after a few years and after enough of this early aging!!! I will be producing a documentary soon if any of you girls would like to view it. My blog is also www.postpartumtragedy.blogspot.com. Also, I realize by looking back at this post that I was trapped by the abuse I was experiencing...I didn't sleep for hours at a time...I slept for less than 20 minutes a night... I remember wondering how the sleep study said I'd slept for hours when I'd merely slept minutes...I since had another sleep study and learned that they count dozing off as sleep.... so I really hadn't slept.

[ughnunya]

have you tried exercising? and calendula oil? and no harsh cleansers? plus ph balanced products like aloe vera gel (100%) helps. i'm so sorry...i'm sure it will get better. stay out of the sun and wear sun hats. use lactic acid cream for the body, like amlactin. that supposedly has helped some older women with their crepey skin. you're beautiful regardless and not alone. take care.

[Lleaahhhhh]

I am going through something similar.  Up until I turned 28 I passed for a teenager but then something changed.  I wish I could figure out what happened.  Anyways, now my skin looks like its 40 and I have these terrible under eye wrinkles like an old man. It *****.  It makes me suicidal.  I never thought of myself as vain up until "my change". And now I am a recluse.  I feel like a prisoner in my skin.  It is good to know I am not alone, though, now.  

[TNGirl615]

I am 32 and since I was in my early 20's, I had people tell me my hands looked old.  I have dry crosshatched skin all over my body that later developed into crepey skin.  It's like my skin is severely dehydrated but I drink tons of water, workout, and eat healthy.  My skin actually hurts to move.  It's tight and dry and feels like it is ripping when I make movements.  I literally look 80 on a good day.  I did abuse a tanning bed in my 20's but none of my friends look like this. I have become a recluse basically which is not my personality.  I always wanted to be a "young mom" and make sure my children have a great home life but since all this has taken over I can't provide them with that.  I have anxiety attacks at the thought of any events.  I hope you are doing better and if you have found anything that works, please let me know.  My skin is also hyperpigmented severly and has  a very drawn look to it.  I can literally feel where my wrinkles are and they hurt.  My periods have gotten lighter when they used to be soooo heavy.  I have a manish appearance, strong jaw, nose, and broad shoulders.  I hope you can give me some advice.  I feel like the only one going through this and alone.

[insomniac1]

I feel for you girl. I have severe insomnia. I have been up for 12 days at a time with no sleep and when I do sleep it is the light sleep no Delta sleep which is needed to repair the body. It's torture. I have had this going on since July of this year. What I have found out is that my hormones are all screwed up. I had a test done and I am not it pre-menopause at age 42 but I do have high estrogen which causes heavy long periods. I have low progesterone which cause insomnia.. But the real kicker is I have very high cortisol which causes the severe insomnia. This is due to major adrenal fatigue. I am in the process of trying to get it all straightened out. I went to my regular ob/gn and he did a blood test and said all was fine, thyroid..etc etc but then I found someone who tests hormones with a saliva test. This is where you find out what is really going on and it sounds like your hormones are really screwed up bad. High estrogen can cause accelerated aging. You need to find a good nutritionist that can help you with this. I would avoid the pill and try to find the cause. I am taking a biodentical progesterone cream and that is helping with the periods. Still working on the insomnia but your hormones are the key to all your issues I believe. Once you get them tested you can start feeling better again and even reverse the aging process.Check out the supplement Protandim. Its suppose to really help with that. Hang in there girl!

[lookyoungagain1328]

mjm- thanks!! do you have a thyroid problem?