Has anyone here had a mid life crisis?

I remember my dad's mid-life crisis, too. I think he spent more time on the edge of serious legal trouble and personal injury then than he did as a teenager, but that might be pushing it. What with sneaking around stealing fallen road signs at 2 AM and barefoot water skiing with the bar over his neck instead of in his hands.

Something else that might ought to be mentioned is that mens bodies go through hormonal changes too. Some men have more extreme changes than others. They have to be placed on HRT too. A man here was going through middleage, and he started acting ummm crazy. The doctor found out he had extremely low testosterone levels. He has to wear an HRT patch.

The only thing I've experienced that was close to a mid life crises was when I was given an expensive injection to completely stop my body's production of testosterone. With no testosterone prostate cancer can't grow. The idea was to give me the shot and put the cancer on hold so I'd have six months to investigate/research what medical treatment(s) I wanted to pursue.

With no testosterone (other glands produce it too, not just the testes and prostate) I went into major menopause, but for a man. I suffered incredible hot flashes that left me soaking my clothes. I had to shower at least three times a day to keep my hygiene in control. But the real give away was finding myself crying at Burger King commercials (mind you, I don't live in the USA, Burger King is epidemic as is McDonalds). Yup, those emotionally wrenching Burger King commercials in Castellano where the final straw.

Then, after six months I was suddenly able to get a woody, ejaculate, have sex, feel horny, and all was once again right with the world. By that time I'd also taken care of the prostate cancer, too.

So, other than having a pseudo chemically induced male menopause, I haven't had any burning need to go out and find me a new, younger squeeze or buy a red convertible sports car. However, during that six months I did buy a competitor's business and folded it into my primary Sociedad Limitada. It just made good business sense at the time. Still does.

You forgot to add that you got into big hair.

LOL..Quarter-Life crisis,,,,give me a break! You are fucking 25...you have plenty of time to change to get your "plans" in action.

Next thing you know 10 year olds will be having decade life problems.

I get a depressive funk every other month where things just loose meaning, and I disassociate from the world, my own actions and feelings.

Mid life? --no, all my life.

My mid-life crisis started with an accident that exposed an underlying cervical spine condition (protruding discs and bone spurs) and left me with high pain levels. I went to see a pain specialist who, for no apparent reason, decided that my degenerative disc disease and the associated pain was caused by Myelopathy caused by years of HIV eating away at my central nervous system.

At the age of 41, I was convinced that my life was over and that I'd regress to a vegetative state (the pain doc gave me 12-18 months). I quit my dream job, loaded up on Fentanol and Neurontin and Valium and took to my bed, waiting to die. The pain was excruciating, and the despair was overwhelming. I was hospitalized twice for panic attacks and suffered a lumbar puncture.

On the advice of my HIV specialist (who was dubious of the claims made by the pain specialist), I eventually was able to save enough money to see a Neurologist in NYC, who specialized in Myelopathy and other neurological disorders as they are effected by HIV. It cost me over $700 to find out that I'd live.

Eventually I got a settlement (the accident happened at work), and my then-partner and I decided to go to tropical South Florida, where the cold would never aggravate my neck again. But my partner couldn't adjust, became embittered, and started abusing Percocet. In revenge for my having him involuntarily committed the second time in less than a year, he caused my health insurance to be canceled (long story). He figured I'd rather return to New England than try and live within the eligibility requirements of the public health system for HIV+ people in Florida.

The financial requirements for people requiring public assistance for HIV meds down here meant that my earning cap was 1/3 of my previous salary. So right after dumping my partner, I lost my car (the expense of which was 1/2 my total monthly income allowance) and defaulted on ten of thousands of consumer debt.

That was in 2004. In 2005 I met someone I thought was a great catch, only to discover six months down the road that he was a closet Meth addict who'd been using me for whatever he could get. That spun me into a whole new rage that led to about four months of exploration into the darkest sides of my libido, during which I again fell for a highly inappropriate character. I've written all about it in a series on my blog called Deep Inside Mancunt.

There were many times over the last four years where hope for a future seemed so far away. Perhaps the worst was when I was fired from a shitty retail job that I needed desperately after I came down with the Shingles and was fewer than three weeks from homelessness last Summer.

I was scooped up by a friend, given a place to live and made to feel that, perhaps there might be some hope left in me yet. About a month ago, I accepted a position with health insurance and even opened a bank account for the first time in many years. Hopefully my mid-life crisis is past.

Quite the life story, Bbucko. Here's hopin' things continue to look up for you.