I love the way our middle-aged minds work. Last week my ankles swelled up, and I was convinced I had congestive heart failure. I told my doctor that (after having a panic attack in his office, gee, embarrassing, much?) and he barely kept from laughing at me. Apparently the pills I was taking for back pain have a water-retention side effect, and the moment I stopped them I got back my slender girlish ankles. Well, duh.

As for lactose intolerance, my brother developed it for the first time at age 45. So anything's possible.