I was able to do that recently with equally old and sagging joists i put some weight on them from above and they came back to pretty close to straight and so it has worked fine.
Sagging joice attic ceiling.
Cracks on a sagging or bowed ceiling.
At the time of construction nails rather than screws regularly were used to attach wood lath to joists and the nails had slipped right out.
How to fix sagging drywall ceilings.
Spacing of ceiling joist or trusses.
If the ceiling joists or trusses supporting the ceiling drywall is spaced too far apart then sagging may result and the stress from this may create.
You can correct a sagging ceiling by overlaying a two piece strongback on the joists.
Sometimes they come about when different materials are used between the frame and the joists.
Sagging in a ceiling may be caused by undersized drywall.
1 if the joists are exposed at the moment and easily removed and reasonably square you might be able to flip them over.
If it is sagging because it got.
Ceiling drywall that sags between joists or trusses is sometimes called pillowed drywall.
Unsightly ceiling joist sags are a common occurrence in old ceilings.
Sagging ceiling drywall always indicates a problem that needs correction and it adds a touch of shoddiness that no room needs.
They often occur because of warps from weather and temperature.
Then use idea 2 below to really beef it up.
You either have to replace 1 2 in.
If a ceiling is bowed sagging or dropped down then the reason may relate to a structural issues.
Undersized joists in the attic floor had bowed and then the keys in the plaster ceiling pulled away from the joists.