Salute to Menopause

I started experiencing the symptoms of perimenopause much earlier in my life than most women do. So after 8 years now of hot flashes, mood swings, forgetfulness, and many other symptoms I finally decided to read up on the subject. The following is a list of the books I looked at and my impressions of them.

• The Wisdom of Menopause by Christiane Northrup - lots of emotional support, not the information I was looking for, good for women embarking on spiritual journeys.


• The Only Menopause Guide You'll Need by Michele Moore - brilliant layout of information, first 3 chapters very helpful, rest of the book goes into detail about different treatment options.


• What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause by John R. Lee - table of contents scared me away, 22 chapters and over 400 pages.


• Living Well With Menopause by Carolyn Chambers Clark - 60 pages of introductory information, 150 pages of holistic approaches, 40 pages of "creating your menopause plan", NOT for me.


• The New Menopause Book by Mary Tagliaferri, Isaac Cohen, and Debu Tripathy - wonderful reference book, organized by symptom, lots of information on western medicine, herbal medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine


• The Everything Menopause Book by Ramona Slupik with Lorna Gentry- excellent presentation of information for those of us with short attention spans or short bursts of time for reading, but repetitive if read from cover to cover.

The books listed above were all checked out from the King County Library. The one I had to buy because the library didn't have it was Menopause Sucks: What to Do When Hot Flashes Make You and Everyone Else Miserable by Joanne Kimes and Elaine Ambrose. I bought it based on the title alone and have saved it for last. I will start reading it tomorrow, or tonight if the insomnia strikes again. Happy Flashing!