Could It Be...Perimenopause? How Women 35-50 Can Overcome Forgetfulness, Mood Swings, Insomnia, Weight Gain, Sexual Dysfunction and Other Telltale Signs of Hormonal Imbalance

The decade before menopause, says Dr. Stephen R. Goldstein, is a time of profound change--both physically and emotionally--yet many women don't realize this. They may try to ignore subtle-to-bothersome symptoms such as erratic menstruation, "free-floating anxiety, inability to concentrate," forgetfulness, weight gain, sexual difficulties, and insomnia, when they could be effectively treating these problems. Unfortunately, not all doctors recognize perimenopause or know how to treat its symptoms, which may lead them to discount patients' complaints, or worse, suggest unnecessary treatments--including hysterectomies. That's where Could It Be ... Perimenopause? can help.In clear, supportive prose, Goldstein offers no-baloney advice. "Today's perimenopausal women has neither the time nor the patience to go through four to fifteen years of symptoms without relief," he says. He fully delineates the roles of various hormones, how to determine if you're in perimenopause or not, as well as how to treat the various symptoms to gain control over your life. He's a big advocate of low- and ultra-low-dose birth-control pills: "There is nothing inherently advantageous about bursting the capsule of your ovary and having to repair it each month. There's no reason for having fluctuating levels of hormones floating around unless you want to have a baby." He also recommends some natural and herbal treatments (he tells which ones are more appropriate for menopausal or postmenopausal women, and which are worthless or even dangerous). He's also a big promoter of sonohysterography, a type of ultrasound test that he says could prevent up to three-fourths of all emergency-room visits made by women with excessive uterine bleeding.With added resources, including URLs for recommended newsgroups, Web sites, and medical databases, along with information about the very latest in treatments (such as crinone, a natural progesterone gel), Goldstein's created an enormously beneficial reference for both women and health-care providers who could stand to brush up on this topic.