Scared of the menopause! Any advice for good books on the subject?

[ArabellaScott]

Hello. I'm 44, my cycle has shorted to 24 days in the past year or so, I feel that I'm approaching menopause or peri menopause. I know very little about it, and I'm starting to get a bit scared! Also emotional, and now not sure if that might actually be part of the whole shebang.

So, doing what I always do and looking for reliable information - good books on the subject, evidence-based preferably.

Your thoughts would be very welcome.

Check out the menopause doctor on Instagram or on her website. You don't need anything else

Brilliant, thank you!

Agree with @bestbefore. Also, incredibly knowledgeable book, covering ALL things menopause is:
Menopause: Your Management, Your Way Now and For the Rest of Your Life by Dr. Barbara Taylor. She also has an extremely informative channel on YouTube.

Your Change, Your Choice (book)- covers everything by a specialist menopause gynae.

Fab, thanks very much, both. I'm guessing the Your Change one is along the 'your body, your choice ', lines, which I seem to remember was a good read.

@ArabellaScott

Fab, thanks very much, both. I'm guessing the Your Change one is along the 'your body, your choice ', lines, which I seem to remember was a good read.

Yes. The first part is the biology of menopause and the second part is how to deal with symptoms either through conventional treatments or complementary ones ( that's where the choice comes in) and the third part covers wellbeing, diet, exercise and emotional stuff.

Sounds good, ta!

Please don't be scared about the menopause. For me it was a blessed release to be unchained from PMS, periods, hormonal breast pain etc. Many women transition through it with relatively minor issues, so don't assume it will be awful. Of course the advice here is very helpful if you find yourself struggling with it.

Interesting thing about Meg Matthews who’s done some stuff around the menopause
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/oct/18/meg-mathews-i-feared-my-colourful-90s-life-had-caught-up-with-me
Which has made me think about trying to claw back (or hold on to, in your case) my sense of myself as a sexual being.

Thanks, Definitely. I might be a bit odd in that for the past few years I have enjoyed my periods! Now I don't have pain I like the cyclical nature of them, they kind of punctuate my life. And I suppose the thought I won't be able to have more children is also on my mind. Such a big shift.

Off to read the article, now, thank you!

Thanks for the suggestion @JinglingHellsBells re: Your Change, Your Choice. I just ordered it from a UK bookseller.

:)