Coping with Perimenopause
By Janet Wright - a Sheldon Press book

The decade or so leading up to menopause is often a time of change for women, marked by symptoms such as irregular periods, emotional upheaval, forgetfulness, tiredness, weight gain, headaches, bloating, insomnia and decreased sex drive. To compound the problem, these days perimenopause often strikes at a busy time of life when a woman may also be dealing with another major life change — new motherhood. Many women soldier on, not realizing that help is available, but it is.

Topics covered in Coping with Perimenopause include:

• the difference between perimenopause and menopause
• help from your doctor
• complementary therapies and self-help techniques
• alternative remedies
• diet and exercise that may help
• how to maintain the balance in your life
• contraception and fertility
• starting a family later in life

In this supportive and positive book, Janet Wright illustrates the range of help available and explains that there is no need to put up with the troublesome symptoms that hormonal upheaval can cause.

Contents 

• Introduction
• What is the perimenopause?
• Could it be something else?
• Emotional disturbances
• Contraception and fertility
• Baby shock
• HRT and other medical help
• Complementary remedies and self-help
• Eat to beat the symptoms
• The fitness solution
• Long-term health
• Useful addresses
• Further reading
• Index

Introduction

You may have picked up this book because you have symptoms that might be early signs of the menopause, such as changes to the menstrual cycle, headaches or emotional problems. Maybe you have already started the perimenopausal transition and are seeking solutions to some of its challenges. Or you may just be wondering what the perimenopause is!

This book aims to answer all those questions, and provide information you can use in making your own decisions about this period of your life.

It can be used by women at any point in the journey towards the menopause, but it is particularly useful for women from about 35 onwards, in the early stages of hormonal change. At this age, you can take preventative measures to forestall possible problems during the years around the menopause. The action you take now can continue to affect your health and well-being into old age.

The hormonal changes that herald the perimenopause start having an impact as early as your mid-thirties. Some women may notice emotional changes, and this book explores how to deal with possible problems such as depression, mood swings, anxiety, loss of libido and insomnia. The perimenopause occurs at a busy time in most women's lives, and we could do without any needless drains on our energy. This book looks at how to have optimum health and well-being at this time so we can cope with the numerous issues we face on a daily basis. That may mean big decisions as well as smaller ones. Many women during this period are faced with the decision as to whether or not to have children. For those who decide to, this book has advice and information about improving your chances of a healthy pregnancy. For those who decide against having children, it may be time to rethink your contraceptive strategy for the next stage of your life. And for those starting a family in their late thirties or forties, this book looks at what happens when new motherhood and the perimenopause collide.

The perimenopause is a time of transition, not an illness, and most women come through it unscathed. But fluctuating hormone levels can cause a host of symptoms, some minor, some niggling, and others that can disrupt your life if left untreated. If you take the right action now, you may never have any symptoms worth worrying about.

The advice in this book does not, however, replace medical treatment. Go to your GP if any health problems you've been treating with self-help remedies do not clear up quickly.

Don't rely on natural remedies if the symptoms could be those of a serious condition such as heart disease, diabetes or cancer — see your GP as soon as you notice them. These are things that need a correct diagnosis and medical treatment. Self-help cannot replace conventional treatment for serious illness, although it has a lot to offer alongside it.

About the author
Janet Wright is a freelance journalist who has specialized in health since 1990, with an emphasis on finding reliable evidence from research. She writes for the Royal College of GPs, Channel 4, Health & Fitness and the science journal Nature, among others. The author of several books covering a variety of subjects, including health and marriage, she lives in London with her husband David Hall, who writes walking guides. She enjoys helping with his research, having discovered that exercise is the simplest way of smoothing any hormonal fluctuations.