Synopses & Reviews
Its not your mothers menopause. Some women live through it and never miss a beat. Others suffer so many symptoms— severe hot flashes, sleeplessness, mood swings—that they have trouble functioning. But what all women have in common is a need to know what to expect and how to understand this phase for its inherent promise: as a grand beginning to the second half of life.
By poring over the latest research, interviewing doctors and scientists, attending conferences, and talking to other women, Pat Wingert and Barbara Kantrowitz offer the everything-you-need-to-know guide to menopause. IS IT HOT IN HERE? OR IS IT ME? is accessible, comprehensive, practical, reassuring, scientific, and written in the lively, smart voice of friends helping friends.
First comes the overview: the beginnings of menopause, including why knowing if youre actually in menopause can be so tricky; the stages of menopause and their typical duration; the role of hormones and the viability of hormone therapy; when and why to seek treatment, the risks involved, and a primer on pills, creams, patches, shots, and bioidenticals.
Then, at the heart of the book, two essential sections: “What Youre Feeling Now,” which offers the relief of solid information on the symptoms of your menopausal life—hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, bleeding, memory loss, and those inexplicable glitches in thinking that make you feel like a kid with ADD—plus the comfort of advice on what to do. And “Staying Healthy Forever,” a jam-packed guide to caring for your changing body: It begins by trusting your knowledge of yourself, then learning the things to do to ensure a long and healthy future, one in which you look your best and feel your best.
No matter what your path through menopause, the experience is one of great change: and now for this great change, great help.
Review
“Required reading for women wanting to maximize the second half of their lives . . . up-to-date, readable, and comprehensive.” —Wulf H. Utian, M.D., Ph.D., Executive Director and President, The North American Menopause Society
Synopsis
For significant milestones, significant books: first,
Our Bodies, Ourselves, then
What to Expect When You’re Expecting, and now,
Is it Hot in Here? Or is it me? The Complete Guide to Menopause. Written with an uncompromising intelligence and wit by two award-winning
Newsweek journalists,
Is it Hot in Here? Or is it me? is the essential, comprehensive, up-to-the-minute, deeply optimistic book for the millions of women in their forties-to-sixties.
The menopause transition—so often mysterious—varies greatly from woman to woman. Finally, here is the one book that makes the full scope of it accessible and understood. It covers the role of hormones and the controversy over hormone therapy. The truth about hot flashes . . . and how to deal with one in the middle of a meeting. A top-to-bottom assessment of the aches, pains, and assorted ills that can afflict menopausal women. The impact on sexuality, and how to counteract that wavering libido. (Yes, it’s possible to buy a sex toy without the neighbors—or the children— finding out.) There are chapters on memory (how to protect it), moods (how to ride them out), and sleep (how to get it). And then an entire section on using this period as a springboard to staying healthy, feeling great, and looking beautiful for the next act in your life. A complete approach to losing middle-age weight (and tips on finding jeans that will make you look as if you’ve had a tummy tuck). The essential exercises to keep bones strong. Dealing with dry skin and thinning hair. Habits (and recipes) to begin to encourage heart health now.
Synopsis
At last, a deeply optimistic guide to all the long, often mysterious years of menopause • the role of hormones and the controversy over hormone therapy • the truth about hot flashes . . . and how to deal with one in the middle of a meeting • the impact on sexuality and how to counteract that wavering libido. There are chapters on memory (how to protect it), moods (how to ride them out), and sleep (how to get what you need). And finally, why this period can be a natural springboard to staying healthy, feeling great, and looking beautiful for that next act in your life.
About the Author
Barbara Kantrowitz is a former
Newsweek senior editor and co-author with Pat Wingert of the "Her Body" column on women's health for newsweek.com. She lives with her family in New York City.
Pat Wingert is an award-winning journalist and correspondent at Newsweek, where she has worked for the past twenty years. Her specialties include health, education, and demographics. She lives in Washington, D.C. She also writes Newsweek.coms popular “Her Body” health column with Barbara Kantrowitz and has co-authored dozens of cover stories for the magazine.
Table of Contents
Part 1: The BasicsChapter 1: What's happening?
Chapter 2: The hormone question
Part 2: What You're Feeling Now
Chapter 3: Hot flashes
Chapter 4: Sleep
Chapter 5: Sex
Chapter 6: Bleeding
Chapter 7: Aches and pains
Chapter 8: Moods and emotions
Chapter 9: Thinking and memory
Part 3: Staying Healthy Forever
Chapter 10: Bones
Chapter 11: Eyes and ears
Chapter 12: Heart
Chapter 13: Cancer
Chapter 14: Diet and exercise
Chapter 15: Looking good