The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change, 2nd Edition

I do understand why some people have rated this book only one star. The book gets into a lot of areas outside of mainstream medicine. However, I felt most of what she had to say was medically sound. If you are looking for a book that gives only AMA-approved advice, this is NOT the book for you.

I think this book is actually quite valuable. Who would benefit from it most are people who want BOTH AMA-approved advice, AND who want to consider things like herbal remedies, acupuncture, and other natural treatments. These discussions are particularly valuable for anyone who cannot take traditional hormone treatments for various reasons–such as if you have deep vein thrombosis (which I do). She covers alternative therapies very well, in depth, and from the perspective of a physician who has had many years experience in trying these natural therapies with patients, and with herself. So, here you can get a POSITIVE physician’s viewpoint on alternative therapies. Yes, it’s true she discusses her personal life, and I personally enjoyed those parts. It’s also true that she sometimes gets readings from Tarot cards, but if something comes out of them, she always checks into those areas which have come up in the readings with traditional medical tests and treatments. If you’re not into “nurturing your fibroid,” or tarot cards, just ignore those parts of the book. Ignoring these parts was not a problem for me. The important thing is, this book is NOT trying to convert people to new-age treatments. It is seriously discussing a number of alternative therapies, from a medical standpoint, that MANY people have already been using on their own for many years–but these people can’t find any doctor who will seriously discuss the merits and demerits of any of these treatments. Furthermore, she DOESN’T concentrate ONLY on these alternative therapies–she discusses all the traditional therapies very well.

Should you buy this book? If you are the type of person who is only comfortable with traditional medical advice, you will NOT like this book. Buy another one. If you are someone who is looking for a SERIOUS discussion of alternative therapies, you will think this book is wonderful. I fall primarily in the former camp, but am also open to the latter camp for consideration. I found the book very useful, and felt it was well worth the money I spent on it. The main reason being that it discussed SO MANY MORE aspects of menopause than I ever would have dreamed of thinking about!! It is not a book you can sit down and read cover-to-cover. It has to be read slowly, and digested. After reading this book and another one, I went to see my doctor with a list of pre-prepared questions, and he said I was the best-informed patient he had ever had (here in Morocco). I suggest that you DO buy this book, but you might want one or two other books which cover different aspects of the menopause transition. The other book I chose was a paperback called “The Silent Passage,” and between the two books, I feel very satisfied.
Rating: 4 / 5

This book was recommended to me by a holistic therapist when I was talking about all the chaos that has decended into my life. She said that “its part of menopause” and refered this book. She was so right. From the moment I started reading it, I started identifying with a lot of the things that she was saying.

In reading many of the other reviews, I feel that most the one star people never got beyond the first few chapters. They never saw the indepth discussions on building bones, the discussions on why you start gaining weight even though you haven’t changed your diet or excercise, or the discussion of heart health. They were turned off by her discussions of her personal life and experience…everyone of which mentioned the tarot card references which were such a small part and only mentioned in the beginning! I thought it made her more human. Nor did I feel she was telling us to ditch everyone in our lives. What I picked up and what I really do feel is important is that we need to constantly reevaluate our live, keep what IS working and change (not neccessarily discard)what isn’t and unfortunately, most of us don’t do that till our lives go haywire. Menopause is a major haywire occurances.

One of the things that drew me to the book and her attitude is that she approaches everything from an ‘understand what is happaning, understand your options, decide what is best for you’ point of view. In particular, in this ‘here take a pill for that’ world we live in, her change your lifestyle first and if that doesn’t work, then let’s look at the medication and surgical answers was very refreshing.

Menopause is so much more than hot flashes and night sweats and to have one book that goes into all the health issues (physical, mental, and emotional) that we face in this stage of our lives was extremely helpful to me. I highly recommend this book…and if you don’t want to hear about her personal experiences, skip Chapter 1, and only want to deal with the medical part, start with Chapter 4.
Rating: 5 / 5

I recommend that women read Dr. Northrup’s book before they need it! That way, the reader can start at the beginning of the book, read it from cover to cover, and enjoy the book. Then it can be used as a reference when the signs and symptoms of menopause begin. If that’s not possible, and you’re dealing with perimenopause or full-blown menopause, then skip the first few chapters. Otherwise, you’ll be ready to divorce your spouse, thinking that’s the answer to your mulititude of problems. Bloated? Get a divorce. Night sweats? Get a divorce. No sexual drive? Get a divorce. Instead, look for the chapters that deal with your symptoms. The information on diet and diet supplements is extremely useful. It’s also helpful to be able to “talk the talk” when going to an ob-gyn. You will with this book. You’ll know what tests to request and what questions to ask. I now feel prepared and educated instead of defeated.
Rating: 5 / 5