Is It Hot In Here Or Is It Me?: Personal Look at the Facts, Fallacies, and Feelings of Menopause

by Gayle Sand

A guide to dealing with menopause, based on the author's own experience and research, discusses sex, relationships, choosing the right doctor, asking the right questions, and the risks, benefits, and realities of hormone therapies. 75,000 first printing. $100,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well written book about what this woman, Gayle Sand, went through in menopause at 47 yrs. old. The doctors that she went to, the different therapies she tried, the pills she took, the exercises she did, all to lessen the effects of the hot flashes and the sweating, the painful sex and the lost libido. At times, it was: "We'll rip out your uterus and put you on HRT", other times it was mountains of pills, creams and exercises. Oh, and let's not forget the acupuncture or acupressure. All of this was costing boatloads of money, tons of time, but in the end, it didn't help her. There is so much information in this book, that it's going to stay in my personal library. Gayle did find something that worked for her, but it was through much trial and error before she got there. Not all doctors are alike, not all doctors think alike. Find one that works "for you", find something, a treatment, that you're comfortable with. Women in the past have been patted on the head and told to go home, take an aspirin, put your feet up for awhile and everything will be fine. If you started voicing your objections, you were given tranquilizers. (My Mom had nine kids. How was she going to go home and put her feet up? Mom went through the change shortly after having her last baby at 42.) Some of the information is contradictory. The foods that they advise you to eat for your bones is all well and good, but these same foods are not so very good for your heart. Osteoporosis is bad enough, but do you cause your cholesterol to go sky high to save your bones? There is a happy medium. Find foods that have lots of calcium, but are low in fat. But, beware of calcium supplements, they have been linked to heart disease. She's a wonderful writer. She takes something that could be very dry reading and sends it to you like it's part of a comedy show. I enjoyed it. I hope you like this book as much as I did.

[Walkeo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated information at this point, but amusing from an experiential point of view.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Outdated, but kind of informative/interesting

[Laura Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommend it to all middle aged women!

[Teresa Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny. Well-researched. Funny. Truthful. Funny.