Sue:
You are the author of many books, including the highly successful When Parents Love Too Much and Could It Be... Perimenopause? What attracted you the topics involved with your book The Estrogen Alternative?

Sue:
As a very bright and well researched author, what did you find most surprising as you wrote and researched the The Estrogen Alternative?

Laurie:
First, I couldn't believe how many women weren't taking estrogen given the potential benefits. Huge numbers of women had tried it and had real problems with it and couldn't continue. So many women were just plain disenfranchised--they couldn't take estrogen and had no alternatives. I was apalled. I still find it surprising that so many women are in the dark about something crucial to the maintenance of their health. I've learned that HRT has really changed over the last decade. So many alternatives exist to what was the standard treatment was only a few years ago. I've told many of my friends who tried HRT five years ago and went off of it because of problems, "Hey, it's time to take another look." And they have. The fun of being a medical writer is free medical advice from the experts in the field you couldn't even afford to see, unless you have the means to fly across the country for your annual exam. I asked every question I had, my sister had, my cousin had, my best friend had--we all got the benefit of great answers to questions that were faxed sometimes every hour to Dr. Goldstein and that he spent a hours answering.

I was often surprised by little things,
like that the aerobic classes and jogging I thought were the best things for my body really weren't anymore, and that I needed to begin thinking more in terms of building muscle, maintaining bone, and increasing flexibility. I was surprised at how well many of the remedies suggested in this book for a wide variety of symptoms and problems really work, since I'm the biggest cynic in the world. Dr. Goldstein's weight loss advice is definitely on the mark--and it comes from a man who has been there and done that and knows exactly what he's talking about. I learned of The Lotte Berke Method for strength training and flexibility, and I still prefer it to yoga or Pilates or anything else I've tried. I also interviewed a collegue of Dr. Goldstein's at NYU--Dr. Darrell Rigel, Clinical Professor of Dermatology--to learn what women could do to help their aging skin (and turn back the clock!). The regimen he suggested is in the book in Chapter Five. I've been following it to the letter for a year now, and you would not believe the difference. I am not making this up. My husband wants to try it. I have close friends who have read the book only for that chapter! I no longer fear reaching age fifty or beyond. I don't see it as the end of anything, but the beginning of a new phase in my life.

Sue:
Could you tell us a little bit about your next book?

Laurie:
The title is "Listen, Do You Want to Know A Secret?: Reviving Midlife Sexuality" Or "There's An Elephant In the Bedroom: Reviving Midlife Sexuality." Or maybe something else! I'm not the one holding up the news about the title. Most people don't realize how little control authors have over what title will appear on their books, or what the cover will look like.

The original title of Could It Be Perimenopause was Storm Warnings.
The title of The Estrogen Alternative was still The SERMs Solution, one month before it went to press. I can tell you the publisher--Contemporary Books. It will be on the shelves some time in the year 2000. My co-author is Dr. Alan Altman, Assistant Clinical Professor at Harvard Medical School (and he still maintains a full-time private GYN practice, specializing in menopause--lucky you, if you live in Boston!!) He went to med school at NYU with Dr. Goldstein--small world! I think of him as the savvy, scientifically thinking woman's answer to John Gray.

In this book you'll get the medical possiblities for solving sexual problems first, followed by the best psychology has to offer. It's all about our secrets: Why is it so hard to get turned on these days? I thought these hormones were supposed to help me--why don't they? I'm too tired for sex--what am I going to tell him again, tonight? Why am I suddenly thinking about other men? What do I do after being single and celibate for ten years when I've suddenly met a man I want to be with sexually, and it isn't working? What if it's "working" but it's not exactly rocking the world? What can I do to maintain sexual fitness? What can I do if menopause or perimenopause is draining the life out of my libido? Can you really revive midlife sexuality, or is monogamy always eventually monotony? How do you talk about this stuff to your partner? Dr. Altman gives answers and exciting possibilities I've never heard before, and I consider myself pretty well read. Do you have questions? We can't answer them personally, but if you write us via my web site, sixkeys.com, you will probably find your answer somewhere in the book!

Sue:
Thank you again for taking the time to visit with us here on HotFlash and I look forward to seeing your book when it comes out

See an excerpt of "The Estrogen Alternative"
See the interview with Steven Goldstein, MD

click here to join HotFlash & ask a question

Meet the author
Steven R. Goldstein, MD
(also see Goldstein interview 1)
Introduction
SERM's: The Estrogen Alternative
Heart Protection & Evista
The Benefits of Estrogen
Estrogen & Alzheimer's Disease
Excerpt from the book
Co-author Laurie Ashner interview

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Glossary of Terms
HotFlash FAQ
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Women's Health Center
is our newest section with information on everything important to a woman. So don't miss it.

newly revised for 2000!
Could It Be...Perimenopause?
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

see the interview with Dr Goldstein
In clear, supportive prose, Goldstein offers no-baloney advice. "Today's perimenopausal women has neither the time nor the patience to go through four to fifteen years of symptoms without relief," he says. He fully delineates the roles of various hormones, how to determine if you're in perimenopause or not, as well as how to treat the various symptoms to gain control over your life.

The Estrogen Alternative:
What Every Woman Needs to Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy and Serms, the New Estrogen Substitutes
click here to find out more
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner
Most women know the benefits of estrogen replacement after menopause: It reduces the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, even Alzheimer's disease. Many are still reluctant to take it, because it increases the incidence of breast and uterine cancer. Find out more.

When Parents Love Too Much:
Freeing Parents and Children to Live Their Own Lives
Click here to find out more
by Laurie Ashner, Mitch Meyerson
Read an excerpt of this book
Meet the Author - Laurie Ashner
When Parents Love Too Much
The authors of When Is Enough, Enough? now explore the all-too-common problems of over-protection, guilt, low self-esteem, and family conflict which spring from excessive parental attachment. Their insightful and practical guide sheds new light on both parenting and the search for inner peace and personal growth.