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Recommended Reading
Could It Be...Perimenopause?
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

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. He's a big advocate of low- and ultra-low-dose birth-control pills: "There is nothing inherently advantageous about bursting the capsule of your ovary and having to repair it each month. There's no reason for having fluctuating levels of hormones floating around unless you want to have a baby." He also recommends some natural and herbal treatments (he tells which ones are more appropriate for menopausal or postmenopausal women, and which are worthless or even dangerous). He's also a big promoter of sonohysterography, a type of ultrasound test that he says could prevent up to three-fourths of all emergency-room visits made by women with excessive uterine bleeding.

The Power of Perimenopause:
A Woman's Guide to Physical and Emotional Health During Perimenopause
by Stephanie Degraff Bender, Treacy Colbert

This comprehensive book focuses on easing the normal, but sometimes distressing, physiological and psychological symptoms of the stage preceding menopause.