The New Rules of Menopause: A Mayo Clinic guide to perimenopause and beyond

by Stephanie Faubion

Hot flashes, sleep problems, weight gain, perimenopause, menopause – none of this was covered in Sex Ed! In fact, it’s often not even covered in the doctor’s office.

This book steps in to fill that gaping hole as the definitive guide to the menopause transition, the midlife hormonal shift that sets off a cascade of physical and mental changes in women. Dr. Stephanie Faubion brings her expertise on current treatments and research together with an honest, real-world approach to help people understand how the rules of their bodies are changing – and what they can do about it.
 
Divided into three main parts, the book guides readers through understanding menopause, managing it, and thriving in the years that follow. New and updated content And the latest wisdom and tools to manage menopause symptoms
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Audiobook, Womens

400 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2023

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn’t contain anything terribly new or surprising to me at this point, having been navigating menopause for several years now, but I still read it cover to cover and found it helpful to confirm my understandings and choices. Also nice to have current recommendations and summary of research all in one place. Would have been SUPER helpful to have had something like this 15 years ago, but so it goes! I hope it gets out to lots of folks in their 30s and 40s who are starting to have questions about what may be on the horizon for them.

[G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depressing but important

Damn. I do not feel better after reading this. But I do.feel more informed. Which is half the battle. The other half will be getting through the fresh hell of menopause.

[Jenny Blacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

(reviewed with the caveats that I'm not a medical professional, I do have personal knowledge of peri-menopause but only my own!)

I love this book. It's written with very clear plain language, and explains terms and phrases as you go along. It's split up into various sections, and it repeats the basic things in each section. Usually I'd roll my eyes at this, but it does mean if someone picks it up and just goes direct to only 1 section, they'd still get the info they need.

I had a vague idea about most of the information included here, but it was really nice to be able to see it laid out comprehensively from a trusted source. It also included lots of 'alternative' treatments and help, and gave honest seeming opinions on their usefulness.

Overall I'd happily recommend this, my only slight complaint is that I'm in the UK, not the US, so some of the brand or medical care specific parts aren't relevant or helpful to me, but that's a very small complaint.

I received an advance copy for free from NetGalley, on the expectation that I would provide an honest review.

[Miriam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best one so far - waiting on New Menopause to compare. Otherwise other books have been so out of date or cis consistent as to feel irrelevant.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook while walking so couldn't skip the repetitive parts. It was fine, but for sone reason seemed a bit old-fashioned to me.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

OBGYN MD Review - I thought this book was very good. Contained up to date information that is easy to understand but also nuanced. Sign of a good book about menopause: doesn't claim that estrogen reverses aging or fixes all ills but also doesn't fear-monger about it! I also appreciated that the author is an internal medicine physician and thus can speak to the overlap with many other midlife issues that are not specifically "gynecology" issues such as brain health, heart health, weight management. She wove together issues of menopause vs aging very well. I especially appreciated Part 3: Owning it and Looking Ahead chapters on balance, stress reduction and modifying risk factors for chronic disease. In addition to all of the bothersome symptoms of menopause, our patients are also dealing with a culture that expects them to be stressed to the max AND has a terribly unhealthy attitude toward aging. This author gave great tips on creating boundaries and fostering self-care in midlife instead of pressuring people to be "younger next year".

Why not 5 stars? I was very confused by the lack of references. The author gave great up-to-date information, but gave no citations. She is absolutely saying the right things! (She is a past president of the Menopause Society and a leader in the field) but didn't cite the studies to prove it. I understand this is intended for a lay audience and that's probably why, but in an era where there are so many books out there with blatantly wrong info or when the authors are citing a paper that has nothing to do with their claim, I think we owe it to patients to show where we got our information.

Will definitely recommend this book to patients with the above caveat.

[Krista · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll save you the time. Eat healthy, don't drink or smoke. That's what the whole book tells you.

[Sara · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too political. The first couple pages focused so much on inclusivity and trans health, they forgot the focus of this book was menopause. It’s pretty specific. I understand inclusivity and being kind to people around us. But not everyone will be included in everything- it’s just a part of life. To be honest, I wish I wasn’t included into menopause, but I will be facing it soon. And yuck for that.

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is no humor or personality (very robotic) and a lot of useless words. This is a horrible subject, so information should be condensed. I didn’t learn much and some information seems outdated. 2 1/2⭐️

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very thorough and lots of research. Too bad bringing in racism and gender identity into this topic to promote hidden agenda.

[Malka · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really had high hopes that this book might offer some new solutions to the issues that appear with menopause, but it did not. Instead, the only "solution" she offers is HRT and only for a limited time, mind you, for the years specifically between ages 55-60, but after 60, oh no! Then you have to just suffer, I guess, with the rest of us. This is not a new rule, but rather the standard rule. At one point, she did mention a new drug for hot flashes, but just as quickly, it's dropped after a paragraph, so there's no way to know whether that ever became readily available or not.

Other reviews touch on a few problematic habits of this author - virtue signaling by name-dropping some controversial groups to appear "inclusive" and harping on weight loss as an absolute panacea for everything that ails you. I didn't understand the repetitive emphasis on general well-known tips for health as eating right, not drinking or smoking, exercising, not stressing and getting enough sleep. This is not new and seems like filler. Maybe the book should have been just one page?

I am not overweight, but I was interested to find out whether taking HRT does indeed lead to weight gain rather than weight loss for others, as that was my experience. There is no mention of this possibility. Also, there is no mention of the cost or availability of HRT, which leads to me to believe that the author just thinks everyone can afford it or has access. Odd. There is also no mention of the other side effects that could incur with long-term use, like cancer, stroke, blood clots and heart disease.

She also stresses that alternative or bioidentical solutions "have not been proven" so you're just out of luck. Honestly, it seems like the Mayo Clinic is funded by pharmaceutical companies. Oh wait. They are. Duh.

[Adrienna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this book was recommended to me months ago from a dear friend, I didn't find this book any more helpful than what I have already done. No supplements recommended. Only Hormone Therapy which wasn't promising per se. I have tried supplements with perimenopause that was confirmed a year or two ago, and now undergone menopause, I was hoping for answers. It did list the issues that I have undergone, or going through, but no real solutions. I was at the last chapter on eBook version with still about 100 pages to go (presume the book about less than 100 pages to read). I will see if I can skim through that when it is available since so many copies are lensed out. I tried the audiobook but sounded like a lot of terminology that annoyed me while driving home, so I only got about 20% with this version in the beginning. The eBook was easy to skim through those portions and take a few pages of notes to get clarification of the terminology, or symptoms associated with this!

Research on medical issue(s).

[Alisa Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not finish, made it to about half way through and just couldn't continue.
I did not find one thing helpful in this book at all. I felt like the author was trying to make this almost into a story while also trying to write an information book. It just read weird to me.

The author was trying to give helpful information, but just wasn't expressing it in a good way. At least in my opinion.

*I received my copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Cindy Bentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book - it's informative and easy to read. You could easily jump around to the chapters you're interested in, but I found it engrossing enough that I read it from cover to cover. The author outlines many different therapies for the multitude of ailments we face in midlife so that we can make informed decisions as we consult with our healthcare providers.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saw the author, Stephanie Faubion, interviewed on TV and decided to put this book on HOLD at the library several weeks ago.

Didn't find anything new (for me), but I'm far past menopause and remember reading "Our Bodies, Our Selves" decades ago. Nice to see an updated book for today's woman, including inclusivity, for finding the right medical professionals and when.

This is written in short easy-to-read chapters, by topic, which is easy to skip around by interest or question. It would be an easy reference-type book for any age.

[Lesliemurrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

At some point - it’s recommended for hot flashes to NOT USE FLANNEL SHEETS. So I don’t remember much after that. I was looking for some concrete break down on the benefits of different hormone therapy and which symptoms are addressed by which HT. Didn’t seem to get that.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommend this book for any woman interested in science backed, research based information on menopause. It will help when you go to your doctor and have to discuss treatment options, various symptoms and guidance.

[Lisa Ellsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone going through this normal change or for those caring for people during this time of their life, this book validates that changes are normal and that much can be done to make them more comfortable.

[Colleen Wojciechowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another game changer to improve my overall understanding of how this old body of mine works! Good solid information for preparing for the next stage in my development. Like a teen vogue for the mid 40 year old woman!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good info and easy to read-I wished I had ten years ago! Read now if you starting perimenopause!

[Mathew Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of (peri)menopause, written for easy understanding.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt the information was repetitive and contradictory at times.

[Christie Norris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good basic info. More of a reference book than meant to be read straight through, so I didn't read all the sections fully.

[Zach Waldis · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more of a practical, lay guide to dealing with menopause than a scientific treatise. If you want a lot of hands on life advice, this may be helpful for you.

[Maria Caracci Ciccolella · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Rules of Menopause: A Mayo Clinic Guide to Perimenopause and Beyond by Stephanie Faubion, MD offers a comprehensive guide on the menopause transition, offering expertise and advice from women’s health specialists, chief among them: Dr. Faubion, director of the Mayo Clinic’s Center for Women’s Health (and Medical Director for The Menopause Society). Written in plain and easy to understand language, the book offers the facts of menopause, the tools available to manage it and key steps for enjoying your best life out of it—all backed by the latest scientific evidence and research.

This book is for you if… you are looking to fully immerse yourself in an understanding of menopause and the physiological impacts taking place throughout the body. You don’t want to leave any stone unturned and want a reference book you can turn to that’s been thoroughly vetted and interpreted by experts in the field.

[Shruti Pandey · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book reads like a bunch of research papers. It doesn't go into depth about anything; it just highlights a bunch of things without adding much context as leaves you with many questions. If you want to read about menopause, I recommend checking out The Menopause Manifesto by Dr. Jen Gunter.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book filled with information to do with menopause, perimenopause, and everything that middle aged women don’t have discussed enough.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think every female should read this book!!