Going Menopostal

Half of the population—the female half—is getting healthcare based on myth rather than evidence. Going Menopostal is Amy Alkon’s mission to change that. This book started with a flash—Alkon’s first hot flash. Drenching night sweats and horrible insomnia soon followed, along with shame—at being inexplicably wired and enraged at everyone and everything. Alkon, an award-winning science columnist and author, wanted to turn to her doctor. But there was a problem: More than half of the medical care we get in the US may not be "based on, or supported by adequate evidence," according to the US National Academy of Medicine. Knowing this, Alkon began a deep dive into the research on menopause and perimenopause—the 3 to 10 years leading up to menopause in which women’s symptoms are widely ignored, dismissed, and misdiagnosed. Alkon was shocked by what she found, and in Going Menopostal, she shares this crucial information with readers, including: Perimenopause is wrongly viewed and treated as “menopause lite”—a time of decreasing estrogen levels—when estrogen levels actually soar in perimenopause, making many women sick. Women in perimenopause are prescribed estrogen, essentially overdosing them on the hormone causing their suffering. Women who could be prescribed safe, symptom-alleviating FDA-approved progesterone are frequently given the cheaper synthetic knockoff that does not curb insomnia and increases their risk of breast cancer. If scientific evidence actually drove medicine, the safe, effective treatment Alkon got for herself—after three research-armed battles with her HMO—would be made available to all women. But millions of midlife women are left to suffer needlessly, like Alkon’s favorite bus driver, advised by her doctor to "just wait out" her insomnia and night sweats. In Going Menopostal, Alkon brings the science to all of these women. This meticulously researched book is written in clear, everyday language you don’t need the slightest science background to understand (along with Alkon’s trademark dark humor). Alkon’s ultimate goal: empowering all women with the information they need to get the evidence-based care they expect and deserve.