Menopause: The Good Stuff, selected for #FlushFest

Come find us and our books to their brilliant #FlushFest Menopause Festival this first weekend of September! Ahead of the event we asked Rachel Weiss from the Menopause Cafe for some recommondations and you'll find those and a selection of Lighthouse favourites below.

More about all this in Rachel's own words:

"At Menopause Cafés people share their menopause stories, tips, questions, fears, laughter and website, podcast and book recommendations. I’m more of a book than a podcast person, so I’ve accumulated a fair collection of menopause books.

What are the menopause and perimenopause? We weren’t taught this at school. Our mums, aunties and older female friends didn’t tell us. So, we need to know the basics: how might our bodies, minds and identities change? What can we do about it?"

Rachel offered us go-to books on the medical facts about menopause as well as a couple of personal faves:

The Complete Guide to the Menopause: your toolkit to take control and achieve life-long health by Dr Annice Mukherjee, who demystifies menopause symptoms and gives a practical toolkit “to help you take control, feel empowered, successfully prepare for and manage your own menopause and achieve lifelong health. The aim is to thrive, not just survive.” Dr Mukherjee is an endocrinologist (aka hormone specialist), who experienced breast cancer and early menopause. She is active on social media, countering false menopause facts. Follow her on Twitter @annicemukherjee or Instagram @the. hormone.doc.

What Fresh Hell is This? perimenopause, menopause, other indignities and you by Heather Corinna is inclusive, frank and humourous. Its byline is “What to expect when you’re not expected to expect anything anymore.” Chapter titles include “and in the beginning was the word, and the word was ‘Dammit’ and ‘Ghosts of Sex Lives Past.’

The Complete Guide to POI & Early Menopause by Dr Hannah Short and Dr Mandy Leonhardt covers the many aspects of menopause before the age of 45. Menopause happens to people in their teens, 20s, 30s and early 40s, spontaneously or because of surgery or medication. It’s confusing enough going through menopause in our 50s: imagine none of your friends are going through it, you’re battling a serious illness, and the decision about whether to have children or not has been abruptly made for you. The authors remind us that “no-one is ever ‘too young’ to be menopausal."

Menopocalypse by #FlushFest22 speaker, Amanda Thebe, got me lifting (very light) weights for the first time. She tells her story and shares tips on how to eat, move, think, de-stress and sleep to ease symptoms, and also covers aspects of HRT.

Flash Count Diary by Darcey Steinke is a feminist exploration of menopause, our bodies, rage, hot flushes, patriarchy and whales.