If searching the internet’s largest online bookstore yields 26,167 results for ‘menopause’, do we really need yet another publication on the topic? It’s true that not all of those are in the ‘true story’ style of Debra Vinecombe’s Menopause – Women Tell Their Stories, but even so, you may still wonder if this latest effort is worth picking up. The answer is most definitely yes, especially if you’re a woman in the 40-something age bracket (or if your partner, family member or friend is).
This isn’t menopause 101, or a medical textbook dissecting the latest remedies and research findings. Instead, 19 women (including the author) share their journeys through an unavoidable and often deeply traumatic period of their lives. No particular medications or therapies are advocated. In fact, the women are equally divided into those who used conventional medication, natural therapies and a combination of both. The storytellers are Australian and a mix of ages. Some have reached menopause in the expected timeframe, while others have been plunged into the world of drastic hormone fluctuations and hot flushes following surgery or as a side-effect of treatment for other conditions.
Since recent hysteria over the safety of hormone replacement therapy, and reports of liver damage and other dangerous side-effects of natural treatments such as black cohosh, there seemed to be little option for menopausal women other than to suffer through their symptoms. The key message evident after reading this collection of experiences is that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach that works for everyone. Some cruise through this change of life with a few stray chin hairs and the odd forgetful moment, while others endure sleepless nights, joint pain, violent mood swings and non-stop blazing waves of heat.
Vinecombe has assembled stories that are candid, humourous and deeply personal. For some women the sympathetic, ongoing medical care needed to help them navigate through menopause’s complex range of health and emotional problems can be hard to find in these days of chronic GP shortages. Changing doctors until you find one who suits you is not an option for many people, particularly those in country towns. Women who are feeling stranded will find this book particularly useful in giving some idea of what they might expect, and could help them formulate questions to prompt better medical care from their own doctor.
There are poems scattered amongst the chapters, and a brief but useful index of websites and information services at the end, but it’s the women’s accounts that resonate. Their willingness to tell the truth about this often unspoken period of a woman’s life makes for rich and satisfying reading. It was the author’s aim to 'go beyond the medical description of menopause, the list of symptoms and treatments'. She has succeeded. Wakefield Press, RRP $27.95