Rating: 
Summary: A must read for any woman in her 40's
Review: I thank God for the timing of the publishing of this book. I am struggling with my "transformation" and I found the book just the medicine I needed. Dr. Northrup shared with me the tools and insight to heal myself. This is the second time one of Dr. Northrup's book has changed my life, the first occured with my reading of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom prior to conceiving my son. Thank you Dr. Northrup, you are an angel.
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Summary: Menopause is more than hot flashes, night sweats and HRT
Review: This book was recommended to me by a holistic therapist when I was talking about all the chaos that has decended into my life. She said that "its part of menopause" and refered this book. She was so right. From the moment I started reading it, I started identifying with a lot of the things that she was saying.In reading many of the other reviews, I feel that most the one star people never got beyond the first few chapters. They never saw the indepth discussions on building bones, the discussions on why you start gaining weight even though you haven't changed your diet or excercise, or the discussion of heart health. They were turned off by her discussions of her personal life and experience...everyone of which mentioned the tarot card references which were such a small part and only mentioned in the beginning! I thought it made her more human. Nor did I feel she was telling us to ditch everyone in our lives. What I picked up and what I really do feel is important is that we need to constantly reevaluate our live, keep what IS working and change (not neccessarily discard)what isn't and unfortunately, most of us don't do that till our lives go haywire. Menopause is a major haywire occurances. One of the things that drew me to the book and her attitude is that she approaches everything from an 'understand what is happaning, understand your options, decide what is best for you' point of view. In particular, in this 'here take a pill for that' world we live in, her change your lifestyle first and if that doesn't work, then let's look at the medication and surgical answers was very refreshing. Menopause is so much more than hot flashes and night sweats and to have one book that goes into all the health issues (physical, mental, and emotional) that we face in this stage of our lives was extremely helpful to me. I highly recommend this book...and if you don't want to hear about her personal experiences, skip Chapter 1, and only want to deal with the medical part, start with Chapter 4.
Rating: 
Summary: Some helpful information, but this book is NOT for everyone!
Review: Some of the medical information is very helpful. My recommendation is that this is not a book for someone under 35, it is not a book for someone who has already had a hysterectomy, nor is it for someone who has young children at home. Her hormonal theory, that menopause is the time in life when we look beyond nurturing our families, and look to nurturing ourselves instead is slightly flawed. Many women have hysterectomies or other forms of induced menopause at a very early age. Do I think that my total hysterectomy at 34 (and the obvious onset of menopause) changed my ability or desire to nurture my children? Of course not. That's ridiculous, and if I think about it too much, it's actually offensive.
Her comments about marriage are questionable, as well. Marriages sustain many changes, and menopause is just one of them. Open lines of communication, deep love and commitment are certainly enough to weather the "hormonal storm." How sad that it seems as if one point of the book is that menopause is the time to assess your marriage. Shouldn't we be doing that every day, and re-committing ourselves to growing together?
Many reviewers have commented on some of her more non-traditional methods. I am not a fan of tarot cards, and I'm not sure how I feel about taking medical advice from someone who diagnosed herself on several occassions, by using them. That's just my own opinion. I tried to look beyond that.
I just think this is another book written for people older than I am. That's okay, but it still leaves me looking for something I can truly relate to.
Rating:
Summary: If You Liked This Book. . . .
Review: When You Think You're Falling Apart, by Dr. Kathleen Wilson was loaded with current information I could use about myself. I think it will be as important as The Wisdom of Menopause in teaching women how their bodies work, how to keep themselves healthy, how to reduce stress, and how to manage in the medical system.
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Summary: Thank you Christiane Northrup!
Review: If ever there was a book that belongs in the waiting room of doctors across the nation, this is it! I am a yoga teacher whose classes are filled with women who begin yoga at a time when they are experiencing the symptoms of menopause. I keep this book in plain view and tell my students that one of the most empowering things they can do for themselves is to be familiar with the information in this book. To me, Christiane Northrup is the Goddess of Menopause, giving all us women in transition a Wake-Up Call! She reminds us that, "At midlife our job is to learn how to take care of ourselves instead of everybody else. If we don't learn how to do this, we soon learn that no one will do this for us." Thank you, Dr. Northrup, for helping us celebrate this liberating, crowning, glorious stage of life!
--Suza Francina, author, Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause and The New Yoga for People Over 50
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Summary: Medical Information or Rage Against Men
Review: While this book has some very helpful and interesting things in it (i.e., herbs, Chakras, tarot, etc.), I couldn't help feeling a thread of anger directed towards men. It took away from the book. I think we have to be very careful of going from one extreme to another--the one case of being/feeling subservient to men to the other case of being completely separated from men. In my opinion, either extreme is very unhealthy. While it would also be unhealthy for people to stay in relationships that are debilitating to EITHER partner, it would also be unhealthy to cut people out of our lives because of our hormones. (Although if I've understood Dr. Northup correctly, it's not just the hormones, but also the baggage we carry that's part of the problem.) Perhaps when we feel comfortable in our own feminity, we won't feel threatened by men. This being the case, the book should have a different title, as it's misleading, in my opinion. You think you're going to read about how to deal, accept and/or handle menopause, and instead you get a bunch of what I call "ranting."
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Summary: A doctor who has lived what she's writing about
Review: I have been a fan of Dr. Northrup's for years, since Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom. She has struggled with the "established" ways of treating women's unique health problems for years, putting her medical practice and her reputation on the line repeatedly. She pulls it all together in this book, both the mainstream and alternative treatments that have worked for her patients. No, I'm not into the tarot cards, chakras, and some of the woo-woo stuff either (like other reviewers) but I'm happy to at least know about it. Some readers object to the recounting of her divorce -- "Does that mean I have to get rid of my husband to start my new life?" Oh please, this is her story and you have yours, we can all acknowledge that, can't we? God Bless You, Dr. Northrup, for your courage in addressing so many areas of physical and emotional health for midlife women.
Rating:
Summary: You're Not Alone!
Review: This excellent overview of what happens to women in menopause and perimenopause isn't just a laundry list of symptoms, or the usual hormone-centric look at the issue. Instead, Dr. Northrup cites examples from her own passage, turning the text into a mind-body-spirit analysis of how menopause is literally the "change of life." The most fascinating aspect of the book is the author's description of how women's actual brain wiring changes during menopause -- from the selfless nurturing of the childbearing years to a more autonomous focus during the second half of life. The best aspect is the book's focus on empowerment, and how women who understand the process of menopause can use the changes they're going through to reassess their lives. A must-read for every woman, no matter how old they are.
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