Estrogen, Interrupted

From two leading physicians and perimenopause experts, a comprehensive guide to a critically misunderstood and under researched phase of women's lives
After years of being overlooked and ignored by mainstream medicine and culture, menopause is finally receiving the attention its due as a complex life transition with attendant medical and psychological symptoms. But one major reproductive health cycle in every woman's life is still hiding in the shadows: perimenopause.
The arrival and intensity of perimenopausal symptoms is often not only unexpected but met with a collective shrug by the medical community, leaving women adrift when it comes to understanding the complexity of this biological chapter and how best to address its many challenges. During the perimenopausal years, the rates of depression, suicide, and divorce soar. Women gain weight. Lose their hair. Their libido plummets. Their brains get foggy. Moods and sleep are disordered. It's generally assumed that women suffer the worst symptoms during menopause, but it's actually during perimenopause when women most struggle with an onslaught of invasive bodily changes. Too often, they do so feeling alone and discouraged.
In Estrogen, Interrupted, OB-GYNs, medical researchers, and perimenopause experts Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su and Amy Voedisch demystify the physiological changes women experience during perimenopause, explaining what is happening in their bodies empowering them with evidence-treatments. While hormones play a decisive role in fueling the intensity of perimenopausal symptoms, Drs. Dunsmoore-Su and Voedisch emphasize that lifestyle factors such as nutrition, stress levels, mental health, exercise, and physical health also directly impact the severity of symptoms.
Estrogen, Interrupted is a book for the millions of women who want to understand the constellation of symptoms they may begin to experience as early as their mid-30s-and which may persist for a decade or more. Weaving research and practical takeaways alongside moving stories from the doctors' own lives and clinical practices, Drs. Dunsmoor-Su and Voedisch provide women with a roadmap for understanding and reclaiming control of their bodies and lives during this transformative chapter.

Dr. Rebecca Dunsmoor-Su is the Chief Medical Officer at Gennev, a ­telemedicine platform specializing in perimenopause and menopause, the Associate Program Director of the OB-GYN Residency at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, and a Clinical Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology for the Washington State University.
Dr. Amy Voedisch is an Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University. She is board certified in Complex Family Planning and a certified menopause practitioner through The Menopause Society. A graduate of Macalester College and Mayo Medical School, she completed her OB/GYN residency at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara and a fellowship in Complex Family Planning at Stanford, where she also earned a master's degree in Epidemiology and Clinical Research.