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A review by juliana_aldous
What Fresh Hell Is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna
4.0
No one prepares you for perimenopause. I mean, sort of. You hear tales of hot flashes, mood swings, brain fog, and maybe you have someone in your life, a friend who is a few years ahead of you, or your mother’s “change” was discussed in hushed whispers. But there are still many mysteries about perimenopause and the mystery can disarm you like puberty, except at least with puberty you had a Judy Blume book and a public education class. And the pain of it is that everyone’s experience is slightly different. I had thought I was fairly done with it until I had what I know now is referred to as flooding. It is exactly what it sounds like.
What is this? Do fibroids burst? Do I have cancer? I called my OB/GYN and went in. She ran some tests and it wasn’t cancer, and while this doctor knew everything about my reproductive system and birthing, I didn’t feel the same level of competence with this new situation. She put me on birth control for a few months to see if it would straighten out. I didn’t even find much on the Internet, except for advice to give myself the excuse to stay on the couch a few days.
So I turned to What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, menopause, other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna a new book coming out this June. The author, while not a doctor, does have street cred having been an educator in the field of sexuality. There were parts of the book I felt were useful, a section on flooding was included, and there were some questions I had answered. Sometimes I had to pass through a lot of content to get my particular questions answered. The book tries to be all things to all people—there is a fair amount dedicated to the trans experience and a lot on the history of menopausal malpractice by the patriarchy. There isn’t a lot out there, but my hormones have made my patience thin and I want answers to MY questions. Some of the solutions also seem “in the now”, but that may be because this field is rapidly changing.
Again, my experience will be different from yours, so you may find answers to your particular situation with this book.
BTW—an excellent title for the book, because with each new experience of perimenopause, you will be asking yourself exactly What Fresh Hell is This?
What is this? Do fibroids burst? Do I have cancer? I called my OB/GYN and went in. She ran some tests and it wasn’t cancer, and while this doctor knew everything about my reproductive system and birthing, I didn’t feel the same level of competence with this new situation. She put me on birth control for a few months to see if it would straighten out. I didn’t even find much on the Internet, except for advice to give myself the excuse to stay on the couch a few days.
So I turned to What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, menopause, other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna a new book coming out this June. The author, while not a doctor, does have street cred having been an educator in the field of sexuality. There were parts of the book I felt were useful, a section on flooding was included, and there were some questions I had answered. Sometimes I had to pass through a lot of content to get my particular questions answered. The book tries to be all things to all people—there is a fair amount dedicated to the trans experience and a lot on the history of menopausal malpractice by the patriarchy. There isn’t a lot out there, but my hormones have made my patience thin and I want answers to MY questions. Some of the solutions also seem “in the now”, but that may be because this field is rapidly changing.
Again, my experience will be different from yours, so you may find answers to your particular situation with this book.
BTW—an excellent title for the book, because with each new experience of perimenopause, you will be asking yourself exactly What Fresh Hell is This?