Nor is it a moanfest or an aspirational read (although Mariella gets inspirational about changing how menopause is viewed). When the menopause hit I thought he was having affairs I was paranoid hot flushes cold flushed and with all that no sleep. I only got through the first half hour and only the second time I’ve ever stopped listening to a book part way (I’m too tight to pay and not listen lol) but seriously I was hoping for some understanding and yes that’s how I felt, but all she did was slate men, every chance to get a dig about being male and how useless they are and how they see us and how we feel worthless now we can no longer have babies!

In the book "Cracking the Menopause Code" one will be enabled and empower you to understand the physical and emotional changes females go through. I acknowledge I have a bee in my bonnet about class diversity and have for a while now, but that’s not what Cracking the Menopause is about. This book is the first comprehensive and understandable resource that explains what menopause is in a manner that is easy to understand.

Frostrup and her fellow crusaders, who are “real women, campaigners, politicians, menopause experts, celebrities and journalists”, are aiming to increase pressure on the UK government to improve access to hormone replacement therapy and promote greater understanding of the impact of menopause. I’m kinda glad that I only have Cracking the Menopause on a Kindle so I can’t do that and it’s mine forever.

It's fascinating, and a little scary that men are so ignorant about something that will probably significantly affect someone they've lived with for two decades! We just need to convince the rest of society to rethink the menopause; menopause should be a celebration of ageing, life experience and the wisdom it brings, and a chance to support, respect and value women at this stage of their lives. In terms of finding what helped her, she is very much based in the medical model, there is an interesting and much needed defence of HRT, although again I would have liked some balance of the natural alternatives. I love this book and it was a joy to listen to other women’s experiences as I enter my 40s and perimenopause. And I began wondering how many of them had private gynaecologists or private GPs or waited 20 weeks to see an NHS specialist only to have the appointment postponed.We want to improve the menopause experience for women who need things to change, we want the UK government to honour their promises to women. I feel like no lovey talks about menopause until you’re in the thick of it grasping at straws to find relief. The author offers practical advice wrapped in compassion, and the narrator delivers it in an empathetic and supportive way making you feel less alone on this journey. I did not agree with every word of this but it's readable, informative and contains a lot of positivity and practical advice. Answering all these questions and more, Mariella shares her own journey through the menopause – along with the latest science and funny illustrations – to provide an informative source of wisdom, humour and enlightenment.

Starting with a fascinating account of how our views about the menopause have been formed over centuries (largely by men), we start to understand why there are so many preconceptions and misinformed views in society. One of my biggest bugbear with menopause books – especially celebrity menopause books – is that they feel they have to be “worthy” and teach a “lesson”. Mariella also focusses on the importance of seeking help to address the symptoms, including sometimes having to persuade GPs of the seriousness and also tackling head-on the damaging myths around HRT. Which actually means you can rest assured – as far as I’m concerned, this review has no PR link whatsoever and I am under no pressure (from me or anyone else) to be nice! she found out a lot of good information about the changes to her body and how to deal with them and the mental strain it can take.Brilliantly well-informed, hugely helpful and, above all, empathetic to women’s needs: I wish I’d had this to read when my own perimenopause kicked in. I’m delighted that the menopause is at last being talked about openly and in a positive way…… highly recommended reading for both women and men. Even though I have read alot about the menopause this has still helped me understand more, especially when I feel anxious. Another problem is we are such different people, for me botox is the toxin from the bacterium that killed of all the ducks at my university. Life is good re sleep but I’m so frustrated that my body is fit but my head feels it belongs to someone else, ie the headache, dizziness fuzziness and terrible brain fog.