Lonnie Barbach - The Pause: The Landmark Guide

Your book has literally saved my life. I found myself on every page. This letter is to thank you for researching and writing such a comprehensive guide for those of us going through this amazing time.

Nancy Wood, Chico, California

I recommend The Pause to all my patients since its the only really positive, upbeat, and practical book on menopause currently available.

Sandra Leiblum, Ph.D., psychologist, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Jersey

Women are coming in today to buy copies of your book for friends and to thank us for having you here. The information you have provided us with is invaluable. Im sure well be recommending your book for years to come!

ClaireLight Books, Santa Rosa, California

I just finished reading The Pause and plan to recommend it to my perimenopausal patients. The practical suggestions for self-care and advice on finding a health-care professional were excellent.

Diana Little, M.D., Ypsilanti, Michigan

Thank you again for making menopause an exciting time for me and for all the women for whom I have bought your book. I think Im up to eleven by now. I pass them out like M&Ms.

Judy Colman, Torrance, California

Dr. Lonnie Barbach received her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical-social psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. She is now on the clinical faculty of the University of California Medical School in San Francisco and also has a private practice. She has received numerous awards for her work on sexuality. Among her several bestselling books on sex and relationships are For Yourself, For Each Other, Pleasures, Erotic Interludes, and Going the Distance, written with her partner, David Geisinger, Ph.D. They live in Mill Valley, California, with their daughter, Tess.

ALSO BY LONNIE BARBACH

Turn Ons: Pleasing Yourself While You Please Your Lover

For Yourself: The Fulfillment of Female Sexuality

For Each Other: Sharing Sexual Intimacy

EDITED BY LONNIE BARBACH

Seductions: Tales of Erotic Persuasion

Pleasures: Women Write Erotica

Erotic Interludes: Tales Told by Women

The Erotic Edge: Erotica for Couples

BY LONNIE BARBACH AND DAVID GEISINGER

Going the Distance: Finding and Keeping Lifelong Love

AUDIOTAPES BY LONNIE BARBACH

Smart Sex

The Erotic Edge

AUDIOTAPES BY LONNIE BARBACH AND DAVID GEISINGER

Secrets of Great Sex

VIDEOTAPES BY LONNIE BARBACH

Falling in Love Again

Sex After 50: A Guide to Lifelong Sexual Pleasure

What Women Want

More of What Women Want

Lovers Massage

A NOTE TO THE READER

The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision.

PLUME

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

First published by Plume

First Plume Printing (Revised Edition), January, 2000

Copyright Lonnie Barbach, 1993, 2000

Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Barbach, Lonnie Garfield.

The pause: positive approaches to perimenopause and menopause / Lonnie Barbach.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN: 978-1-101-66668-5 (ebook)

1. Menopause Popular works. 2. Middle-aged womenHealth and hygiene. 3. Perimenopause Popular works. I. Title.

RG186 .B354 2000

618.175dc21 99-32063

CIP

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Version_1

For my dear friend Jeri Marlowe, who was the inspiration for this book.

This book never could have been written without the contributions of numerous health professionals. To begin with, John Arpels, M.D., gynecologist and specialist in menopause, gave me hours and hours of his time, patiently explaining concepts ranging from the simple to the most complex. His unique understanding of the field is reflected throughout the sections dealing with traditional medical interventions.

I would also especially like to thank Harriet Beinfield, L.Ac., acupuncturist, San Francisco; Bruce Ettinger, M.D., osteoporosis specialist, Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco; JoAnn Hattner, R.D., clinical dietitian, Stanford Medical School; Anna Harvey, D.C., chiropractor and herbalist, Mill Valley, California; Ifeoma Ikenze, M.D., homeopath, San Anselmo, California; Patricia T. Kelly, Ph.D., medical geneticist, Los Angeles; Efrem Korngold, L.Ac., O.M.D., acupuncturist, San Francisco; Victoria Maclin, M.D., reproductive endocrinologist, Rush Medical College, Chicago; Norma McCoy, Ph.D., psychologist, San Francisco State University; Scott Nelson, Ph.D., psychologist, Mill Valley, California; Martin L. Rossman, M.D., acupuncturist, Mill Valley, California; Richard Schmidt, M.D., urologist, University of California, San Francisco; Barbara Sherwin, Ph.D., psychologist, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec; Meir Stampfer, M.D., Ph.D., epidemiologist, Harvard Medical School, Boston; and Dana Ullman, M.P.H., homeopath, Berkeley, California. Each of these health professionals was kind enough to answer my questions whenever I called and to check the relevant sections of the manuscript for accuracy.

In addition, Gloria Bachmann, M.D.; Patricia Baldwin, R.N., N.P.; Stanley Birge, M.D.; Luann Brizendine, M.D.; Sharon de Buren, N.P.; Graham Colditz, M.D.P.H.; Nona Cunningham, M.D.; Winnifred B. Cutler, Ph.D.; Barbara Drinkwater, Ph.D.; Frederika Ebel-Riehl; Ricardo Fernandez, M.D.; Julie Freiberg, N.P., L.Ac.; Jan Gibbs, R.N.; Mark Glasser, M.D.; Paul Goldsmith, Ph.D.; Sadja Greenwood, M.D.; Sonia Hamburger, B.A.; Joel Hargrove, M.D.; Jordan Horowitz, M.D.; Jifan Hu, Ph.D.; Greggory Johnson, P.T.; Helen Singer Kaplan, M.D., Ph.D.; Graham Kelly, M.D.; Michael Klaper, M.D.; Albert Kligman, M.D.; Fredi Kronenberg, Ph.D.; Sandra Leiblum, Ph.D.; Edward M. Lichten, M.D.; Rogerio Lobo, M.D.; Chris Longcope, M.D.; Ed Lufkin, M.D.; Robert Marcus, M.D.; William Masters, M.D.; Bruce McEwen, M.D.; Kathryn Morris, M.D.; Mary Moss, R.N., N.P.; Lila Nachtigall, M.D.; Frederick Naftolin, M.D.; Morris Notelovitz, M.D., Ph.D.; Robert Phelps, M.D.; Malcolm Powell, M.D.; Quentin Regestein, M.D.; Jacqueline Sa; Susan Schiffman, Ph.D.; David Shefrin, N.D.; Leon Speroff, M.D.; Sandra Swain, M.D.; Maida Taylor, M.D.; Wolf Utian, M.D.; Joyce Venis, R.N.C.; Roland Young, M.D.; and Ed Zelniker, Ph.D., all gave generously of their time and knowledge. I could not have done the book without them.

The life of the book really came from all of the women who took the time to share with me the joys and hardships of their personal transitions through menopause. Many even continued to telephone periodically to keep me apprised of the results of their most recent experiences.