Dolgen Ellen - Menopause Mondays The Girlfriends Guide to Surviving and Thriving During Perimenopause and Menopause

My perimenopause/menopause journey began in my mid-40s, although it would be years before I knew thats what was going on with me. After lots of research and sleepless nights, I realized I was in perimenopause! I learned that there are over 30 symptoms of menopause. I was furious no one had educated me about this.

While still in my brain fog, I searched for a good menopause specialist, all the while sleepless, withdrawn, weepy, grumpy, and hot flashing. Never one to give up, I began writing my first book, even though I didnt know a Word document from a pdf!

I had to fight the daily negative chatter in my head that was constantly yelling, Are you crazy? You cant write! But it was important to me that no one else suffered needlessly like I had, so I persisted. Needing all the support I could muster, I reached out to my loving children and husband, and soon the book became a family affair.

My son, Jack, was visiting from New York City. I printed out all of the chapters, spread them out on the floor, and said, Can you help me with this? Poor Jack , his Mom was lost in menopausal hell. There was no way could he say no! Together, we wrote Shmirshky: think inside the box. My daughter, Sarah Dolgen Shaftel , assisted with the PR effort. My husband, David, encouraged and supported my mission, while at the same time dealing with my often tumultuous menopausal symptoms! (If asked privately, David might tell you that this is more than a bit of an understatement!)

Soon after Jack and I self-published the book, it was picked up by a major publishing house and became Shmirshky: the pursuit of hormone happiness.

Despite this ongoing effort to get the facts out about menopause, I unfortunately often meet women who are experiencing symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, heart palpitations, insomnia, and other such lovely blessings of the change, and are still clueless about what is happening to them. They think that the cause is some mysterious virus thats going around, or worse, that its all in their heads. Wrong!

I was left with the question, how does one reach lots of people effectively and quickly? Start a blog! So Jack and I created EllenDolgen.com , and my Menopause Mondays Blog and Health News Flash was born. Thanks to social media, I reach hundreds of thousands of women (and men) all over the country! I have appeared on countless TV talk and news shows (The Today Show, Rachel Ray, The Doctors, NBC Nightly News, and Katie, to name a few). I was honored to be asked to be one of the original contributors to Huffington Post 50. Over these past years, my weekly blog has been syndicated on over a dozen health sites.

As we all know, you cant leave your menopause on the kitchen counter when you go to work. Seeing a need for worker and employer education, I founded a womens health and wellness program that provides corporate education events for businesses, healthcare institutions, and other organizations, and produce Menopause Mondays Parties for organizations across the country.

Pharmaceutical companies have reached out to me to help them address womens health needs through various menopause awareness campaigns via round table discussions, videos and social media. All of this is done with one goal, and one goal only: to educate and prepare the sisterhood for perimenopause and menopause.

This eBook will help all women and the people who love them to have access to the best information available at zero cost. There should be no financial barriers to the information women need for their health.

In the electronic pages that follow, youll find detailed descriptions and solutions for the symptoms you or your loved one may experience (Part II: Are We Having Fun Yet?), Ill help you find a menopause specialist (Part III: Get Me Out of Here!), and explain what tests to ask for once you get there. Youll also learn about the latest studies on hormone replacement as well as alternative therapies and remedies.

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