Halle Berry got the scare of her life when a doctor mistook her being in perimenopause for having an extreme cases of herpes, the actress told First Lady Jill Biden at the “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation” summit on Monday, March 25.
“First of all, my ego told me that I was going to skip [perimenopause],” Halle, 57, began. “I’m in great shape. I’m healthy. I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since I’m 20 years old. So that makes one think, oh, I can handle menopause. I’m going to skip that whole thing. I was so uneducated about it at that time.”
After meeting the “man of my dreams,” boyfriend Van Hunt, when Halle was 54, she said she began experiencing severe pain after sex.
“I feel like I have razor blades in my vagina. I run to my gynecologist and I say, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’ It was terrible,” she recalled. “He said, ‘You have the worst case of herpes I’ve ever seen.’ I’m like, ‘Herpes? I don’t have herpes!’”
The Bruised star immediately informed Van and both got tested for the sexually transmitted disease, with each receiving a negative result.
Halle explained how vaginal dryness is part of the transition into menopause, marking the end of a woman’s reproductive years, and her doctor was misinformed.
“I realize after the fact, that is a symptom of perimenopause. My doctor had no knowledge and didn’t prepare me. That’s when I knew, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ve got to use my platform. I have to use all of who I am, and I have to start making a change and a difference for other women,’” Halle told Jill and the audience.
The John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum star has been open about going through menopause, writing a first-person account for Women’s Health in April 2023.
“The most important thing about owning your sexuality as a woman is accepting the station you’re at — and embracing that. And I say that because I’m smack dab in the middle of menopause,” she told readers.
“And I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause. Things like: ‘Your life is over.’ ‘You are disposable.’ ‘Society no longer has a place for you.’ ‘You should retire.’ ‘You should pack it up,’” she continued.
“I’m challenging all those stereotypes about how you have to look a certain way or feel a certain way. I’m my best self now that I reached 56 years old. I have the most to offer. I have zero blanks to give anymore. I’m solidly in my womanhood. I finally realize what I have to say is valuable, even if no one else agrees,” Halle confidently added.
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