Halle Berry's Doctor Claimed She Had Severe Herpes When It Was Actually Perimenopause
Actress Halle Berry recently shared about a horrifying misdiagnosis. After Berry shared that she was experiencing pain during sex, her doctor claimed that she had the "worst case of herpes." It was later revealed that Berry was actually just experiencing perimenopause. "My doctor had no knowledge and didn’t prepare me," she stated. "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.'"
Since the incident, Berry (54), has become an outspoken menopause awareness advocate. At a recent summit about women's health, she shared that her main mission is "changing the way women and men feel about women during their midlife and how they feel about this — which used to be a dirty little word—menopause, perimenopause, and we in this room have to change that … it can’t just be the doom and gloom story. This is a glorious time of life.”
Initially, Berry had no concerns about perimenopause, which is known as the " transition" to menopause, when a woman's body starts producing less estrogen. It lasts until menopause, the point when a woman's ovaries stops releasing eggs.
"First of all, my ego told me that I was going to skip it—I’m very safe, I’m healthy, I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since I’m 20 years old.”
But when Berry met the "man of her dreams," musician Van Hunt (54), she shared that she started to feel extreme pain during sex.
That's when her doctor stated that she had a severe case of herpes. Both Berry and Hunt were tested for herpes with negative results, which led her to seek more information.
“I realized after the fact that is a symptom of perimenopause," she stated. Vaginal dryness is a common symptom of perimenopause, among many others.
“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.'”
Berry's story, unfortunately, isn't uncommon. Increasing numbers of women are reporting frustration and despair when doctors seem unwilling or unable to address their health concerns when it comes to hormones. Often, they are either ignored, given pharmaceuticals with serious side effects, or pushed off to other doctors.
Berry ended her story with a plea for others to help "change the way culture views women at this stage of our lives. We're not exactly at the end. We’re sitting up here, two women who are clearly down the path of life, we are not done. We’re just getting started in our next act.”
Closing Thoughts
Berry's story highlights the urgent need for more knowledge and empowerment when it comes to women's reproductive health. Abundant misinformation about the so-called "benefits" of hormonal birth control and the media's insistence that women can't trust their bodies or understand their own cycles have left many women overly dependent on the medical-industrial complex, which often overlooks real problems or misdiagnoses them.
Hopefully, Berry's advocacy will inspire doctors and women alike to take a more holistic and personalized approach to women's health rather than continuing to push for overly simple and standardized "solutions" to pressing issues. Women deserve better, and we can do better if more journalists and medical professionals are willing to push against the status quo.
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