Entertainment

Halle Berry: A Doctor Told Me I Had Herpes. It Was Perimenopause.

‘IT WAS TERRIBLE’

The actress says searing pain after sex led to the misdiagnosis.

Halle Berry
Raymond Hall/Getty

Halle Berry is making good on her promise to demystify menopause, revealing that an uninformed doctor once told her her vaginal pain was from herpes when it was really a symptom of perimenopause. Speaking to Dr. Jill Biden at an event this week, the 57-year-old actress said it happened after sex early in her relationship with musician Van Hunt, People reports. “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. He said, ‘You have the worst case of herpes I’ve ever seen.’ I’m like, ‘Herpes? I don’t have herpes!’” Berry said she and Hunt tested negative and “I realize after the fact, that is a symptom of perimenopause.” The experience made her realize: “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.”

Read it at People

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