Halle Berry has admitted that a doctor misdiagnosed her with a sexually transmitted disease (STI) after she experienced symptoms during perimenopause.
We all know that research and knowledge about women’s health is not nearly as good as it should be.
But when a doctor falsely diagnoses perimenopause as “one of the worst sexually transmitted diseases” he has ever seen, that’s a whole different story.
Halle Berry, 57, spoke earlier this year about the traumatic experience after she met the love of her life in her mid-50s.
The Catwoman The 58-year-old star attended the “A Day of Unreasonable Conversation” summit in LA on March 25, where she met with First Lady Jill Biden for a conversation about women’s health.
Halle Berry opened up about her misdiagnosis during perimenopause. (Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Images)
During the event, Halle – who has become a formidable advocate for menopause education in recent years – revealed that a doctor once misdiagnosed her with a sexually transmitted disease during perimenopause, calling it the “worst case he had ever seen.”
The two discussed a range of topics, including how the stories of older women are being told after President Joe Biden signed an executive order earlier this year to improve women’s health research.
Halle said her goal in participating in such conversations is to “change the mindset of women and men about women in midlife and change their mindset about this — used to be a dirty word — menopause, perimenopause. And we in this room need to change that … it can’t just be a doom and gloom story. This is a glorious time of life.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, the actress talked about how she found out she was in perimenopause.
Halle went to the doctor after she noticed extreme pain after sex. (Instagram/@halleberry)
“First of all, my ego told me to skip it – I’m very safe, I’m healthy, I’ve managed to get off insulin since I was 20 and get my diabetes under control,” she explained.
But at the age of 54, she finally met “the man of her dreams” – her partner Van Hunt – and chatted a little more about all the sex they had before Jill joked: “I didn’t know she would tell that story. I’m not talking about mine!”
Halle then described the extreme pain she experienced after sex, and after having the doctor examine her symptoms, she was told that she had the worst case of herpes he had ever seen.
Both she and her new husband were tested and neither of them tested positive for herpes.
The Catwoman star has been committed to women’s health in recent years. (Instagram/@halleberry)
“I realized later that this was a symptom of perimenopause,” she explained, and that the pain was due to dryness rather than a sexually transmitted disease.
She added: “My doctor had no idea and didn’t prepare me for this. That’s when I knew, ‘Oh my God, I have to use my platform, I have to use everything that I am, and I have to start making a change and making a difference for other women.'”
preaching.
If you are affected by the contents of this article, you can find further information and support through Menopause Matters on their websiteor by email (email protected).
