Halle Berry has revealed she had a herpes scare that turned out to be perimenopause.
The Oscar-winning actress shared that an instance of painful sex led to a major misdiagnosis by her doctor.
“I feel like I have razor blades in my vagina. I run to my gynaecologist and I say, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening?’ It was terrible,” Halle recalled, on a discussion panel alongside First Lady Jill Biden.
“He said, ‘You have the worst case of herpes I’ve ever seen.’ I’m like, ‘Herpes? I don’t have herpes!’”
Halle, 57, then confronted her partner, 54-year-old singer songwriter Van Hunt – but after testing, they were both found to be free of the virus.
“I realise after the fact, that is a symptom of perimenopause,” Halle then explained.
Perimenopause is the transitional stage before menopause, when women’s bodies begin to produce less oestrogen.
Halle added that the experience led her to become passionate about raising awareness around the effects of perimenopause.
“My doctor had no knowledge and didn’t prepare me,” she explained.
“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.’”