Halle Berry went no holds barred in a recent health panel.
On Monday, the actress was a speaker during A Day of Unreasonable Conversation hosted by social impact agency Propper Daley, where she had an intimate chat with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Discussing menopause and women's health, Berry shared a wild experience she had during a doctor's appointment. Perimenospause occurs around the end of a woman's reproductive years, as early as age 40 into the late 60s. Berry, 57, gave birth to her daughter Nahla at 41 years old, followed by a son Maceo, whom she carried at 47.
"First of all, my ego told me that I was going to skip [perimenopause]," she began, per People. "I'm in great shape. I'm healthy. I managed to get myself off of insulin and manage my diabetes since [I was] 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."
Berry then detailed her sex life upon meeting the "man of my dreams," soul musician Van Hunt, but said she noticed intense pain after intercourse once, prompting her to visit her gynecologist, who gave her an unexpected diagnosis.
“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,” Berry recalled, adding that she had "no shame" about her testimony. "He said, ‘You have the worst case of herpes I've ever seen.’ I'm like, ‘Herpes? I don't have herpes!’"
After confronting Hunt about the ordeal—and both testing negative for STIs—Berry had a realization that what her doctor misdiagnosed was actually perimenopause.
“I realize after the fact, that is a symptom of perimenopause,” she said. "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.'"
