Halle Berry Details Painful Health Scare That Was Wrongly Diagnosed as an STD

Halle Berry

To spotlight the need for better women's healthcare, movie star Halle Berry opened up about a serious health issue she faced recently that was misdiagnosed by her doctor.

Speaking at the A Day of Unreasonable Conversation summit in California on Monday, March 25, Berry recalled, via The Hollywood Reporter, the "extreme pain" she felt soon after she first got intimate with partner Van Hunt. She went to see a doctor who told Berry that she had "the worst case of herpes he’d ever seen," but after both Berry and Hunt got tested, they found that neither of them had the STD.

Instead, she "realized after the fact that is a symptom of perimenopause," and her "doctor had no knowledge and didn’t prepare [her]." She noted that this moment is what led her to speak out about menopause awareness to help others avoid what she went through.

"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,'” she declared at the summit.

Thankfully, it seems like Berry is doing very well now, with the actress calling the phase of life while going through menopause "a glorious time of life.” Through the summit and other discussions, Berry hopes to continue "changing the way women and men feel about women during their midlife and how they feel about" menopause.

Berry posted about the event on Instagram, writing alongside some photos of herself sitting next to First Lady Jill Biden, "So grateful to continue the conversation on a topic that is near and dear to my heart and one that affects half the entire population!"

Many fans cheered Berry on in the comments, writing supportive messages like, "this ‘unreasonable conversation’ is super necessary - this version of you is the best one yet! ??."

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