How Halle Berry’s Perimenopause Symptoms Were Misdiagnosed As Herpes

Four years ago, when Academy Award-winning actor Halle Berry first experienced symptoms of perimenopause, her doctor misdiagnosed her in kind of, sort of a big, big way. Her doctor told Berry, who was 54 years of age at the time, that she had a “pretty bad case of herpes,” in Berry’s words. Yeah, mistaking perimenopause symptoms for herpes is more than just an oopsy. After all, telling someone that they have herpes when they don’t is not like telling someone that they have to do burpees when they don’t.

Halle Berry’s Perimenopause Misdiagnosis Odyssey

Berry recently talked to me about this herpes odyssey that shouldn’t have been. The symptoms in question emerged the morning after what Berry described as “Having a great old time with her partner, a great night of sex. I woke up and couldn’t urinate. It felt like razor blades in my vagina.” When Berry saw her doctor, her doctor gave her the diagnosis of herpes even before any testing came back, because who needs stuff like scientific evidence, right?

The news was a shocker for Berry, as she didn’t seem to have significant risk factors for contracting herpes. Herpes is not something that typically occurs out of the blue like from eating something wrong or seeing a bad show on Netflix. Genital herpes is caused by herpes simplex viruses that are typically transmitted via sexual contact. Therefore, Berry quickly told her partner, who was a new partner, about the herpes diagnosis and asked the natural next by-the-way-do-you-have-herpes question, which her partner denied.

Once the test results came back, though, so did the truth. Berry did not have herpes. “The doctor should have never made that diagnosis,” recalled Berry. But that still left Berry with a medical mystery because not-having-herpes is not a medical diagnosis. “I got on my own reconnaissance,” Berry explained. “I found some specialists. Started taking a different route rather than just through a traditional gynecologist.”

Along the way came other misdiagnoses such as Sjogren’s disease, a chronic autoimmune disease that leads to underproduction of tears and saliva. That typically results in dry eyes and a dry mouth. Could it have led to a dry vagina for Berry because when do you not think of the vagina when you think of the eyes and mouth? How about playing that game show buzzer sound for the wrong answer?

Eventually, Berry learned that her symptoms were likely due to decreased lubrication and elasticity of her vagina, which commonly occurs during perimenopause. In fact, one of the more common symptoms of perimenopause is experiencing vaginal discomfort during or after sex as a result. “My own gynecologist didn’t think of vaginal atrophy,” said Berry. So instead of some kind of infection or disease, Berry was undergoing the totally natural situation of perimenopause, a situation that most women will go through at some point.

Many Doctors Lack Training In Diagnosing And Handling Perimenopause Symptoms

Unfortunately, Berry’s experience may not be unique. Many doctors are not even properly trained in menopause and the issues surrounding menopause, like perimenopause, despite having to care for patients who will go through such periods in their lives. A study published last year in the scientific journal Menopause found that only 31.3% of 145 obstetrics and gynecology residency program directors surveyed in the U.S. reported having a menopause curriculum in their residency programs. And only 29.3% reported that trainees having dedicated time to work in a menopause clinic. These are ob-gyn training programs, you know the kind that are supposed to specialize in teaching women’s health. Umm, where then are newly minted gynecologists supposed to learn what happens during, oh, a big part of women’s lives? Some kind of Learning Annex course or TikTok?

Perimenopause Falls Between Premenopause and Menopause

Perimenopause falls between premenopause and menopause, since “peri-” is a prefix standing for around, near or about. Premenopause is essentially your body’s reproductive period or phase, going from your first-ever period all the way to the beginning of perimenopause. Another name for perimenopause is menopause transition because it marks the time period when your body is shifting from its reproductive phase to menopause.

When perimenopause starts and how long it lasts can range greatly from person-to-person. It can start as early as one’s 30s. While perimenopause lasts on average for about three to four years, this duration can vary from as short as a few months to as long as a decade. The end of perimenopause and the start of menopause is officially defined as not having a menstrual period 12 consecutive months.

Here Are Common Perimenopause Symptoms

Perimenopause is when the levels of two key reproductive hormones— estrogen and progesterone—begin shifting from the more regular patterns typically seen during your peak reproductive years. For example, estrogen levels can drop significantly, which may be behind many of the symptoms seen during perimenopause. During perimenopause, you may experience:

• Menstrual periods getting longer, shorter and/or less predictable. This can include completely skipped periods
• Menstrual flow becoming lighter or heavier
• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Sleep problems
• Mood changes such as increasing irritability or depression.
• Vaginal dryness and discomfort
• Painful intercourse
• Increased urinary or vaginal infections
• Loss of bladder tone leading to urinary incontinence
• Lower libido
• Bone loss.
• Memory issues, difficulty concentrating and brain fog
• Increases in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the so-called “bad” cholesterol
• Decreases in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, the so-called “good” cholesterol
• More irregular ovulation and thus decreasing fertility

Note that the last symptom was “decreasing fertility” and not “infertility.” Pregnancy can still occur.