![\"Hally](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1_GettyImages-1473069897.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWhen Halle Berry experienced agonising pain after sex, a doctor initially misdiagnosed the symptom as herpes \u2013 but the real cause was something every woman goes through<\/p>\n
11:22, 30 Jan 2026Updated 13:57, 30 Jan 2026<\/p>\n
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Halle Berry has opened up about her health struggles as she turns 60(Image: GETTY)<\/p>\n
Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry<\/a> has fought many battles over the years, growing up in an abusive household and struggling with bullies as a teenager. Now a new challenge faces her \u2013 the spectre of ageism as she approaches the big 6-0.<\/p>\n In a new interview, she says: \u201cI don\u2019t know how old these male actors are because their age doesn\u2019t precede their name. With us, it always does. Soon it will be \u201860-year-old Halle Berry\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Another struggle Halle is having to deal with is the unavoidable stress of menopause. The former Bond girl<\/a> and X-Men star<\/a> explains that after three divorces, she had come to terms with the idea of being single for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n Then, to her surprise, Halle did find someone. Connecting during the Covid-19 pandemic<\/a> she and musician Van Hunt<\/a> didn\u2019t meet in person for six months. But almost as soon as they did, she realised something was very wrong. She told The Times<\/a>: \u201cSex started to feel like I had razor blades in my vagina.\u201d<\/p>\n While the agonising symptom was initially misdiagnosed as herpes<\/a>, Halle eventually realised that she was dealing with the impact of menopause<\/a>. She continued: \u201cThat was God\u2019s joke. That was the universe. I was like, \u2018Universe, you bring me this man I\u2019ve been asking for, and now you plummet me into hell.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Halle met new partner Van Hunt in 2020(Image: Getty Images for Academy Museum)<\/p>\n Halle was aware of menopause, as an idea, but she somehow imagined that it wouldn\u2019t affect her. She continued: \u201cI thought I was going to skip it. That\u2019s how ignorant I was.\u201d<\/p>\n Wen she experienced classic menopause symptoms such as night sweats, irritability and brain fog, she blamed anything but menopause. But now, Halle says, she\u2019s taking control of the condition, and determined to spread the word.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are 100 symptoms of menopause; we all go through it differently,\u201d she says. The average age of menopause for women in the US is 51. But that can embrace onset anywhere between 45 to 55, meaning that initial symptoms can begin to manifest for some women in they late thirties.<\/p>\n Halle is one of very few actresses to have won both and Oscar and a Razzie(Image: Daily Record)<\/p>\n Halle has retooled her women\u2019s wellness business, Respin Health, to focus on \u201credefining menopause and longevity,\u201d and has been outspoken about the importance of taking women\u2019s health seriously. Respin partners with companies such as Joylux to offer solutions for issues like vaginal dryness.<\/p>\n Respin\u2019s website also offers red light therapy remedies, online group chats with other women who are dealing with the same issues, and one-to-one consultations with menopause specialists.<\/p>\n Halle explained to Forbes: \u201cWe are trying to be your one-stop shop for all things menopause, because what I\u2019ve learned on this journey is that every woman \u2018menopauses\u2019 in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n The award-winning actress added: \u201cThis is my greatest act. And I couldn\u2019t have imagined that this would be my greatest act because I think as women, we\u2019ve been afraid to age.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Halle Berry experienced agonising pain after sex, a doctor initially misdiagnosed the symptom as herpes \u2013 but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3940],"tags":[10615,4080,77,37481,2011,61932,72934,11390,11517,1408,16,15,217236,7934],"class_list":["post-731082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bullying","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-halle-berry","tag-menopause","tag-spectre","tag-stds","tag-teenagers","tag-the-times","tag-therapy","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-van-hunt","tag-x-men"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115984725986381667","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/731083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Halle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1_Academy-Museum-of-Motion-Pictures-Opening-Gala-Inside.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Halle](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1_halleJPG.jpg\")
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