In their words
Halle Berry went to the doctor about vaginal dryness — and was told she had herpes.
Halle Berry has been open about this for a while, and she brought it up again this month on Hoda Kotb's Making Space podcast: one of the most common symptoms of perimenopause — vaginal dryness — got misdiagnosed as herpes. Her advice is simple: trust your gut.
The wrong diagnosis
She keeps telling the story so it won't happen to anyone else. In her early fifties and newly in a relationship, she developed an intimate pain — bad enough to affect her everyday life and her new relationship. She went to her gynaecologist. The verdict:
"You have the worst case of herpes I've ever seen." — What her doctor told her, as Halle Berry recounted it
She didn't have it — both she and her partner tested negative. It wasn't an STI; it was perimenopause. Falling oestrogen had thinned and dried out the tissue down there, and that was what hurt. "My doctor had no knowledge and didn't prepare me," she said afterwards. That was the moment she decided to speak up, and she's now one of the loudest voices talking openly about menopause and women's sexual health.
"It's happening, and it's OK to talk about who I really am — who we really are as women." — Halle Berry, in her conversation with Hoda Kotb
What does perimenopause have to do with vaginal dryness?
Vaginal dryness is one of the most common symptoms of this stage — and one of the least talked about. According to the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study (University of Washington, 2005), which followed the same women over years, 4% had it in early transition, one in five (21%) in late perimenopause, and nearly half (47%) three years after menopause. The reason is the same as almost everything else here: oestrogen. It keeps the tissue of the vagina and urinary tract thick, elastic and moist. When it drops, that tissue thins and dries out.
When those symptoms show up together, they get a medical name: genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) — a term the North American Menopause Society coined in 2014, partly to stop it being written off as just "dryness". It can include burning, pain during sex, an urgent need to pee or repeat UTIs. And here's the part almost nobody mentions: unlike hot flushes, which usually ease off over the years, GSM tends to stick around, or get worse, if it's left untreated. The good news is there are treatments that work — so it's worth raising with your doctor instead of putting up with it.
The problem is the usual one: almost nobody tells you. You go in about an intimate discomfort and come out with a scare — or an "it's normal at your age" — without anyone connecting it to your hormones.
This is exactly what Maia is for. The dryness, the brain fog, waking at 4 a.m., a mood that's hit the floor — on their own they look like unrelated glitches. Maia connects the dots so you can see the whole picture and finally understand what's going on.
Join the waitlistThe other symptoms nobody warns you about
Vaginal dryness is just one of the symptoms that rarely get pinned on hormones at first:
- Cystitis or recurrent UTIs, and needing to pee more often: also part of genitourinary syndrome, not just the dryness.
- Dryness that spreads beyond the intimate area — dry eyes, tight skin and a dry mouth.
- A burning tongue — burning mouth syndrome, and yes, that's the real name.
- Brittle nails and changes to your hair.
We love that Halle Berry — and Penélope Cruz, and plenty of others — are saying it out loud, and it helps: every time one woman says it, a light goes on for another. But the new normal shouldn't be waiting for an actress to raise it in an interview. It should be this: all of us talking about it without lowering our voices — with friends, with your sister, with your mum, at the doctor's and in the group chat. The sooner we talk about it, the fewer women will walk into a clinic sure that something's seriously wrong, when really it's just their body changing.
Frequently asked questions
Is vaginal dryness a symptom of perimenopause?
Yes, and it's one of the most common. By late perimenopause around one in five women (21%) have it, up from 4% in early transition, rising to nearly half (47%) three years after menopause. It's caused by falling oestrogen, which keeps the tissue of the vagina and urinary tract hydrated and elastic. As levels drop, that tissue thins and dries out, and you can get burning, discomfort or pain during sex.
What is genitourinary syndrome of menopause?
It's the medical name (GSM) for the cluster of symptoms caused by low oestrogen in the genital and urinary area: vaginal dryness, burning, pain during sex, urinary urgency or recurrent UTIs. Unlike hot flushes, which tend to ease over time, it usually persists or gets worse if left untreated. There are effective options, so it's worth talking to your doctor.
What other symptoms does perimenopause have?
Beyond vaginal dryness, many women get brain fog, insomnia or 4 a.m. wake-ups, mood swings, palpitations, frozen shoulder, achy joints or ringing in the ears. A lot of them don't obviously scream "hormones", which is exactly why they're so hard to connect.
Maia isn't a medical service and doesn't replace your healthcare professional. If you have intimate discomfort or any other symptom, talk to your doctor.
Sources: Halle Berry's comments as reported by TODAY, Katie Couric Media and Forbes. On vaginal dryness, genitourinary syndrome of menopause and how common it is by stage (4% in early transition, 21% in late perimenopause, 47% three years after menopause): the Seattle Midlife Women's Health Study (Woods & Mitchell, American Journal of Medicine, 2005); together with StatPearls (NCBI) and a clinical review in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.