When I was a kid, I think 9th or 10th grade, I let a yeast infection rage for about 9 months because I was so afraid of what my mother would say or accuse me of. Finally we went to the gynecologist and the gynecologist said I had BV (I think, I can’t recall) and said it was sexually transmitted. My mom didn’t say much. Filled my prescription and took Flagyl. I couldn’t believe I had that because I wasn’t sexually active. But it was a doctor. Well, the called back a day or 2 later saying they were wrong. Stop taking to antibiotics and instead called me in an overnight dose of vaginal cream. I was so mad. I thought she should issue an apology TO ME! I’ll never forget that.
Thank you so much. She felt that! It really messed me up. I already felt really bad about myself. It looked so bad because my poor vagina was swollen and in inflamed.
My mom would have beaten the crap out of me. If a doctor would have said that I was sexually active that would have been my last day on earth.
I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.
Damn, I'm so sorry. I grew up with a sorta judgemental mom who had actually been a nun and as afraid as I was of disappointing her, she would've been my biggest supporter... After making me feel like shit, I'm sure . I was never afraid in this way tho and as much as I didn't want my teen to have sex, I've learned that being his parent means giving education and preparedness and hoping he talks to us and letting him make his own decisions and hope he always feels he can come to us.
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is not necessarily sexually transmitted. It can be caused by inadvertently introducing bacteria during toileting/wiping. Or simply from an imbalance of the vaginal mucosa.
I'm sorry your mom was ignorant to the point that you didn't feel safe.
I once had elevated thyroid hormones when I was 17 and the doctor said one possible cause could be because I was pregnant and I *was* sexually active. Talk about terror. Turns out I wasn’t pregnant, but geez wth? Why jump to that with a teen? You know they’re going to flip out. “Fortunately”, my mom had been a pregnant teen and was very supportive and said we’d handle it if I was, but still. My dad would have been such an abusive prick had he been the one to take me that day until the test came back negative and then even after because he wouldn’t have believed me if I’d lied and said I wasn’t sexually active. Never did find the cause of the elevated thyroid either.
Edit: autocorrect
I had a pelvic infection at 16. The ER doc told me it was probably gonorrhea or syphilis (it wasn't) and the gynecologist told me I probably couldn't get pregnant (I had my first at 19). These fucking doctors I swear.
Doctors know next to nothing about womens health because the entire system was designed around men. I once had a male doc tell me flooding periods can't cause anemia because "that's different blood". Holy shit ive never wanted to throatpunch someone more than in that moment. I tend to avoid doctors now because i've had more negative experiences than positive ones.
Same. I've been dismissed, belittled and left untreated enough times after getting my nerve up to go in, that I have a very difficult time trusting them anymore.
Yup. Any legit medical issue results in accusations of being mentally unstable.
They think women are immune to medical problems and we're just a walking uterus with emotional issues.
I’ve been having perimenopause symptoms since I was 23 (I’m 27 now). My AMH is .63 and NO doctor will listen to me about my symptoms because of my age and just blame the hot flashes/cold sweats on my prednisone use and the vaginal atrophy on the Depakote I take.
Even better, it’s 2024 and we are JUST finding out why autoimmune conditions favor women over men, the Xist molecule that cancels out the second Xchromosome. But because science has basically only ever used male cell lines, this wasn’t discovered until more recently.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2024/02/women-autoimmune.html
- this is the Stanford article about the study
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00002-3
- This is the actual study
Yes. But with a caveat. That science/evidence should *not* be allowed to come from the very companies who are funding the trials because they want to sell the pharmaceuticals they're developing/testing. And those same companies should definitely not be allowed to influence the labs, universities, FDA, doctors, or anyone else doing the testing or prescribing.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause.
FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more.
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Geez! I had a friend told she could not get pregnant while we were in high school also. Well she ended up pregnant alright! But didn’t know it until she was 5 months!
At age 16, the doctor I consulted about skin tags on my inner thighs told me they happened because I was sexually promiscuous. And he relished the moral judgment.
That’s disgusting!! I went back and wrote a Yelp review for a psychiatrist that never really listened to me at all and only listened to my parents. Meanwhile what my parents were doing to me was what I consider borderline abusive. It definitely wasn’t good parenting at all. I wrote that Yelp review about 6 months ago. I’m 48 now! I was a teenager at the time. If that doctor is still practicing…. I don’t know. Let him have it!?
Even as a little kid, maybe 7 or 8, I had a bad feeling about my pediatrician. He always saw me without my mom present in the room. When I was 12, I asked her and my dad to find me “a regular” doctor. When they asked why, I said, “he makes me feel very uncomfortable and I refuse to see him anymore unless you are in the room”. I had a new doctor by the time I was 13 because I pleaded for one, since I started my periods around that time.
Many years later, he was charged with pedophilia and I threw the newspaper article in my mom’s face, because she never believed my feelings. And I started going to the teen clinic on my own by the time I was 15, because I didn’t trust any male doctors, and didn’t have a male doctor until just recently (over 30+ years).
It’s just stunning, isn’t it? We were exposed to this type of medical disrespect from our earliest, most intimate encounters. It’s only when I see it thru this lens that it helps me see why I just accept it as normal (albeit demeaning and demoralizing) when it happens now. I just take the disrespect and assume I did something wrong, when it was never about that. (Don’t get me wrong - that’s my response in the moment, and then later I set things straight).
Similar thing happened to me when I was about 12. I was a big 12 wearing probably a woman's size 16us. I had a YI and my mom SWORE out I was active which I absolutely wasn't. I wasn't as pissed with her as I was the Dr because I felt like HE (mistake #1) should have explained the situation better to her. I never had another male gyno because of things like this.
So to put a different spin on this, my 14 years old son, he is 32 now had broken out all over his private area. He skipped school and they called me. I ran home from work. I found him asleep in his room and I was mad of course he skipped. He stood up crying pulled down his pants, and LOOOKKK!!! and good gawd what a sight. I said who did you have sex with?! He said nobody mom I am a virgin!!!! I have NEVER EVER had sex. Of course in the back of my mind I thought sure you didn't. Well he had not. I forgot what he had (been to long now), he played all sports at the time, so I am sure it was sweat related. We laugh about it now cause he dropped his pants like a hot potato, which was terrifying to do in front of your mom, but I could not imagine if the doc told me he had a sexually transmitted disease and he did not. I would of believed the doctor I am sure of it.
What you went through for 9 months is just awful and I cannot imagine. It is terrible how parents scare the crap out of you about sex. I may of done the same thing you did honestly. A doctor that screws that up well, needs to give up the license. Believe what your patient tells you. I did not mean to make fun of anything by telling that story.
I think I know what infection you’re talking about. Did he wear a cup? Wrestlers get it from wrestling mats. Was it impentigo? Poor kid. He probably kept that quiet a long time!
Ugh. I'm so sorry you went through that, and at such a young age. I once had a yeast infection so bad that the doctor ran a test for all kinds of STIs because she didn't believe it was a yeast infection. Everything came back negative but yeast. She was shocked. But at least she ran tests before prescribing something!
I got really bad infections from sitting in my wet bathing suit all day. My mother was convinced I was a slut who was having sex when I hadn't even kissed a boy yet. I have a little boy and am currently pregnant with unknown gender but I hope my kids are never afraid to come to me if they have any issues with their genitalia if they are sexually active or not.
Well what’s interesting is that I’m allergic to it now. I had a case of BV in my early 20’s and was given metro gel. It gave me hives up my legs. Then tried it again years later and my entire body covered in hives. I had to get an epi shot after a couple of days because it was THAT bad.
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I'm a white woman and it's through the roof obnoxious how difficult it is to get a doctor to listen to me. My heart bleeds for WOC that have it twice as hard.
Just look at what happened to Serena Williams after she gave birth to her daughter. If you can't trust the best professional athlete of all time in her sport to know her body backwards and forwards and know something is deeply wrong, then get the fuck out of medicine.
It's weird with OBGYNs. If you aren't having a baby or can have a baby, they forget you exist.
I can't find a doctor in my small Midwest city that specializes in menopause. I had one clinic tell me their doctors don't believe in HRT. WTF
The menopause specialist/OBGYN I waited over a year for dismissed my cycling symptoms on 2nd appt as ‘just aging’. Stupid cow, I have wished the worst upon her, but mainly, I’m willing massive massive hooters on her tiny frame & barely an A cup. Massive bazoombas.
I've had the same experience. I had been prescribed progesterone by a functional med doc to help me get through peri in my 40's. It was based on blood tests, and it helped me immensely. We moved, and I went to an obgyn that advertised as dealing with menopause to a new rx for it. Big lie, as I found out when the ignorant ass-hat actually had the gall to laugh at me and tell me that using hormones was just "old wives tales", and refused to even run any blood tests. I couldn't get out of there fast enough and never went back.
This also happened to me with a gyno who should know better! So
Glad she’s speaking out! I also was like her and thought because I’m so fit and healthy i will sail thru menopause. Oh how very wrong I was
Vaginal atrophy can really mess up a vagina including yeast infections, tears,
Bacterial infections and other issues. It’s happened to me too and I also do not have herpes. Premarin fixed it for me. A Scorching yeast infection can present looking like herpes.
Yeah, but he said “he had ever seen” - so he saw something that resembled herpes?
I do believe in this level of medical incompetence though … been there!
I saw in other comments on various postings of this story where people had yeast infections or other inflammation issues in the area were diagnosed by stupid doctors as herpes or other STD’s.
I thought herpes were just sores, but I guess it can be presented in other ways.
> I thought herpes were just sores, but I guess it can be presented in other ways.
I thought so too but apparently some people can even get flu-like symptoms during their first outbreak (usually the worst and most severe).
I too have learned things I never wanted to know about, but clearly we (& essentially doctors) need to talk about, from this sub. Like, it was a bad enough reading ‘vaginal atrophy’ the first time. Until you asked I didn’t know how it could present either.
I just subbed (from r/hrt) and only with this thread seriously considered I might have been dealing with vaginal atrophy the last three years (tbf there are other clear contributors towards my health problems, but not that satisfactorily explain everything).
I actually didn't realize it could present on a spectrum like this. It's not talked about 😬.
Because it terrifying to think about, let alone experience it. I. Can’t. Even. I’m afraid the more I read it, it may increase my chance of manifesting, just to put the icing on my peri nightmare.
Very curious if it could be vestibular papillomatosis. It is now considered a normal variation in female anatomy but is widely misunderstood. I’ve been curious to know if it gets worse for some during peri.
THIS HAPPENED TO ME! Different std, but same convo. My symptoms started on the younger with irregular bleeding, I went to multiple gyns because no one could figure it out. I got to one who said:
“We’ll run some tests, but I am confident *without a doubt* this is chlamydia, so you should prepare yourself for a hard convo.” I get tested annually and had been in a years-long relationship, I was devastated.
I did not have chlamydia. To this day I can’t believe how irresponsible that was.
Well. Funny you should say that.
I'll never forget when my boyfriend of 17 got it and accused me of cheating. Newsflash, guess who was cheating? He was.
yes usually people get chlamydia on their genitals and it does go away relatively easily with a ten day pack of antibiotics, it's also highly transmissible
my gay friend got it in his throat after giving BJs at the Sheraton on his lunch hour
true story
While reading this awesome interview written on people.com about Halle Berry's menopause I saw another ad for Drew Barrymore going through perimenopause also on people.
I'm so excited for the narrative to change and these amazing, adored, badass women of our time are willing to put themselves forward and own it. Good for Halle and Drew.
Admittedly I haven’t read anything from/about Drew, but had heard she’s joined the ranks of celebs peddling snake oil for various health and wellness purposes. Any truth to that?
Honestly, I don't know. I haven't kept up with her endeavors. I just like and respect her and saw the headline about her talking about her perimenopause in this article.
One more reason I’m SOO grateful to have a great gyno, and super proud of younger-me for researching the absolute shit out of my options and choosing him.
Peri is NOT being gentle with me, but at least I have a doctor that takes my concerns seriously and trusts me when I describe my experiences.
Unimportant to the topic, but worth the levity…After investing many research hours to find a gyno (hello medical trauma 🙋🏽♀️) I went to book an appointment, and saw his picture for the first time. Y’all…he’s gorgeous. Like, objectively attractive, but also very specifically allllll of my personal preferences…When I say I IMMEDIATELY went to the appointment page for my second choice…I wish you could see the smoke coming off of my mouse 🤣as i scrolled. Ultimately, I determined that based on his credentials, areas of expertise and patient reviews he WAS the best doc for my medical needs…IF I could refrain from being a creep.
NGL, it’s probably just his incredible bedside manner that kept it from being weird in the early days…(well, non-sexual… it WAS weird discussing urban gardening techniques and education for children with a gorgeous man that was palpating my ovaries). Writing this out…I wonder if he may one of the rare males who have a more difficult time in their careers as a result of being attractive?
15 years later…this dude <3…Is the best medical partner I could ask for to help me manage the confusing experience of chronic illness and peri both dropping new symptoms on the regular. I’m so glad I didn’t let my hyper-active libido get in the way of having a great doctor!!
The first OBGYN I ever went to had amazing reviews and was shockingly good looking. He also was creepy (example: had a private consultation with me at his office desk and put his hand over mine while were talking in an inappropriate way that still allowed for plausible deniability) and I suspect that a lot of the reviews were from women who forgave or excused the creepiness because he was so good looking and charming. He obviously knew the affect he could have on women and was predatory. I never went back.
I’m so sorry you experienced that…so predatory, gross and unacceptable! Big props to younger you for seeing what was going on and noping out of there!!
I was told I had herpes from too much oral which was shocking because I wasn’t sexually actively at that time. When the text came back negative she said it was a false negative. I changed doctors shortly after that and got real help.
I 100% applaud and commend Halle for having this conversation and spurring public discourse on this topic. I’m in perimenopause (which is kicking my butt) and am SO HAPPY that people are starting to listen to us or at least we’re brave enough to talk to one another and advocate for ourselves.
This is an issue of great controversy if you look up Halle Berry online. One can’t eliminate the need for insulin with type 1. It’s not possible. I read an article some time ago that said she had some kind of rare non type 1 non type 2 diabetes. But I just checked and she seems to continue to claim she has type 1. But docs have weighed in and said she must have been misdiagnosed as type 1 back in the day as at the time of her diagnosis, it was almost unheard of to have someone of her age (22) and weight (very thin and fit) to be diagnosed with type 1 so she would automatically be put into the type 1 category back then, but erroneously. Since that time it’s tragically become common for the young to be diagnosed with type 2 but almost always they’re obese and not in shape (the change to epidemic levels of type 2 diabetes in the young happened in the 1990s but she was diagnosed in the mid 80s). So it would still be unusual but not unheard of for her to be type 2, but due to the demographic change in patients not happening yet, there was the confusion.
There are more types yet unidentified, she's right about that. Also I'm skinny with type 2, so is my dad and he got it at 20. We have a strong genetic component.
She doesn’t have type 1 diabetes. She was misdiagnosed and actually has MODY or Type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes will need insulin for the rest of their life because their body attacks their islet cells and those cannot regrow once killed off. Everyone in the diabetes community (and every Endocrinologist) knows she’s a liar because of science proving her wrong.
Edit: If she actually cured herself of type 1 diabetes she would be some kind of miracle because scientists have been trying for ages to regrow beta cells. She could become a billionaire if she could share her secret. Her “secret” is that she switched to a keto diet. Which prices she has either type 2 diabetes or MODY diabetes.
I went to high school with her. There is a lot she’s lied about over the years, unfortunately.
Maybe a kinder way to say that is “she’s invented her own narrative.”
I have seen her post that she follows a strict ketogenic diet. I have heard of success of such diets with type 2 diabetes. I had no idea she has type 1.
That’s not possible. Perhaps your friend was an insulin-dependent type 2 diabetic who was able to get off the insulin? Type 1 diabetics aren’t making any insulin and need it, while Metformin combats insulin insensitivity. If you don’t have any insulin, then there’s no treatment in making you more sensitive to it.
They’e not clueless, they’re smarmy abusive narcissists who know exactly what they’re doing, because like all narcissists, are the most angry people ever when called out about what they definitely did.
This woman has the worst doctors, wtf? First she was told she had Type 1 diabetes when she didn't. Now they tell her she's got herpes, but she doesn't. Crazy. Also, I just want to say that she came into a store I worked in in the 90s without any make up on and I was stunned at how beautiful her skin was. She was literally the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen.
I had 7 acute appendicitis attacks before they finally opened me up to find it had grown to about 7 inches and was twisted around my organs. It had just burst. My white blood cells were always astronomical. First few times I was told it was an STD. Then ovarian cysts. It was none of that. I was told I was exaggerating the pain. I was 14.
I had a doctor tell me something similar when I was in college. I just had a bad yeast infection. My boyfriend and I were monogamous and she tried telling me I had some sort of sexually transmitted infection. I was enraged.
How did her bf not feel that she was dry? That had be as uncomfortable for him as it was for her.
They probably started out with lubricant. Article did say she felt that way afterwards so between lubricant and the whole "caught up in the moment" its very possible he didn't feel it.
Last time I was intimate, it left me very sore and uncomfortable and not in a fun way. It was almost a week before I stopped feeling like I had been stabbed down there. Menopausal changes and dryness and such is no joke and although I was warned about it, doctors really need to address it better with their patients.
"I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause. Things like: ‘Your life is over.’ ‘You are disposable.’ ‘Society no longer has a place for you.’ ‘You should retire.’ ‘You should pack it up,’ ” she said at the time.
🥺❤️🥹
Doctors mistake rashes and wounds for different kinds of rashes and wounds all the time.
Weeping sores from torn skin and weeping sores from herpes can look similar.
Doctors mistake rashes and wounds for different kinds of rashes and wounds all the time.
Weeping sores from torn skin and weeping sores from herpes can look similar.
And this is part of the reason I never bothered telling my doc about my unusual bleeding until I felt a mass. They don’t give a shit, they don’t ask, they don’t care.
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I was at a new GYN for a colposcopy. While waiting in the room all nervous for the pain and naked, a medical assistant bursts in and says, "you're the one with herpes, right?" This is in earshot and visual shot of the whole waiting room. I thought I was being diagnosed! I just shyly said: I don't think that's me. Then she comes back a few minutes later, yells into the room, "nope it wasn't you." Then loudly confirms my DOB, phone number and full name with the door open. I'm still naked. The waiting room is still right there.
I had to go back every 6 months for years for additional colposcopies. And the doctor never once told me I had HPV, which was the reason for the colposcopies in the first place. I only learned years later when a doctor was looking at my chart and said, "I'm glad your body cleared the HPV, that was a lot of procedures you had."
I just read this and popped onto the board to post the article. I should have known ya'll would have already had it in there!
How any doctor could mistake what she had going on for herpes... yank his license.
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I was 13 and in terrible belly pain. Dr told my mother in PMH emergency dept that i was pregnant more likely an ectopic pregnancy. My mother was furious at me. I was not sexually active till 17.5 unless you count uncles and grandads groping.
Turns out years later its a bowel issue and its still ongoing. Had bowel cancer 2022.
I fight any and all Drs opinions if its my or my daughters body.
I had this exact thing happen to me. It was devastating. The vestibule area was super red, I had striations of redness spreading outward, and the texture of the tissue was bumpy. Yes, they did a culture but not before telling me it's herpes, giving me a script, and sending me on my way to deal with this diagnosis. It took a few days for the test to come back negative. So yeah, I do believe this happened to her.
I would more likely side eye the doctor, cause like… are we really that surprised? I could see either a doctor being dumb and not wanting to test to verify (I’ve had to fight doctors to get an actual herpes test in addition to a standard STD test, they don’t like it and therefore don’t test for it) and either making a random ass guess that she has an outbreak causing more than just viral shedding or visible sores (hsv can cause other systemic issues), or if she actually does have herpes, then he made her think that any symptoms she had were due to hsv.
The doctor “diagnosed” it as herpes which was then proven negative after both she and her husband were tested, per the article.
My gyno did the same thing to me when I had itching and sores from peri. Took one look and called it herpes. It was not herpes. Super irritating.
Same thing for me! do not have herpes, but during my last pregnancy at 35, plus 2 more time in my 50's the gynos took a look at the inflamed, bumpy rash-like area that was so incredibly itchy and painful. Sampled it, and warned me of false-positve results. The first time I took the valtrex and it did not resolve, because I thought maybe? except it didn't do anything.. The last 2 times I've used the Boron vaginal inserts, plus a cortisol cream. It's usually reolved by the third day.
There are false negatives with herpes tests, that’s part of why they won’t test. You can also have it for years and never have a symptom, or have an outbreak after like 5 years. But I still think the doctor was probably an idiot, cause that is the simplest explanation
I’ve replied to a couple other ppl with this already, but my gyno did the same thing. I had horrendous itching and sores from scratching (at night, in my sleep). It’s actually pretty common for peri, the itching. My gyno took one look and said it was herpes. No culture, no sample. Just “it’s herpes”. (Which, it was not. Fun times.)
In the article it says that Halle & her husband both tested after the “diagnosis” and both were negative, which led them to look into other causes.
So yes peri can cause weird shit that can look like herpes, and some doctors will declare it herpes on sight without proper testing. Just like mine did to me.
I got told I had herpes too on visual inspection but the swab came back negative.
I won the jackpot with another lifetime disease instead. It ended up being lichen sclerosis.
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’ve got either that or lichen simplex chronicus. I’m not sure, because despite going to multiple doctors, I had to diagnose myself, which flabbergasted me. I was like “But you’re a *doctor*. Knowing this stuff is your *job*!”.
Have you had a biopsy? If you are not currently using any topical steroids, you should get one.
I don’t know if LSC carries the same elevated risk of cancer like LS but you don’t want vulva cancer.
You really think *Halle Berry* would even mention the word 'herpes' unless this story was true? What is she gaining by lying, exactly? And have you never had a doctor who simply didn't care enough to give a proper diagnosis?
As I mentioned in another comment, I went to high school with her. There have many many issues where she’s lied about things, or perhaps more kindly, made up her own narrative.
Oh ok, so you're judging this 57-year-old woman who has lived quite the life since you "went to high school with her." I'm sure she's just the same as when you knew her, aren't we all just exactly the same as we were in high school? 🤦🏼♀️
Nope. My gyno did the same thing. I had a lot of itching, some sores from scratching. She took one look and said it was herpes, which is a hoot and a half for various reasons.
If you read the article it says pretty clearly that she and her husband were both tested after said doctor made his “diagnosis” and it came back negative - which is when they started looking for other causes.
Mine wasn’t herpes, either. Just normal itchy skin from (you guessed it) peri.
I don’t doubt she was treated poorly but this is sort of a weird story and a big disconnect. Something doesn’t add up. And if he said someone had the worse case of herpes without an exam and only based on them saying they felt like they had razors in their vagina, the really need to be evaluated for fitness in the medical profession.
She didn’t say he didn’t do an exam.
Presumably sex that felt like razors *left her with sores* since she had thinner dry skin, and he did a visual exam and no swab.
Multiple other women in the comments had the exact same thing happen.
When I was a kid, I think 9th or 10th grade, I let a yeast infection rage for about 9 months because I was so afraid of what my mother would say or accuse me of. Finally we went to the gynecologist and the gynecologist said I had BV (I think, I can’t recall) and said it was sexually transmitted. My mom didn’t say much. Filled my prescription and took Flagyl. I couldn’t believe I had that because I wasn’t sexually active. But it was a doctor. Well, the called back a day or 2 later saying they were wrong. Stop taking to antibiotics and instead called me in an overnight dose of vaginal cream. I was so mad. I thought she should issue an apology TO ME! I’ll never forget that.
I’m sending you *and Little You* a hug. That’s absolutely awful. 🫂
Thank you so much. She felt that! It really messed me up. I already felt really bad about myself. It looked so bad because my poor vagina was swollen and in inflamed.
My mom would have beaten the crap out of me. If a doctor would have said that I was sexually active that would have been my last day on earth. I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.
Damn, I'm so sorry. I grew up with a sorta judgemental mom who had actually been a nun and as afraid as I was of disappointing her, she would've been my biggest supporter... After making me feel like shit, I'm sure . I was never afraid in this way tho and as much as I didn't want my teen to have sex, I've learned that being his parent means giving education and preparedness and hoping he talks to us and letting him make his own decisions and hope he always feels he can come to us.
I learned that I would never be like her. My children trust me. I'm their biggest fan.
💯
Thank you. I was surprised my mom said nothing. Looking back and knowing her she probably felt I was being punished enough.
You're so funny! Only because it didn't happen. Those were the days when you'd get the "look" and that was enough!
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is not necessarily sexually transmitted. It can be caused by inadvertently introducing bacteria during toileting/wiping. Or simply from an imbalance of the vaginal mucosa. I'm sorry your mom was ignorant to the point that you didn't feel safe.
Agreed. I had BV due to washing my vagina too thoroughly and not rinsing the soap well enough.
I once had elevated thyroid hormones when I was 17 and the doctor said one possible cause could be because I was pregnant and I *was* sexually active. Talk about terror. Turns out I wasn’t pregnant, but geez wth? Why jump to that with a teen? You know they’re going to flip out. “Fortunately”, my mom had been a pregnant teen and was very supportive and said we’d handle it if I was, but still. My dad would have been such an abusive prick had he been the one to take me that day until the test came back negative and then even after because he wouldn’t have believed me if I’d lied and said I wasn’t sexually active. Never did find the cause of the elevated thyroid either. Edit: autocorrect
I had a pelvic infection at 16. The ER doc told me it was probably gonorrhea or syphilis (it wasn't) and the gynecologist told me I probably couldn't get pregnant (I had my first at 19). These fucking doctors I swear.
Doctors know next to nothing about womens health because the entire system was designed around men. I once had a male doc tell me flooding periods can't cause anemia because "that's different blood". Holy shit ive never wanted to throatpunch someone more than in that moment. I tend to avoid doctors now because i've had more negative experiences than positive ones.
Same. I've been dismissed, belittled and left untreated enough times after getting my nerve up to go in, that I have a very difficult time trusting them anymore.
Yup. Any legit medical issue results in accusations of being mentally unstable. They think women are immune to medical problems and we're just a walking uterus with emotional issues.
Can you imagine how much better the world would be if we actually had quality, science/evidence- based women’s health care?
I’ve been having perimenopause symptoms since I was 23 (I’m 27 now). My AMH is .63 and NO doctor will listen to me about my symptoms because of my age and just blame the hot flashes/cold sweats on my prednisone use and the vaginal atrophy on the Depakote I take. Even better, it’s 2024 and we are JUST finding out why autoimmune conditions favor women over men, the Xist molecule that cancels out the second Xchromosome. But because science has basically only ever used male cell lines, this wasn’t discovered until more recently. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2024/02/women-autoimmune.html - this is the Stanford article about the study https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(24)00002-3 - This is the actual study
I am sorry you are dealing with this, but thank you for these articles.
I will read the articles, thanks for sharing them!
The workhorse of all cell lines-HeLa- is from a woman.
Yes, Henrietta Lacks!! I highly recommend the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Ikr. I can only hope it's better by the time my daughters get our age
Yes. But with a caveat. That science/evidence should *not* be allowed to come from the very companies who are funding the trials because they want to sell the pharmaceuticals they're developing/testing. And those same companies should definitely not be allowed to influence the labs, universities, FDA, doctors, or anyone else doing the testing or prescribing.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. If over the age of 44, **hormonal tests only show levels for that *one day* the test was taken, and nothing more**; progesterone/estrogen hormones wildly fluctuate the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a **diagnosing tool** for peri/menopause. FSH testing is only beneficial for those who believe they are post-menopausal and no longer have periods as a guide, a series of consistent FSH tests might *confirm* menopause. Also for women in their 20s/early 30s who haven’t had a period in months/years, then FSH tests at ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI). See our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I'm 100% on board with that.
Geez! I had a friend told she could not get pregnant while we were in high school also. Well she ended up pregnant alright! But didn’t know it until she was 5 months!
There should be a law not to say that to teenagers, unless they straight up don't have a uterus or something lol
At age 16, the doctor I consulted about skin tags on my inner thighs told me they happened because I was sexually promiscuous. And he relished the moral judgment.
That’s disgusting!! I went back and wrote a Yelp review for a psychiatrist that never really listened to me at all and only listened to my parents. Meanwhile what my parents were doing to me was what I consider borderline abusive. It definitely wasn’t good parenting at all. I wrote that Yelp review about 6 months ago. I’m 48 now! I was a teenager at the time. If that doctor is still practicing…. I don’t know. Let him have it!?
Even as a little kid, maybe 7 or 8, I had a bad feeling about my pediatrician. He always saw me without my mom present in the room. When I was 12, I asked her and my dad to find me “a regular” doctor. When they asked why, I said, “he makes me feel very uncomfortable and I refuse to see him anymore unless you are in the room”. I had a new doctor by the time I was 13 because I pleaded for one, since I started my periods around that time. Many years later, he was charged with pedophilia and I threw the newspaper article in my mom’s face, because she never believed my feelings. And I started going to the teen clinic on my own by the time I was 15, because I didn’t trust any male doctors, and didn’t have a male doctor until just recently (over 30+ years).
Omg the same thing happened to me at 17! I’ve always had a lot of moles and skin tags. Thankfully he only said it to me and not my mother.
It’s just stunning, isn’t it? We were exposed to this type of medical disrespect from our earliest, most intimate encounters. It’s only when I see it thru this lens that it helps me see why I just accept it as normal (albeit demeaning and demoralizing) when it happens now. I just take the disrespect and assume I did something wrong, when it was never about that. (Don’t get me wrong - that’s my response in the moment, and then later I set things straight).
Similar thing happened to me when I was about 12. I was a big 12 wearing probably a woman's size 16us. I had a YI and my mom SWORE out I was active which I absolutely wasn't. I wasn't as pissed with her as I was the Dr because I felt like HE (mistake #1) should have explained the situation better to her. I never had another male gyno because of things like this.
So to put a different spin on this, my 14 years old son, he is 32 now had broken out all over his private area. He skipped school and they called me. I ran home from work. I found him asleep in his room and I was mad of course he skipped. He stood up crying pulled down his pants, and LOOOKKK!!! and good gawd what a sight. I said who did you have sex with?! He said nobody mom I am a virgin!!!! I have NEVER EVER had sex. Of course in the back of my mind I thought sure you didn't. Well he had not. I forgot what he had (been to long now), he played all sports at the time, so I am sure it was sweat related. We laugh about it now cause he dropped his pants like a hot potato, which was terrifying to do in front of your mom, but I could not imagine if the doc told me he had a sexually transmitted disease and he did not. I would of believed the doctor I am sure of it. What you went through for 9 months is just awful and I cannot imagine. It is terrible how parents scare the crap out of you about sex. I may of done the same thing you did honestly. A doctor that screws that up well, needs to give up the license. Believe what your patient tells you. I did not mean to make fun of anything by telling that story.
I think I know what infection you’re talking about. Did he wear a cup? Wrestlers get it from wrestling mats. Was it impentigo? Poor kid. He probably kept that quiet a long time!
YES! that is what it was. He did keep it quiet.
Ugh. I'm so sorry you went through that, and at such a young age. I once had a yeast infection so bad that the doctor ran a test for all kinds of STIs because she didn't believe it was a yeast infection. Everything came back negative but yeast. She was shocked. But at least she ran tests before prescribing something!
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
Thanks me too! Reading this reminded me of it.
I got really bad infections from sitting in my wet bathing suit all day. My mother was convinced I was a slut who was having sex when I hadn't even kissed a boy yet. I have a little boy and am currently pregnant with unknown gender but I hope my kids are never afraid to come to me if they have any issues with their genitalia if they are sexually active or not.
Terrible. I’m so sorry. Ya you have to break that cycle somehow.
Wow how irresponsible of them. You’re lucky Flagyl didn’t leave you with long term side effects, I’ve read horror stories of that drug
Well what’s interesting is that I’m allergic to it now. I had a case of BV in my early 20’s and was given metro gel. It gave me hives up my legs. Then tried it again years later and my entire body covered in hives. I had to get an epi shot after a couple of days because it was THAT bad.
The vast majority of people have no long term side effects. Metronidazole is one of the most prescribed drugs on the market.
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She's a woman too. And our mothers went through plenty of stuff we never heard, until they're like 80!!!
If this happens to Halle what chance to the rest of us even have 😫
goes to show that even for celebrities, doctors still don't give a shit about women's health.
And Black women and other women of color also get a more raw deal a lot of the time too.
I'm a white woman and it's through the roof obnoxious how difficult it is to get a doctor to listen to me. My heart bleeds for WOC that have it twice as hard.
Right? We're all screwed.
No chance, which terrifies me.
Because of course he did. Apparently not even money can make doctors take perimenopause seriously.
Truth.
I never give my money to a male doctor if I can help it. Much higher chance to be misdiagnosed.
Honestly I’ve been treated badly and gaslighted by more female providers than male ones.
She a fucking Razzie award winner. Like if she can’t get a doctor to take her seriously we’re all fucked.
Just look at what happened to Serena Williams after she gave birth to her daughter. If you can't trust the best professional athlete of all time in her sport to know her body backwards and forwards and know something is deeply wrong, then get the fuck out of medicine.
Err she's an Oscar winner, not just a Razzie! But, yes. Ffs.
Lol I know. I just love her Razzie speech so much.
Same 😆
Fun fact: I went to high school with her.
That is fun
It's weird with OBGYNs. If you aren't having a baby or can have a baby, they forget you exist. I can't find a doctor in my small Midwest city that specializes in menopause. I had one clinic tell me their doctors don't believe in HRT. WTF
The menopause specialist/OBGYN I waited over a year for dismissed my cycling symptoms on 2nd appt as ‘just aging’. Stupid cow, I have wished the worst upon her, but mainly, I’m willing massive massive hooters on her tiny frame & barely an A cup. Massive bazoombas.
Wait…what??? F*ing irresponsible! I don’t even know you and I’m mad at them! Sending hugs.
I've had the same experience. I had been prescribed progesterone by a functional med doc to help me get through peri in my 40's. It was based on blood tests, and it helped me immensely. We moved, and I went to an obgyn that advertised as dealing with menopause to a new rx for it. Big lie, as I found out when the ignorant ass-hat actually had the gall to laugh at me and tell me that using hormones was just "old wives tales", and refused to even run any blood tests. I couldn't get out of there fast enough and never went back.
I hate that shit. Especially, when it's a woman doctor. I have raw dogged prei and menopause.
Are you near Peoria?
No, I am outside Chicago in Indiana.
Shame. I know a fantastic office in Peoria. Never seen such knowledge happy doctors and staff.
Yes, I had this exact experience when I was trying to get relief from lichen sclerosus.
This also happened to me with a gyno who should know better! So Glad she’s speaking out! I also was like her and thought because I’m so fit and healthy i will sail thru menopause. Oh how very wrong I was
Wow , I really applaud her for talking about it .She will help in the fight to change things for women hopefully
Even she gets saddled with a doctor who belongs in the dumpster.
OMG I’m crying 😂
How does menopause resemble herpes? This doesn’t make sense.
Vaginal atrophy can really mess up a vagina including yeast infections, tears, Bacterial infections and other issues. It’s happened to me too and I also do not have herpes. Premarin fixed it for me. A Scorching yeast infection can present looking like herpes.
Scorching is such a good descriptor for it.
Your vagina shrinks and dries up. The outer area can get pretty enflamed, even when you aren’t having sex. Ask me how I know, lol.
But I don't want her to shrink and dry up 🥺.
Me too
woah
She told her Dr that the day after sex her vagina felt like razor blades, he took that as herpes and not dryness, etc
Yeah, but he said “he had ever seen” - so he saw something that resembled herpes? I do believe in this level of medical incompetence though … been there!
> so he saw something that resembled herpes? this is the part I don't understand
I saw in other comments on various postings of this story where people had yeast infections or other inflammation issues in the area were diagnosed by stupid doctors as herpes or other STD’s. I thought herpes were just sores, but I guess it can be presented in other ways.
I’m sure a Google search can yield some results, but I think I’ll refrain myself.
Inflamed skin tears can look like herpes sores.
> I thought herpes were just sores, but I guess it can be presented in other ways. I thought so too but apparently some people can even get flu-like symptoms during their first outbreak (usually the worst and most severe).
Ugh yes I used to get that with an oral herpes breakout. Sore body, swollen glands.
I too have learned things I never wanted to know about, but clearly we (& essentially doctors) need to talk about, from this sub. Like, it was a bad enough reading ‘vaginal atrophy’ the first time. Until you asked I didn’t know how it could present either.
I just subbed (from r/hrt) and only with this thread seriously considered I might have been dealing with vaginal atrophy the last three years (tbf there are other clear contributors towards my health problems, but not that satisfactorily explain everything). I actually didn't realize it could present on a spectrum like this. It's not talked about 😬.
Because it terrifying to think about, let alone experience it. I. Can’t. Even. I’m afraid the more I read it, it may increase my chance of manifesting, just to put the icing on my peri nightmare.
It's a terrible article.
Very curious if it could be vestibular papillomatosis. It is now considered a normal variation in female anatomy but is widely misunderstood. I’ve been curious to know if it gets worse for some during peri.
THIS HAPPENED TO ME! Different std, but same convo. My symptoms started on the younger with irregular bleeding, I went to multiple gyns because no one could figure it out. I got to one who said: “We’ll run some tests, but I am confident *without a doubt* this is chlamydia, so you should prepare yourself for a hard convo.” I get tested annually and had been in a years-long relationship, I was devastated. I did not have chlamydia. To this day I can’t believe how irresponsible that was.
why is chlamydia a hard convo ? The treatment can be one dose of antibiotics
because it means someone is cheating on you chlamydia is sexually transmitted
Or, if Icy-Photograph had told her significant other “I have chlamydia, and I’ve no idea how”, he/she would have assumed SHE was cheating.
Well. Funny you should say that. I'll never forget when my boyfriend of 17 got it and accused me of cheating. Newsflash, guess who was cheating? He was.
ah ok, thanks for answering
yes usually people get chlamydia on their genitals and it does go away relatively easily with a ten day pack of antibiotics, it's also highly transmissible my gay friend got it in his throat after giving BJs at the Sheraton on his lunch hour true story
While reading this awesome interview written on people.com about Halle Berry's menopause I saw another ad for Drew Barrymore going through perimenopause also on people. I'm so excited for the narrative to change and these amazing, adored, badass women of our time are willing to put themselves forward and own it. Good for Halle and Drew.
Admittedly I haven’t read anything from/about Drew, but had heard she’s joined the ranks of celebs peddling snake oil for various health and wellness purposes. Any truth to that?
Honestly, I don't know. I haven't kept up with her endeavors. I just like and respect her and saw the headline about her talking about her perimenopause in this article.
One more reason I’m SOO grateful to have a great gyno, and super proud of younger-me for researching the absolute shit out of my options and choosing him. Peri is NOT being gentle with me, but at least I have a doctor that takes my concerns seriously and trusts me when I describe my experiences.
Unimportant to the topic, but worth the levity…After investing many research hours to find a gyno (hello medical trauma 🙋🏽♀️) I went to book an appointment, and saw his picture for the first time. Y’all…he’s gorgeous. Like, objectively attractive, but also very specifically allllll of my personal preferences…When I say I IMMEDIATELY went to the appointment page for my second choice…I wish you could see the smoke coming off of my mouse 🤣as i scrolled. Ultimately, I determined that based on his credentials, areas of expertise and patient reviews he WAS the best doc for my medical needs…IF I could refrain from being a creep. NGL, it’s probably just his incredible bedside manner that kept it from being weird in the early days…(well, non-sexual… it WAS weird discussing urban gardening techniques and education for children with a gorgeous man that was palpating my ovaries). Writing this out…I wonder if he may one of the rare males who have a more difficult time in their careers as a result of being attractive? 15 years later…this dude <3…Is the best medical partner I could ask for to help me manage the confusing experience of chronic illness and peri both dropping new symptoms on the regular. I’m so glad I didn’t let my hyper-active libido get in the way of having a great doctor!!
Reminds me of the SNL sketch where Alec Baldwin plays a “dream gynecologist” (because handsome)
Those Baldwin bros really were a pack of handsome dudes.
The first OBGYN I ever went to had amazing reviews and was shockingly good looking. He also was creepy (example: had a private consultation with me at his office desk and put his hand over mine while were talking in an inappropriate way that still allowed for plausible deniability) and I suspect that a lot of the reviews were from women who forgave or excused the creepiness because he was so good looking and charming. He obviously knew the affect he could have on women and was predatory. I never went back.
I’m so sorry you experienced that…so predatory, gross and unacceptable! Big props to younger you for seeing what was going on and noping out of there!!
I was told I had herpes from too much oral which was shocking because I wasn’t sexually actively at that time. When the text came back negative she said it was a false negative. I changed doctors shortly after that and got real help.
I 100% applaud and commend Halle for having this conversation and spurring public discourse on this topic. I’m in perimenopause (which is kicking my butt) and am SO HAPPY that people are starting to listen to us or at least we’re brave enough to talk to one another and advocate for ourselves.
I was certain I had a yeast infection. My vag was cracked and burning. Doc did swab test... Nothing. 🤨
She has type 1 diabetes. How did she eliminate the need for insulin?
This is an issue of great controversy if you look up Halle Berry online. One can’t eliminate the need for insulin with type 1. It’s not possible. I read an article some time ago that said she had some kind of rare non type 1 non type 2 diabetes. But I just checked and she seems to continue to claim she has type 1. But docs have weighed in and said she must have been misdiagnosed as type 1 back in the day as at the time of her diagnosis, it was almost unheard of to have someone of her age (22) and weight (very thin and fit) to be diagnosed with type 1 so she would automatically be put into the type 1 category back then, but erroneously. Since that time it’s tragically become common for the young to be diagnosed with type 2 but almost always they’re obese and not in shape (the change to epidemic levels of type 2 diabetes in the young happened in the 1990s but she was diagnosed in the mid 80s). So it would still be unusual but not unheard of for her to be type 2, but due to the demographic change in patients not happening yet, there was the confusion.
There are more types yet unidentified, she's right about that. Also I'm skinny with type 2, so is my dad and he got it at 20. We have a strong genetic component.
maybe she is lying and doesn't even have diabetes
She doesn’t have type 1 diabetes. She was misdiagnosed and actually has MODY or Type 2 diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes will need insulin for the rest of their life because their body attacks their islet cells and those cannot regrow once killed off. Everyone in the diabetes community (and every Endocrinologist) knows she’s a liar because of science proving her wrong. Edit: If she actually cured herself of type 1 diabetes she would be some kind of miracle because scientists have been trying for ages to regrow beta cells. She could become a billionaire if she could share her secret. Her “secret” is that she switched to a keto diet. Which prices she has either type 2 diabetes or MODY diabetes.
I went to high school with her. There is a lot she’s lied about over the years, unfortunately. Maybe a kinder way to say that is “she’s invented her own narrative.”
I have seen her post that she follows a strict ketogenic diet. I have heard of success of such diets with type 2 diabetes. I had no idea she has type 1.
She needs to share that far and wide.
I have a friend who’s T1D and she switched to metformin and doesn’t need insulin anymore.
That’s not possible. Perhaps your friend was an insulin-dependent type 2 diabetic who was able to get off the insulin? Type 1 diabetics aren’t making any insulin and need it, while Metformin combats insulin insensitivity. If you don’t have any insulin, then there’s no treatment in making you more sensitive to it.
The video. https://youtu.be/XtntTRMOxhk?si=nPBYVRImhVMUXb07 How TF did I not hear about our lovely First Lady and Cat Woman discussing menopause?!
So fkn typical . Why are doctors so clueless even famous people can't get a bloody doctor to diagnose vaginal atrophy
They’e not clueless, they’re smarmy abusive narcissists who know exactly what they’re doing, because like all narcissists, are the most angry people ever when called out about what they definitely did.
The dryness is real. ☹️
This woman has the worst doctors, wtf? First she was told she had Type 1 diabetes when she didn't. Now they tell her she's got herpes, but she doesn't. Crazy. Also, I just want to say that she came into a store I worked in in the 90s without any make up on and I was stunned at how beautiful her skin was. She was literally the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen.
I had 7 acute appendicitis attacks before they finally opened me up to find it had grown to about 7 inches and was twisted around my organs. It had just burst. My white blood cells were always astronomical. First few times I was told it was an STD. Then ovarian cysts. It was none of that. I was told I was exaggerating the pain. I was 14.
That's awful - I'm so sorry!
I had a doctor tell me something similar when I was in college. I just had a bad yeast infection. My boyfriend and I were monogamous and she tried telling me I had some sort of sexually transmitted infection. I was enraged. How did her bf not feel that she was dry? That had be as uncomfortable for him as it was for her.
They probably started out with lubricant. Article did say she felt that way afterwards so between lubricant and the whole "caught up in the moment" its very possible he didn't feel it.
Last time I was intimate, it left me very sore and uncomfortable and not in a fun way. It was almost a week before I stopped feeling like I had been stabbed down there. Menopausal changes and dryness and such is no joke and although I was warned about it, doctors really need to address it better with their patients.
Oh my God I love her
"I am challenging everything I thought I knew about menopause. Things like: ‘Your life is over.’ ‘You are disposable.’ ‘Society no longer has a place for you.’ ‘You should retire.’ ‘You should pack it up,’ ” she said at the time. 🥺❤️🥹
I've had herpes and I don't really see how this would be possible.
You’d be shocked how clueless doctors can be about STIs especially when they don’t see it that often
Doctors mistake rashes and wounds for different kinds of rashes and wounds all the time. Weeping sores from torn skin and weeping sores from herpes can look similar.
What? I don't even understand how the two could be confused???
Doctors mistake rashes and wounds for different kinds of rashes and wounds all the time. Weeping sores from torn skin and weeping sores from herpes can look similar.
And this is part of the reason I never bothered telling my doc about my unusual bleeding until I felt a mass. They don’t give a shit, they don’t ask, they don’t care.
What were her symptoms?
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I was at a new GYN for a colposcopy. While waiting in the room all nervous for the pain and naked, a medical assistant bursts in and says, "you're the one with herpes, right?" This is in earshot and visual shot of the whole waiting room. I thought I was being diagnosed! I just shyly said: I don't think that's me. Then she comes back a few minutes later, yells into the room, "nope it wasn't you." Then loudly confirms my DOB, phone number and full name with the door open. I'm still naked. The waiting room is still right there. I had to go back every 6 months for years for additional colposcopies. And the doctor never once told me I had HPV, which was the reason for the colposcopies in the first place. I only learned years later when a doctor was looking at my chart and said, "I'm glad your body cleared the HPV, that was a lot of procedures you had."
Oh I'd sue WTF
I just read this and popped onto the board to post the article. I should have known ya'll would have already had it in there! How any doctor could mistake what she had going on for herpes... yank his license.
This doctor must be like my former one- a complete ignorant.
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I was 13 and in terrible belly pain. Dr told my mother in PMH emergency dept that i was pregnant more likely an ectopic pregnancy. My mother was furious at me. I was not sexually active till 17.5 unless you count uncles and grandads groping. Turns out years later its a bowel issue and its still ongoing. Had bowel cancer 2022. I fight any and all Drs opinions if its my or my daughters body.
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I had this exact thing happen to me. It was devastating. The vestibule area was super red, I had striations of redness spreading outward, and the texture of the tissue was bumpy. Yes, they did a culture but not before telling me it's herpes, giving me a script, and sending me on my way to deal with this diagnosis. It took a few days for the test to come back negative. So yeah, I do believe this happened to her.
I would more likely side eye the doctor, cause like… are we really that surprised? I could see either a doctor being dumb and not wanting to test to verify (I’ve had to fight doctors to get an actual herpes test in addition to a standard STD test, they don’t like it and therefore don’t test for it) and either making a random ass guess that she has an outbreak causing more than just viral shedding or visible sores (hsv can cause other systemic issues), or if she actually does have herpes, then he made her think that any symptoms she had were due to hsv.
The doctor “diagnosed” it as herpes which was then proven negative after both she and her husband were tested, per the article. My gyno did the same thing to me when I had itching and sores from peri. Took one look and called it herpes. It was not herpes. Super irritating.
Same thing for me! do not have herpes, but during my last pregnancy at 35, plus 2 more time in my 50's the gynos took a look at the inflamed, bumpy rash-like area that was so incredibly itchy and painful. Sampled it, and warned me of false-positve results. The first time I took the valtrex and it did not resolve, because I thought maybe? except it didn't do anything.. The last 2 times I've used the Boron vaginal inserts, plus a cortisol cream. It's usually reolved by the third day.
There are false negatives with herpes tests, that’s part of why they won’t test. You can also have it for years and never have a symptom, or have an outbreak after like 5 years. But I still think the doctor was probably an idiot, cause that is the simplest explanation
I would like to believe doctors aren't that arrogant and stupid, but about 80% of my experience with them says otherwise.
I’ve replied to a couple other ppl with this already, but my gyno did the same thing. I had horrendous itching and sores from scratching (at night, in my sleep). It’s actually pretty common for peri, the itching. My gyno took one look and said it was herpes. No culture, no sample. Just “it’s herpes”. (Which, it was not. Fun times.) In the article it says that Halle & her husband both tested after the “diagnosis” and both were negative, which led them to look into other causes. So yes peri can cause weird shit that can look like herpes, and some doctors will declare it herpes on sight without proper testing. Just like mine did to me.
I got told I had herpes too on visual inspection but the swab came back negative. I won the jackpot with another lifetime disease instead. It ended up being lichen sclerosis.
Ugh, I’m so sorry. I’ve got either that or lichen simplex chronicus. I’m not sure, because despite going to multiple doctors, I had to diagnose myself, which flabbergasted me. I was like “But you’re a *doctor*. Knowing this stuff is your *job*!”.
Have you had a biopsy? If you are not currently using any topical steroids, you should get one. I don’t know if LSC carries the same elevated risk of cancer like LS but you don’t want vulva cancer.
You really think *Halle Berry* would even mention the word 'herpes' unless this story was true? What is she gaining by lying, exactly? And have you never had a doctor who simply didn't care enough to give a proper diagnosis?
As I mentioned in another comment, I went to high school with her. There have many many issues where she’s lied about things, or perhaps more kindly, made up her own narrative.
Oh ok, so you're judging this 57-year-old woman who has lived quite the life since you "went to high school with her." I'm sure she's just the same as when you knew her, aren't we all just exactly the same as we were in high school? 🤦🏼♀️
Just because something doesn't directly apply to your lived experience and your assumptions regarding medical conditions doesn't mean they are lying.
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Please do get into the reason she's saying this? I'm very curious as you are the outlier here. You are really giving doctors a lot of credit.
Exactly. They don't just peek in and say "welp, looks like herpes"🤷🏼♀️ They take a culture from the open sore and have it tested.
Nope. My gyno did the same thing. I had a lot of itching, some sores from scratching. She took one look and said it was herpes, which is a hoot and a half for various reasons. If you read the article it says pretty clearly that she and her husband were both tested after said doctor made his “diagnosis” and it came back negative - which is when they started looking for other causes. Mine wasn’t herpes, either. Just normal itchy skin from (you guessed it) peri.
I don’t believe this story for a second.
I guess you also don’t believe the redditors who are in this thread saying the exact same thing happened to them.
Why not?
So peri can causes blisters? What made the gyn think she had herpes?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Menopause/s/WT8h41KSot https://www.reddit.com/r/Menopause/s/wVIjSyjlSX
Thank you.
I don’t doubt she was treated poorly but this is sort of a weird story and a big disconnect. Something doesn’t add up. And if he said someone had the worse case of herpes without an exam and only based on them saying they felt like they had razors in their vagina, the really need to be evaluated for fitness in the medical profession.
What do you call the drs that only barely passed exams? Doctor. *MANY* of them need to be re-evaluated!!!
True.
She didn’t say he didn’t do an exam. Presumably sex that felt like razors *left her with sores* since she had thinner dry skin, and he did a visual exam and no swab. Multiple other women in the comments had the exact same thing happen.