Halle Berry
Appearances
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
What would you like to see happen with regard to the research and the clinical trials that need to be done at this point? Because I know that you've had your finger on the pulse of those. I know you're very aware of everything that's going on in D.C., but there's so many different areas that we have work to do.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Also mehr Forschung, mehr Forschung, mehr Forschung. Ja, wir hören, dass Symptome früher starten, länger dauern und intensiver werden. Und niemand kann sagen, warum das passiert. Wie man über Lebensstilveränderungen spricht, wie man über hormonale gegen nicht-hormonale spricht. Es ist schockierend, dass das wirklich die erste Teil dieser Gespräche ist.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Und die meisten Frauen bekommen diese Informationen aus der Gemeinschaft oder online und nicht sogar von Ärzten an dieser Stelle. Ja.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I agree with you. And especially because there are so many different solutions out there that we're seeing more and more come up. And lifestyle changes have to be part of that solution. It cannot be poo-pooed as, you know, do this one pill or this one patch or this one thing. And everything else is just, you know, optional.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Okay, it's not a one trick pony. When you were at the Capitol and you shouted, I'm in menopause, did you know the reaction that was going to get when you went back and looked at it? I just, I could feel it was in your, you know, it was just like in your, it just came from you, you know? And I was so happy when I saw that the first time I went, oh, thank you. Danke Gott, sie sagt das laut.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
For the first time, she's revealing exactly how she thrives in menopause and what every woman needs to know. And if Halle Berry is willing to put her name on the line to change the conversation, so are we.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Hattest du irgendeine Idee, als du zurückgegangen bist und das gesehen hast? Nein, ich wusste nicht.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Yeah, it's stunning. And not all reaction has been like, thank you so much, right? You've had a lot of different, I think we all have had a lot of different reaction, but you've had people come up to you directly and say, okay. Warum machst du das?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Welcome to The Tamsen Show. Let's get into it. Today is really a gift, as I'm talking to actress and entrepreneur Halle Berry. Halle's in menopause. How do we know that? Well, she stood on Capitol Hill last year and screamed it for all of us. Through her advocacy work, she's pushing for better women's healthcare, education and a deeper societal understanding.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Waren sie so dankbar für das? Das würde nicht geschehen. Nein, das würde nicht geschehen.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I want them to hear that from you because I think that it's sometimes hard to convey that when you're going through the painful sex and feeling low libido, feeling not confident. All those things just kind of pile on and you don't know where to begin unraveling it all. But it does get better and I think there's a couple of things that women should know. They have to get to know themselves too.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I think we haven't spent a lot of time doing that or even being taught how to do that.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
In an industry that really demands we fight to preserve our youth, Halle says there is no way we can be forever 35. At 58, she wants every woman to know menopause isn't the end. What she's about to share will change how you take charge of yourself and your health forever. Halle Berry, welcome to The Tamsen Show. Nice to see you. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I've been a huge fan of yours.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Du bist sehr klar darüber, wer du bist und das ist immer eine wirklich schöne Sache, wenn jemand weiß, wer sie sind und sie verstehen, was sie glauben und was für sie kommt. Und ich weiß, das kommt nicht immer einfach, es kommt mit viel Arbeit. Wo hast du das Gefühl und diese Selbstvertrauen und diese Verständnis in dieser Zeit, in der du bist?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Well, I love that and I can feel it. And I think that people want to know where to find that confidence. You know, this is a difficult time, but when they see you feeling confident about talking about it, talking about menopause, I have to imagine most of Hollywood's like, oh, thank goodness, she's saying this. Finally, somebody is speaking for us, because I know that those are
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Those are careers and that's where you're trying to be forever 25, for goodness sake.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I don't have any more parts. And that's not what's happened at all.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I'm so glad you did. I'm so glad you've had your voice. And I think that it's going to change this narrative and we're going to get rid of that word taboo at some point. I hope so. Which is what is so necessary. What would you tell 35-year-old Halle?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I'm a huge fan of yours. First of all, I want to say it has been brilliant to see what you have done and so needed to see what you've done because we've needed voices getting louder and louder. I listened to you in an interview say that making a difference for women in midlife was the reason that you get up every day and the reason that you stay up late at night. Yes, besides my hot flashes.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Ich liebe das, weil jeder das versteht. Jeder fühlt das. Ich will, dass jeder mich liebt. Aber ich denke, wir kommen hierher, weil wir... Weil der Straße, richtig? Weil wir durchgegangen sind, was wir nicht durchgegangen sind, wen wir auf dem Weg getroffen haben und...
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
You know, you've taken on a whole new business career pivot. There's a lot that goes with it. Have there been stresses along the way? Has it been exciting along the way? What do you want to see happen with Respin and where it goes? And I know there's different pillars of it. And I think that the pillars are very unique and Yes.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
It's so great, because there's so much misinformation, confusion, and everyone's going back and forth. And I think to have a solid place with science back, an incredible board of advisors, with a medical board of advisors that you have, which is a beautiful thing to see. Yes. You know what no one told me about menopause? That it doesn't just happen, it hits you.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
The brain fog, the sleepless nights, the exhaustion. I felt like I was losing control of my own body. And for a while I thought, maybe this is just how it is. But then I realized, it doesn't have to be. I started digging into the science, talking to experts and trying real solutions that actually work. And that's why I wrote How to Menopause. Because you and I deserve answers.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Besides the hot flashes and night sweats.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
This book is your blueprint for navigating menopause with confidence, understanding your body and feeling stronger, healthier and even better than before. If you're ready to stop feeling stuck and start taking charge, this is your moment. Grab your copy of How to Menopause now at howtomenopause.com and unlock some exclusive bonuses to help you get started today.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I don't know about you, I didn't understand the definition of community growing. Now that I look back on it, it's very different now than it was then. I thought like, I got a couple of girlfriends and yeah, they're my people and it's all good. Now I understand what community means. It means something very different to me and it actually does hold me up in a whole different way.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
That changes those words. I said the day the taboo doesn't come next to the word menopause will be the day that we know that we have really changed this narrative and seen a real shift.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
What made you know that that was where you were going to be? Did it happen to you? Did it happen to you that it came to you as this is it versus you're going through it, right? But then you kept saying like, wait a minute, it's not just about me now, it's about all women.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Lisa Mosconis Buch. Ich weiß, ich war da. Du hast es zurück und zurück gemacht, wie ich es gemacht habe. Das Buch ist brillant in so vielen Wegen. Was hast du in diesem Buch gesehen?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Ja, ich denke, es war für mich auch eine Veränderung der langfristigen Veränderungen, wenn man über Gehirn, kardiovaskuläre Beine spricht. Ich dachte nur, wenn man die Symptome durchführt, dann wäre das okay. Ich habe nicht verstanden, dass es an einem Punkt wirklich langfristige Gesundheitsverhältnisse gibt.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
What do you do on a daily basis? Do you have some must-dos in terms of, I mean, you've always been like this with your health, but are there some things that have changed or shifted in the past, I don't know, three or four or five years?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Ich habe mein Libido gefunden. Richtig?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Ja, ich denke, mit so vielen Symptomen, wenn Frauen 34 Jahre alt sind, ist es eine Sache, wenn sie jetzt hören, wir haben über 100 Symptome gesprochen, es ist schockierend, aber nicht so schockierend.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Weil wenn du siehst, was Estrogen macht, in allen verschiedenen Bereichen, von deinen Augen, deinen Mund, Deinen Ohren, es ist einfach unglaublich. Und die Frauen fühlten sich, als würden sie es verlieren, nicht realisieren, dass es all das war.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Because what he told me was... Do you think it was going to insult you? Yes.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Was it lack of estrogen? Yes. What was it?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Ja, wir müssen sie haben. Und alle von uns müssen sie haben. Du hast eine Konversation, die wir alle haben müssen.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Isn't it funny that we avoided the weight room for a long time? I didn't even think about it. It was like where the guys were in their sweating.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
No, I don't. Somebody else was telling me about this. Is it great? It's great. What? Because your side can be cool and... Yes.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
What is your side down to? Is it a 65 or something? I don't know. How does it do it?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
It's great for relationships too, I have a feeling, because I'm always pulling everything off of me and pushing it over the outside of the bed.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I'll have to try that. Thank you. You have said that menopause needs a rebrand. What does that rebrand look like?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Yeah. Very beautiful half. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. You are so wonderful. You're just a very, very special person.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Her words, her wisdom. Menopause isn't the end. It's the beginning of your second act. Halle Berry has proved this. Halle, thank you so much for teaching us how to move forward with confidence. Let's continue this conversation for ourselves and for others. If you have questions or comments, I would love to hear them. Message us at The Tamsen Show.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
And remember, this is a brand new show, so please subscribe and rate us wherever you get your podcasts. The Tamsen Show is an original production by Authentic Wave. Executive Producers Scott Weinberger, Kevin Bennett and Rebecca Grierson. Brand Director Johanna Ofsnick. Our line producer is Sabrina Saray. Editing by Zach Smith and Marquis Harris.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
The Tamsen Show is an original production by Authentic Wave.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
We do deserve better. And there's a lot that has to be done to get us to better. I know you've told the story before, but can you talk about that? Because that story I think is heinous and shocking. Shocking. And so upsetting on so many different levels.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
You stood in D.C. shouting at the top of your lungs like, could somebody pay attention? I'm in menopause!
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I'm sorry that you went through that, and especially when I think about that initial diagnosis, and I think about those 72 hours with somebody that you care about, you're getting to know, you've been intimate with now, you know, this is somebody you want to be with, and to have that conversation Lack of feeling of trust. It's awful on so many different levels.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Yeah, somewhere. Please, just one. I want to talk about Respin Health and I want to talk about what you've done because it is so needed. It is so necessary. It's going to bring women who don't even know how confused they're going to be during this time information so they don't feel confused.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
Can you talk about the platform, where the idea came from and what you hope it does for women and community?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
We have been drinking the Kool-Aid. Menopause has been Hollywood's best kept secret. If you weren't young, you weren't valuable. If you were struggling, you stayed silent. I mean, I was a journalist for 30 years. I never said the word on television. Even Halle Berry, one of the most powerful women in the industry, was told to keep quiet.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
If it was this hard for her to get answers, what does that mean for the rest of us?
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
But it's so necessary because no one has studied us really. The fact that we are Ja, genau.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
What do you love about this time in life? Because I mean, I just have my own thoughts about what I love. And I was just like you. I was like 30, 35. If I get beyond this, they're not going to want me anymore.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
I don't know. I think about it now. And I actually think about like, what have I learned on the other side of this, right? My mother didn't live past 51. So I never had that roadmap of what happens next. And so seeing women of our age doing beautiful things. I mean, a second chapter. You have done so much and there's so much more I can see that you're doing with Respin.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
And it's got to be tremendous every day to know the impact that you're going to have on women, not just our age, but the younger generation who should know this at 40 years old, who should know this at 35 years old.
The Tamsen Show
Halle Berry: I Thought I Would Skip Menopause
And I'm like... Now she's sitting down with me on The Tamsin Show to break the silence and to share what she's learned, what still needs to change, and how she's creating a space to support women through menopause. What do you do on a daily basis? A whole list of stuff that I will not miss, I have to take.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
By condom. No, no, no. You're going to throw some other stuff in.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
50%. So it's a real serious part of, I am so not alone in what I've gone through. And it's when the walls of your vagina start to actually atrophy, which means they start to fall apart. and sort of disintegrate. You lose your collagen inside your vagina, as we do in our faces, and we start to get wrinkles and your skin gets crepey. That's what's happening inside your vagina.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And so the walls get really thin and crepey. So when you are having sex, those walls are so thin, it cracks. And that's what the razor blades in the vagina feels like that I experienced, right? And sometimes it happens during sex, but then it can happen after you've had sex.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
If you were like in the moment and you got your groove and you don't feel that it's cracking because, you know, those endorphins are kicking off and pleasure is happening. The next morning when you go to the bathroom and you try to urinate, it's when the urine touches the walls of those cracks. That's what makes it so painful, right? And that's what vaginal atrophy is.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
What's funny you should say. Because we have just launched Respin 2.0 and Respin Health. And the whole idea of this company is about creating community. We learned that when people have other people, like-minded people who are struggling with the same issue to talk to, there's strength in that. Right? There's strength in community. Talking to other people, you can hold each other accountable.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
You can brainstorm. You can share stories. Because I've learned, as I've been talking about it, when I talk to other women, they go, ah, aha. They instantly feel better because they can talk about it with someone who understands, who's not afraid to talk about it, who can hold space for their feelings, who know that what they're saying is true and real. They can feel less shame.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
They can feel not alone, less afraid. Yeah. That right there is half the battle, just getting them to talk about it and feel good talking, not just talking about it, but feeling empowered by being able to talk about it. So Respin is that place of community, but they can also not just talk and like talk about it in like a wild, wild west kind of way.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
They can talk about it and be guided with doctors and professionals and scientists.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yes. And people that are on the cutting edge of where we are in menopause, who are doing the latest researches, right? Running the most recent clinical trials and studies who can tell you why HRT isn't bad for us like we once thought 20 years ago. Why that was a debunked study that was- That's hormone replacement therapy? Yes. Okay. Right, and why that study?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Absolutely. And that's why we have to figure out what the truth is about it. And then as women, we have to make those choices for ourselves. Not because what you heard or what somebody else is afraid of, but we have to make these decisions based on education for ourselves. Because for me, just me, we have a greater chance of... having cancer late in life anyway.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
So if that's the truth, I want to live my second act feeling great, not having brain fog, not flooding my laundry room every other week, not raging, not having headaches, not, you know, not worrying.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Right. I want to live my best life. And so once I did my own education, I too was afraid of HRT because I had heard those stories. But once I got into understanding why it was okay for me, I now know I'll be on this till the day I die. Oh, really? Yes, because I'm going to die anyway. And I'm going to die feeling good about it. We don't know if that's a fact, though. Yes, I am going to die.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yeah, there are other options on the market that women can try that are afraid or who, you know, legit cannot go on hormone replacement. There are those women out there. But that's why I've been in Washington trying to get this bill passed, this menopause bill with $265 million bill, because we need more research. We need more education.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We need more therapies developed so that HRT will not be the best solution. Right now, arguably, if you can take it, it is the best solution. But we're working with doctors and with the government to try to come up with other therapies because not every woman will feel like that's the right choice for her. I get that.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And we should have the right to do hormone or do, you know, a non-hormonal remedy. We should have the right to make that choice for ourselves. The right and the range. Yes.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yes, yes, all of that helps. I'm on the bone broth, been on that for like six years, bone broth, supplements, a good quality collagen though. All collagen is not created equal, but a good collagen, absolutely.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yeah, you can do some of the work, but sometimes I'm finding... For the more severe vaginal atrophies, that's like the slow boat from China. You might be done having sex before it gets fixed. So you might have to find another remedy like the V-Fit or HRT or vaginal inserts, estradiol vaginal inserts. We're now finding are actually very, very helpful too. Wow.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Well, I can tell you one thing, because we live in a world where, as women, we have been sold the ideology that we have to stay forever young. We have to stay forever 30.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Right? And look around. Look, you see what's happening to the faces and the people. We have to stay. At all costs, we cannot age. We are only valuable when we are young and virile and forever 30, 35. Hmm. And that's why we don't have the conversations because we have bought into that and we don't want to get old either. So we're not going to talk about that with each other.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yeah, that's how I feel. That's exactly how I feel. I am approaching my second act and I couldn't be more excited. You know, when you find a there there and you connect to what you know is a greater purpose, we always ask ourselves when we're here, but what is my why? Why am I here? What am I meant to do? I figured out what that is.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Women are talking about how they can stay young, what they can do with their face, the procedures they can do and how can you. That's what we're talking about, where we are also victims of this way of thinking. The goal should not be to stay forever 30. The goal should be to age gracefully, have the confidence to be able to do that, knowing that our real value lies within not aging. externally.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Because we're fighting for external youth. Because the inside is doing what the inside is doing.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And there's joy and there's peace and there's comfort and there's confidence in that, right? And so that's where I'm at.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It is to be a voice for women in midlife, a time of life that we have been so forgotten and so underserved and underappreciated. And I realize that... I have been chosen to be a voice, not the voice, but a voice, a loud voice in this space to talk about what it looks like to be in our second act, what it looks like to be in midlife, what does longevity really look like for women, right?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
A MILF movie? A MILF movie. Then we're MILF.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yeah. Yeah, and it has been, you know, I feel like this is a very hard thing to say because, you know, people often are, you know, oh, poor you. Oh, yeah, no, yeah. You told your pretty, oh. And I know that, so this is a hard thing to say, but it's something that, and I think I've said this recently, I have longed to hear somebody say anything else other than that. Anything else.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
You could call me, you know, she's a, curse me.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
She's a motherfucking bitch. I'd almost rather them say that at this point than just the same thing I've heard for four decades. You know, because I know that I'm more than this. And I feel like that's always so reductive. You know, it's just reductive. I've worked hard to be a good actor. I work hard to be a good mother.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I've worked hard at trying to be me and to just be reduced to, oh, she's pretty. At 58, it's a hard pill to swallow these days. And so you're right. I think this cause has given me a platform to talk about something other than that. And if I have been known as that my whole life, I'm the perfect person to talk about. Yeah, that's exactly what I mean. That's what you mean.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I'm the perfect person to talk about this now.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And maybe I didn't choose it consciously, but like you said, Trevor, it's chosen me because I am the right person to talk about it, right? Because you would think someone like me, I'd be the last one talking about it. But see, I've never, you know, I don't ride on that beauty horse that people always want to put me on. So I woke up one morning with this idea, oh, I'm going to tell this story.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
When this happened to me, I had no trepidation about telling it, like none.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Maybe, but I always had the right answer. I would say to people that said, this is going to, this might level your career. And I said, I have been black in this body and a woman my whole career. What's harder than that?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
So this doesn't scare me. I've always been behind the eight ball and I made it and I'm still here doing things on my own terms. So what's harder than that? Nothing.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We suffer disproportionately. Disproportionately.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We have to start taking this into our own hands, even these women in these rural states that don't have access to care. We have to lean in. We have to do our own education because we've got a while before the medical world catches up to where we are and can offer us really what we deserve. We're on the precipice of that right now. So we as women have to, one, realize it's happening.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Because we're living longer, but we've been in poor health. And why is that? Right? And why can't we redefine ourselves? And we are here forever. for more than baby making. That's a wonderful, glorious thing that we do, but we're here for so much more than that. But the world has told us after we do that, we're done. I'm here to say, no, that's not true. That's not true.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We have to start talking about it, that thing that nobody did. And we have to lean in and we have to do our own research. We have to question our doctors. If our doctors don't know about our bodies, guess what, ladies? Get a new doctor.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And, you know, as women, we have a hard time doing that. We have a hard time standing up for ourselves, going to our male doctors that we've had for maybe 15, 20 years and saying, hey, bud, you don't know about my body. I'm out of here. These are the kinds of decisions we have to start making for ourselves because we deserve health care and we deserve doctors that understand what's happening.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And not many do. So we have to search them out. And maybe sometimes you have to have a doctor that's in another state. That you can connect with that can guide you. You might not be able just to go see your doctor that you always went to go see. You might have to look outside those boundaries and find a place where you can really get the information you need and be cared for.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And we have to do it ourselves. And we can't keep our heads in the mud and think that it's going to skip me because that's what I thought. No, ignorant. We cannot come from that place. We have to go do the work and start educating ourselves and make some tough choices.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And how are we going to live this thing out in our best health?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And it's my goal to change that. Yes. I want women to go in there and say, do you have Let's Spin? I need some Let's Spin. Do you have it? And feel no shame because sex does get better on the other side.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Well, it's both. And first of all, I created a product that I most needed, right? And I think whenever somebody introduces a product into the market or they're an entrepreneur and they have an idea for something, I find the most interesting companies to me are when they have founders that created something to fill a need that they have. Right?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And that's how, you know, you put your heart and your soul into it. And it's probably going to be a good product because they were trying to help themselves. But by doing so, they help millions of other people. Right? So I was just trying to help myself get through this time thinking, what can I do so that I can continue doing that thing that makes me me? Right?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Because I just told you, I found my guy. I found my person. I know, you're having great sex. It can't be the end of sex now. I'm like, God, this is a joke. I finally found him. So it really came out of a need to help myself. But in doing so, I started to realize, oh, I'm not the only woman suffering from this. This is a conversation that we all need to start having. And it's not just pleasure.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
You know, for men to stay... connected to their optimal good health, they have to keep having sex. You guys have to keep having that thing, which is why you got the blue pill right away when it was a problem. Boom. Well, women are the same way. We have to keep having sex too. It's a part of staying healthy. It's a part of our systems that must operate like your systems operate, right?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It's just we... don't get thought of that way because you know what happens? When men need to continue having sex, if their partner who's about their same age can't keep having sex, traditionally, nothing against my men because I love you guys. Oh, no, that's fine. Because what you guys do is you know, well, you'll just go get another younger woman and keep doing the thing you need to do.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We cannot, right? If our system shuts down, we can't go get another man because we can't have him.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
None of this ain't working out, man. Because he's going to want what he's going to want. So, no, I have to keep this working. But because as women, we failed to keep it working. There have been so many divorces just for that reason. So many. I'll tell you a story. I have a friend who will remain nameless, but he came to me and he said, Hallie, I'm going to get a divorce.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And I've known him a long time. And I was like, but what? You love your wife. Like, what is happening? This was like two years ago. And he said, she just doesn't want me anymore. Like, I don't know what has happened. We were doing so good. I thought we were going to ride this thing out. I would go to her. I would try to touch her. And she would pull away. And she's got someone else or something.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
She doesn't feel it for me anymore.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And I just said, wow. And I couldn't believe it. And I was just formulating all of my ideas about what I'm doing now about menopause and how she might be feeling. And I said to him, I said, this is going to sound crazy to you, but go home and start a conversation with her about perimenopause. And just start asking her how she's feeling down there. Is she feeling dry? Is she feeling headachy?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Like, just go have a conversation. I told him all the things to say. Two weeks later, I see him again. He's like, oh, my God. Hallie? You were right. It's not that she didn't want me. She thought that every time I touched her, I was going to want sex. And she knew that that was so painful for her. And she didn't want to feel that. And she was tired of faking it.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
She was tired of having it be so excruciating painful, but had to act like it wasn't hurting at all. And he was like, that's what it was all about. Because she couldn't even talk to him to tell him that. And so that's when I knew that...
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
oh my God, this is an issue that we have to talk about and how intimately men are a part of this conversation and how many marriages have broken up because they were on the verge of a divorce. And once they could talk about this, now they're thriving again. She's been a part of Respin. She's got her Let's Spin. She did her V-Fit, you know, vaginal device. Oh, tell me about the V-Fit.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Well, it's another thing. It's like a red light therapy device, you know, just like we do on our faces now for anti-aging and collagen building. That goes into the vagina and it rebuilds the vaginal walls. And it's like it can actually help thicken your walls again so that you don't, so you have more elasticity in your vagina walls when you're having intercourse.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And I think peri is the worst. Once you get in the menopause, like you're kind of on the other side of it. It's the peri is where it's the hardest. I'm still in peri too. And I'm like, man, I got three more months and then I'm going to be in the menopause if I don't menstruate. And man, I'm going to be so happy to be in that menopause.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
You do it daily. Well, this is how it worked for me. I did it daily for about three weeks. Mm-hmm. And then after that, it's just maintenance. It's once a week or once every two weeks. You got that and you're let spin and, you know, you get some hormone replacement therapy or you do some supplements that you like.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And then you find out you can be back off to the races, you know, juicy as peach all again. But you just have to know the things to do. Right. So that you don't like become a desert. You have to just know. And when we know, we will do. Right. So, you know.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
She can certainly jump into the V-fit. She can do the let's spin. Hormones, that's something she'd have to talk to a doctor.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
menopause doctor about to be sure because i have heard that if it if you don't start the therapy early enough it can that's when it can be an issue if you start too late in life 70 maybe too late that's not what i should be answering today i think that's what you need to go to women as early as possible be on this journey and start thinking about it at 35
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
At 35, because, you know, our childbearing years are 25 to 35. And at 35, that's when the estrogen starts to leave and we have to start realizing, okay, this peri is coming upon us. So at 35, I think we have to start talking to our doctors. If they're not talking to you, talk to them. Get the right doctor and start talking about it.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
What can I do so that I sail through to this moment, right, and that I don't suffer the way the women before me have suffered?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It's certainly part of the reason that ReSpin started. I struggled to understand what this company was. I knew it was always ReSpinning everything we thought we knew, but I didn't have a there there. I didn't have the real purpose of what the there there was. And when I realized that menopause needs the biggest ReSpin of all, then I realized, oh, that's why I've been building this company.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Even when I didn't know why, really. Mm-hmm. I figured out why, which lets me know that it was happening, you know, to me and for me because I didn't really have it thought out, but yet I was building something, which is why I know it's chosen me. I just had to get caught up to it, right? But it chose me, clearly.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
But I think this goes back to the thing I said earlier. And that is being born a black woman. I feel like I have always felt like I sat at the bottom of society.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Right? White man, black man. White woman, black woman. So I've always felt at the bottom. Never feeling like I was defeated because I was at the bottom. Never feeling like I couldn't dream big because I was at the bottom. Never feeling like I wasn't worthy or capable because I was at the bottom.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
But I always have known that I'm going to have to work 10 times harder than everybody else to get anywhere. Just to get a step up from the bottom, I'm going to have to work harder than a white man or a white woman or a black man. I'm going to have to work that much harder because we sit at the bottom. And so that feeling, I think, has been what has propelled me my whole life.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I've never been afraid of hard work. I've always known that anything was possible if I decide that it's so. I've always known my worth and my value, even when I've been struggling and I've been afraid, because I knew what my core values were all about. I had a fifth grade teacher. Her name is Yvonne Sims. She's a
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
beautiful black woman that took me under her wing when I was 10 years old and everything that makes me me is her that she took the time to pour into me and you know how I knew I was valuable because this teacher who didn't have to take time she wasn't my mother she didn't bring me into the world she didn't owe me but because this beautiful smart wise woman took me under her wing and invested in me
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
She poured that into me, and that gave me value. I knew I must be special. I must be of value. If this woman would take her time every day after school to pour into me, pour into me, pour into me, pour into me, and that's what I've carried. I've known that worth and that value from a very young age.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It's just things that you go through, you grow through, you learn. That's why we're here, right? But I've always just known I have value here and I have a purpose. So finding Respin and finding this cause of menopause is like, oh, another one of my purposes. Like winning that Oscar that time, I was chosen to do that too, to open that door. I knew it was bigger than me, right?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I hope this year someone stands next to me this year. I hope it happens. Because I'm tired of occupying that space alone. I hope this is the year, right? But even if it's not, I was chosen in that moment to be a beacon of possibility, right? And I do think it served that purpose. And I think I'm sitting in this moment also talking about menopause and telling my own story and being bald and bold.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It's also to be a beacon of possibility as well. Where we can go as women and what we deserve and knowing that we're more than this show, right? That we are complicated. We are beautiful. We are strong. We deserve a second act. We deserve all things good. We've raised our children. We sacrificed our bodies, right? We've given what we have to give.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Well, I, like you, didn't know what perimenopause was. Nobody talked to me either. But I did have this feeling that I was going to skip it. I thought I got myself off insulin at an early age. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and I got off insulin. I got off oral medication and I found a way with food and using, you know, food as medicine to get off insulin.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I can't believe we live in a world that now says, we got nothing for you. Sorry. I don't believe that. Right. But I know we have to change that for ourselves. And I realize this is my second act purpose to help change that narrative. That's my purpose.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I'm so happy to be here. This is so much fun. I wish you could stay longer. I know.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
That's the next thing we're doing. See?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
It's infinite. We're working on it. Okay, great.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And I thought whatever this perimenopause thing is that happens to women around this time, I'm going to skip it because look what I did with the diabetes diagnosis. So I'm just going to skip this whole shit. Well – I didn't skip that bullshit. I realized that I was in it, and Trevor's heard this, so I'm not going to go into the gruesome details. No, you should.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
You're in our lives. Okay. Well, pretend you didn't hear it. I didn't hear anything.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And do all the oohs and aahs and gasping. We're fully in, girl. We're fully in. Okay. So how I found out was, you know, I've been divorced three times. That's okay. I'm proud of that, right? Having the courage to leave when something's not right. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think it's a wonderful thing to be able to do. So I'm not ashamed of that. But I have been divorced three times.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I finally meet what I thought and I now know to be my person. And we are firing on all cylinders. We're getting along and we're having the most amazing sex. I didn't even think it was possible to... have something so great at this time in life. I really didn't. After three divorces, I kind of thought, oh, I'm kind of done. And I'm cool with that.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
But I meet this person and we're just having the best time. All of a sudden, a year into our relationship, we had a great night of sex. I wake up in the morning and I do what we always do. I go to the bathroom. Well, I think I'm going to go to the bathroom. I sit down on the toilet. I cannot go to the bathroom. My body just sort of seizes up and I can't go. And I start to let a little bit out.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And it's the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. Besides having a cornea scratched, there's nothing more painful.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Yes, my second baby. So I think it's more painful than that. Right. And I'm like, oh, my God. And it takes me literally probably 10 minutes to just empty my bladder because I can't let it out. So I get off the toilet and I go to my guy and I say, look, I got to go to the doctor. Like something has happened to me and I don't know what it is. And I couldn't even put my legs together.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Whatever happened in the night after that sex was bad. So we jump in the car. He drives me to see my doctor. I get in there and my doctor's, you know, got me on the table. He's looking up there and he says, wow, you got a new guy in your life. I said, I do. And I'm like, that's amazing. And he's like, yeah. He said, well, I think I know what this is. Actually, I know what this is.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I've seen this before. And I said, what? He said, it's a really bad case of herpes, like a really bad case. And I'm like. I mean, not knocking anyone that has herpes, but I was like, herpes? I'm like, what? How do you know that? He goes, I've seen this before. This is a really bad case of herpes. Now, all these things are going through my mind.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Like, the love of my life, this great man, this great sex, and now he gave me herpes? Like, I thought, wow, he would have told me he had herpes. Like, I thought he should have. He could have. Like, why didn't he? Going through all this stuff. And he goes, I'm going to do the test, and three days you'll get the results back. But I'm sure, I'm pretty sure, Hal, this is herpes. Yeah.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
He's like, you're biological. 1966, August 14th, I'm 58. He's like your biological age. That's what he's asking. Well, my glycan age is 40. Oh, that makes sense. There you go. That's what I mean. That's my glycan age. That's what I mean.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
So now I go down in the car. He's in the car waiting for me. I see him. I open the door and I'm angry and I'm sad that he didn't tell me. And I'm also mad. And I'm like, so yo, look, so you got herpes? He's like, what? I'm like, you have herpes. He's like, I don't have herpes. I said, clearly you have herpes because I have herpes and I didn't have herpes before I knew you. Now I have herpes.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
So you clearly gave me herpes. He's like, no, I swear I didn't. I don't think I have herpes. I said, I don't have it. I said, well, let me be the first to tell you, you got herpes. I didn't have it before you. So we're driving home in this argument, like who has herpes and we're arguing about why.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Awkward, right? So we get home and I say to him, look, you're going to have to go to the doctors and you're going to have to get a test too. And you're going to find out you have herpes because now we both have herpes and you gave it to me. So he's like, okay, I'll go to the doctor. I don't feel like I have any herpes. So he goes to the doctor.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
We have 72 hours of just blaming each other and not knowing what to do. He gets his test back first. He comes to me, chest poked out. Like I said, I don't have herpes. Upright. You have the herpes. And I thought, oh, my. I said, okay, I guess I have the herpes. I said, I'm sorry I've given you herpes. I didn't know. I'm sorry. A few hours later, my doctor calls me.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Before he even says anything, I'm ready to say, okay, yeah, I already know I got the herpes. He says, Hallie, you don't have herpes. I'm like, I don't? I'm like, I don't have herpes, really. He said, no, you don't. I said, well, why would you say that? He said, well, that's what it looked like, but I don't know how to explain this. But no, you do not have herpes. I'm like, well, what is it then?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Didn't know. Didn't know? No, he didn't know. He said, I don't know. I don't know.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And this was the defining moment that set me on this journey. What I went through with my guy for 72 hours, finding out this news the way we did, but nobody could tell me, well, why had this happened to me and what was wrong with me? And that sent me on my own journey of investigation and reconnaissance and reading.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
And I came to, after about two or three weeks of my own individual investigation, that what was happening to me was unbelievable. A symptom that many women suffer from in the perimenopausal years. Now, I'm 54. Some one of my doctors should have already talked to me about being in perimenopause. This is wild. Nobody. And I've got like six doctors. Not one of them had a conversation.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I'm 54 years old about perimenopause.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
I thought I was going to skip it because nobody talked to me about it. It wasn't going to happen to me then.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
1993. Oh, wow. Was when they started including women in clinical studies. I didn't know it was that late.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Wouldn't it be great if doctors told us at 40, okay, perimenopause time. Let me tell you what you got to do. Oh, that's crazy. Wouldn't that be great if they knew enough? But the truth is only 13% of doctors in our country understand the menopausal body. And it's one chapter in medical school. That's why doctors don't know. So I don't sit here even blaming my doctor that didn't know what that was.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Not his fault. Not his fault. On an institutional level, we have not been made important on any level. So it's not their fault. It's only going to become their fault as this conversation gets louder and louder and these doctors don't go back and get retooled. Then I will start blaming them because when you know better, you do better.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Now, doctors are really starting to understand what they don't know. And menopause used to not be a thing. Nobody ever thought that it was real. It was like, just deal with it. It's just old age. It's just, oh, no, it's not just, oh, it's a real thing. And it affects more than just our lady parts.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
When we lose our estrogen, the thing that makes us us, that makes women women, it affects our brain, our heart, our liver, our skin, our bones, our hair, our mood. Everything about us becomes compromised. Well,
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
That was something I read. And we just get put on antidepressants because we're depressed. No, we're not depressed. We're losing that hormone that makes up who we are on a cellular level. And if we don't replace that in some way, we're just going to die slowly. And it's a tragic death because we lose our faculties to think. And remember, early onset Alzheimer's and dementia.
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
Our bones get so brittle, we fall down, we break them. It's lights out, right? Our heart gets compromised. More women have heart disease and heart attacks at this time of life than men do, right? So it's not just we get what I know I had now was vaginal atrophy. It's not just that. You know, that I've learned how to fix. I'm good now. But how do we fix our heart disease? How do we fix our brain?
What Now? with Trevor Noah
The Second Coming of Halle Berry [VIDEO]
How do we stay virile and active and be able to walk and take care of ourselves? How do we do that without this very thing that makes us us? That's what we have to start studying.