Christina Applegate breaks down revealing misdiagnosis of MS: ‘IT’S A MINDF***’
'It’s clear now that they’re finding something different. Something else is going on'
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Christina Applegate returned to her MeSsy podcast with shocking news: She was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
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Christina Applegate breaks down revealing misdiagnosis of MS: ‘IT’S A MINDF***’ Back to video
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Applegate, 54, broke down in tears when sharing the news on Tuesday, her first episode back after a seven-month break due to her health struggles.
“This may come as great news, but to me, I’m back at square one,” she said. “It’s hard to say that [my doctor] came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS.’
The Married… With Children star revealed that while “everybody else was so happy,” she was “not happy at all” about the news.
“You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better … If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways,” she detailed. “So I’m back at square one, that I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
All the signs were there
Applegate first revealed in 2021 that she was diagnosed with MS, retired from acting after the finale of Dead to Me the following year, and became a fierce advocate for people with the disease, which causes damage to the central nervous system and has no cure.
She also launched the MeSsy podcast alongside The Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has lived with MS since 2002.
Applegate’s symptoms remain, despite the misdiagnosis, and now her illness is a mystery.
“I have every symptom of someone with MS. Every single one,” she told Sigler. “It’s clear now that they’re finding something different. Something else is going on.”
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‘Let everybody down’
The Bad Moms actress admitted that she feels like she “let everybody down” after becoming such a big advocate for the MS community.
“It’s this weird feeling because I became this — you and I, the poster children for MS. I had a reason. I had a f***ing reason as to why my day sucked every day. And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s really confusing for me,” she said.
Applegate said she’s still in a “state of shock,” adding, “It’s a mindf***, for sure.”
In the second part of the episode, Applegate became emotional as she reflected on the past five years.
“I’m still here feeling quite hollow and quite scared and sad. Now, I just feel lost,” she said.
“I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. But, you know, I lost everything. I lost my job,” Applegate continued as she began crying.
“God, I’m so sorry. I get really emotional because it stopped my life,” she explained. “I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I mean, I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened.”
Earlier this year, Sigler, 45, announced that the pair would be taking a “short break” from their podcast while they focused on their respective book launches. (Applegate’s memoir, You With the Sad Eyes, was published in March, while Sigler’s book, And So It Is: A Memoir of Acceptance and Hope, arrived in May.)
In April, Applegate was hospitalized and shared a message soon after.
“Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day,” Applegate wrote on Instagram at the time. “I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.”
In August, a source told People she had been discharged from the hospital and was home and “doing very well.”
The Emmy winner explained on Tuesday that she took time off from the podcast to “process” the news while also experiencing “some health stuff.”
Now, she views her health journey as “the same game with a different name.”
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