Christina Applegate Back at Square One After MS Misdiagnosis
The actress revealed on her podcast that a doctor told her she does not have multiple sclerosis, after she had been diagnosed and living with the condition for over five years.
Christina Applegate is navigating an unexpected turn in her health journey, announcing that she has been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). After living with what she believed to be MS for over five years, a doctor recently informed the actress that she does not have the disease.
“Congratulations. You don’t have MS,” Applegate, 54, recalled her doctor telling her, a revelation she described as leaving her “back at square one” and uncertain about her ongoing health issues.
She shared this update on her podcast, “MeSsy,” which she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who was diagnosed with MS in 2001. Applegate expressed her distress, stating, “I’m back at square one, that I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
MS is a disease where the immune system attacks the protective covering of nerve fibers, hindering communication between the brain and the rest of the body. This disruption can lead to permanent damage, potentially affecting a patient's ability to walk or move.
The Frequency of Misdiagnosis
Dr. Elena Grebenciucova, an MS and neuroimmunology physician at Northwestern Medicine, noted that misdiagnosis is more common than many realize. "Up to 1 in 5 patients diagnosed with MS may not actually have MS but a different condition," Grebenciucova told The Post. "Symptoms of MS are not unique to MS."
The consequences of a misdiagnosis extend beyond emotional distress. Patients often begin immune-suppressing therapies shortly after an MS diagnosis to slow disease progression. Inaccurate treatment can lead to severe health risks and injuries.
Applegate described her current state, saying, "I haven’t gotten better, Jamie. If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways."
Applegate's Symptoms
Applegate first experienced symptoms in early 2021, beginning with a tingling sensation in her toes that progressed to "insane tingling" from her back down. She also reported her leg buckling while filming the Netflix series “Dead to Me.” By 2021, she required a wheelchair on set and has since used a cane.
"My knees feel like I have bricks attached to them, heavy and painful," Applegate stated. "When I put my feet down on the ground when I wake up, it feels as if the floor is made of needles, yet I can’t feel them because my feet are completely numb."
In her memoir, she detailed other difficulties, including issues with arm movement upon waking and frequent stomach problems that led to emergency room visits.
Understanding Multiple Sclerosis
MS is estimated to affect nearly 1 million Americans. Common initial symptoms can include vision problems, muscle weakness or stiffness, and balance difficulties. Other manifestations may involve tingling, numbness, pain, loss of bladder control, dizziness, and cognitive or emotional changes.
While some cases of MS progress steadily, most individuals experience relapse-remitting MS, characterized by periods of new symptoms followed by improvement or complete disappearance.
Next Steps for Diagnosis
Experts recommend that individuals suspecting an MS misdiagnosis consult an MS specialist. "It’s important to talk to a neuro-immunologist at an academic center to review whether this is autoimmune and what other mimics of MS may have not been investigated," Grebenciucova advised.
Applegate's medical team is currently conducting an "online investigation" to determine the cause of her symptoms since 2021. Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor of neurology at Cedars-Sinai, emphasized the need to identify the source of inflammation. "For someone like Christina, who has these bands in her spinal fluid [the diagnostic hallmark that was the basis for her MS diagnosis], there’s probably something causing inflammation within her central nervous system, so that’s the road that you might go down and look for things that might be inflammatory causes."
Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the conditions being explored as a potential cause, according to Applegate.
Conditions Mimicking MS
Many conditions present symptoms similar to MS, often referred to as "MS mimics." These can include autoimmune disorders such as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM), lupus, Sjögren’s syndrome, and myasthenia gravis, as well as infectious diseases like Lyme disease and syphilis. Other conditions, including stroke, ALS, muscular dystrophy, hypothyroidism, and hypertension, can also present with overlapping symptoms.
Given that there is no single definitive test for MS, diagnosis often involves ruling out other possibilities. The pressure to diagnose quickly can sometimes contribute to misdiagnoses.
Red Flags for Misdiagnosis
Certain symptoms, known as "red flags," may indicate that a diagnosis of MS could be incorrect. These can include bilateral vision loss, seizures, headaches, abrupt symptom onset, and persistent hiccups. Experts suggest that these indicators may sometimes be overlooked, as doctors may encounter unusual MS cases and consider them part of the disease's spectrum, or simply accept previous diagnoses without further questioning.