Christina Applegate's Health Has 'Gotten Worse' After MS Misdiagnosis
The actress revealed on her podcast that despite no longer having a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, her health has not improved, and she remains unsure of her condition.
Christina Applegate has shared that her health has continued to decline, stating it has "gotten worse" following a misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The actress revealed on her podcast, "MeSsy," which she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, a fellow MS sufferer, that she has not improved since receiving the news that she does not have MS.
"I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse," Applegate stated. "So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me."
Applegate, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, explained that her doctors are now launching an "online investigation" to determine the cause of her ongoing health issues, which began around the time of the initial misdiagnosis. The "Dead to Me" star also spoke about the profound emotional toll the misdiagnosis has taken, describing a period of "great depression" and feeling as though she "lost everything."
She recalled a moment when her doctor informed her she did not have MS. "Congratulations, you don’t have MS," Applegate recounted, adding, "I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy."
Applegate described the ongoing challenges, noting she still requires a wheelchair for doctor's appointments and cannot walk from her car to the examination room. "Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened."
The actress also expressed a sense of letting down the multiple sclerosis community, for which she had become a public advocate. "It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down," she admitted, calling the situation a "mindf—k" and stating she remains in a "state of shock."
Applegate was recently discharged from the hospital in September after a stay that began in March. She had alluded to health difficulties during the podcast episode but did not initially specify the cause. In February, Applegate had shared that she was frequently confined to bed, impacting her ability to manage daily routines, including taking her teenage daughter, Sadie LeNoble, to school.