American actress Christina Applegate revealed a dramatic turn in her medical ordeal Tuesday, saying doctors had informed her that she does not have multiple sclerosis (MS), despite being diagnosed with the disease in 2021.
But what might have seemed like encouraging news has brought little relief. The debilitating symptoms she has been experiencing have not disappeared and, according to Applegate, have only grown worse.
Applegate, 54, revealed the news in a new episode of the podcast MeSsy, which she co-hosts with actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler ("The Sopranos"), who also has multiple sclerosis. The episode, released Tuesday, marked Applegate's return to the podcast after a months-long absence during which she focused on her health.
"She came into my room and said, 'Congratulations, you don't have MS'," Applegate recalled through tears, describing a conversation with her doctor. "I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy."
According to Applegate, the change in diagnosis has done nothing to improve her physical condition. "You don't get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I'm better," she told Sigler. "If anything, I've gotten worse. So I'm back at square one where I don't know what's going on with me."
She said doctors would now have to reassess what has caused the health problems she has experienced since 2021.
In another episode released simultaneously, Applegate described the heavy emotional toll of the news. "I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. But I lost everything. I lost my job," she said.
She added that she still needs a wheelchair when attending medical appointments and struggles to walk even from the parking lot to her doctor's office. "I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened."
Christina Applegate said she experienced deep depression
(Photo: BauerGriffin/INSTARimages via Reuters Connect)
Applegate also acknowledged that the revised diagnosis has shaken her sense of belonging to the community she has built around the disease over the years, as well as her understanding of what has been happening in her life.
"It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down," she said, expressing guilt over the revised diagnosis after years of being a prominent advocate for people with multiple sclerosis. "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 very confusing for me."
Applegate, who rose to fame in the sitcom "Married... with Children" and won an Emmy Award for her guest role on "Friends," was diagnosed with MS in 2021 after experiencing symptoms that affected her ability to function.
MS affects the central nervous system and can cause muscle weakness, numbness, balance problems and difficulty walking.
Over the years, the actress has spoken openly about the challenges she has faced, including how her condition affected filming of the third and final season of the Netflix series "Dead to Me."