Christina Applegate returned to her podcast after some time away to reveal that she was misdiagnosed and does not, in fact, have MS.
Applegate revealed in a two-part episode of her MeSsY podcast that she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has multiple sclerosis (MS), that, in 2021, she was being tested for “everything under the sun,” but not MS right away. She had brain and spinal MRIs, and a spinal tap, which determined that she had RMS, which was, at the time, “on the low scale.” However, Applegate said she was getting progressively worse. The doctor then showed her the legions on her brain, almost 40, she said, and “that was it. That was my answer to everything that was going on” at the time.
Applegate revealed her diagnosis in August 2021, at age 49, sharing publicly that she had been diagnosed a few months ago.
On her podcast episode released on Tuesday, she said that after her dianosis, she then leaned on the MS community, which includes her co-host, and started infusions that went on for years, wreaking “havoc” on body. A “couple of years ago,” however, Applegate said her doctor wanted to take her off of the infusion and monitor her B cells. When her B cells didn’t change, that’s when they began a study into her diagnosis.
Thanks to new technology around brain MRIs, “just recently… this may come as great news, but to me I’m back at square one,” she said, fighting back tears, about receiving the news that she was misdiagnosed. “It’s hard to say. She came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS. Congratulations.'”
Applegate said everyone else was so happy but, “I’m not happy at all. You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden, I’m better. I haven’t gotten better, Jamie. If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me, and that’s going to be an online investigation that my doctors are going to get into to find out what has been happening since 2021. Why did this happen? I have every symptom of someone with MS — every single one.”
Applegate said there is a high number of misdiagnoses with MS, even after years of infusions like her treatment plan. She began crying while saying, “I feel like I let everybody down. I became, you and I, the poster children for MS. I had a reason — I had a fucking reason — as to why my day sucked every day. And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and very confusing for me.”
Applegate continued to say she’s currently in a state of shock. “It’s a mind fuck, for sure,” she told Sigler. The investigation into her health is so new, she said, that she begins next week a process that will involve her being her own advocate and finding the right specialists.
“I needed some time to process that, but I also needed me time, after the book and some health stuff that was going on,” she said. “I just needed time to find the love in life again.”
She said it “hurts to get out of bed, it hurts to stand up. I’m still sleeping all the time. I’ve still got a lot of health issues. But I’m finding ways to make my room joyous and make sure that my doors are open and that I can hear the birds and the fountain outside.”
Applegate and Sigler said they will have experts on to respond to the news, but that their podcast will also still be an entertaining space for the two of them to discuss the things that bring them joy (like Bravo shows and Andy Cohen). Ultimately, she said she’s not relieved, but Sigler pushed her to be curious. “Your reaction is very human and real, and I think one that anyone would share,” said Sigler, then insisting she looking forward to doing a little dance, “a little shuffle” over not having MS.
“I’ve been talking about that damn jumping for so long!” Applegate said, with a laugh.