LOS ANGELES — Actress Christina Applegate said on her podcast Tuesday that doctors have determined she does not have multiple sclerosis, a diagnosis she received in 2021 and has discussed publicly for more than five years.
Applegate, 54, made the disclosure in back-to-back episodes of “MeSsy,” the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has lived with multiple sclerosis since 2002. The episodes marked Applegate’s return after a roughly seven-month hiatus. She said she used the time away to process the revised medical findings and other health issues.
“This may come as great news, but to me, it comes as I’m back at square one,” Applegate said through tears. She recounted that her doctor entered the room and said, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” Applegate added that she was “not happy at all,” while others around her expressed relief.
She emphasized that the change in diagnosis has not resolved her physical symptoms. “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,” she told Sigler. “So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
Applegate said she continues to experience symptoms consistent with those associated with multiple sclerosis, including significant mobility limitations. “I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room,” she said. “I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened.”
She described the original 2021 diagnosis as having provided an explanation for her declining health. “I had a 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,” she said. Applegate noted that she and Sigler had become public faces associated with the condition and that the revised finding left her feeling as though she had “let everybody down.”
Applegate said the process that led to the revised conclusion began after her doctor recommended stopping an infusion treatment to observe the response of her B cells. When the cell counts did not change as expected, further evaluation followed. She said her doctors are now investigating what has been occurring since 2021. “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.”
A neurologist who joined the second episode, Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor in the department of neurology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said misdiagnoses of multiple sclerosis are “fairly common.” Kaisey explained that there is no single definitive test for the condition. “It’s not like we have something like a pregnancy test that says, ‘Yes, you have it. No, you don’t.’ It’s a list of criteria,” she said.
Applegate has previously spoken about the effects of her health on her career and daily life. On the podcast she said the diagnosis and subsequent symptoms led to a period of depression and the loss of work. “I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. But I lost everything. I lost my job,” she said. She has appeared in series including “Married… with Children,” “Dead to Me” and “Samantha Who?”
Sigler, who has discussed her own experience with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis for more than two decades, has used the podcast to address the day-to-day realities of living with the condition. The show has featured conversations about symptoms, treatments, emotional challenges and the impact on family. Applegate’s hiatus from the program began earlier this year; Sigler continued some episodes with guests during that period.
Applegate said she is continuing to manage ongoing health issues while adjusting her environment at home. “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,” she said.
She also addressed anticipated public reaction to the news. “I’m sure people are saying, ‘Crybaby. You don’t have MS! That’s a good thing.’ But I’m just in a state of shock right now. I’m still in shock,” she said. Friends who learned of the revised finding expressed congratulations, she noted, while she described her own response as feeling “quite hollow and quite scared and sad.”
Multiple sclerosis is a condition in which the immune system affects the central nervous system, potentially leading to a range of neurological symptoms. Diagnosis typically involves clinical evaluation, imaging and laboratory criteria rather than a single confirmatory test. Applegate’s account does not include a new specific diagnosis; she said physicians are continuing to evaluate her case.
The “MeSsy” episodes released Tuesday contain the actress’s most detailed public comments on the topic to date. Applegate has not issued a separate written statement. Her representatives were not immediately quoted in initial reports of the podcast discussion.
Discussion about this post