Christina Applegate
Christina Applegate honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, California, USA – 14 Nov 2022
For almost six years, Christina Applegate lived publicly as a woman with multiple sclerosis. Last month, she revealed that the diagnosis was wrong. Now, on her podcast, she has shared what comes next, and it is far from simple.
In short
- Christina Applegate, 54, announced her MS diagnosis in August 2021.
- In October, she revealed that doctors now say she does not have MS, leaving her “back at square one.”
- She is now being tested for conditions that can mimic MS, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Lyme disease.
‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS’
Applegate, best known to TV fans as Kelly Bundy on Married… with Children and later as the star of Dead to Me, shared her MS diagnosis in August 2021. She revealed it while filming the third and final season of Dead to Me, saying at the time that the role would likely be her last.
In October, she told listeners of her podcast, MeSsy, which she co-hosts with The Sopranos star Jamie-Lynn Sigler, that she had been misdiagnosed. As KUTV reported, she recalled her doctor telling her: “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” The news was bittersweet, leaving her “back at square one.” She also described how hard daily life remains: she still uses a wheelchair at doctor’s appointments and cannot walk from her car to the exam room, and she admitted she has been struggling with depression.
The tests she is going through now
In a new episode, reported by RTÉ, Applegate explained where things stand. “We’re going in to square one, just doing some testing and going one by one of the sister-of diseases,” she said.
“You’ve got RA and you’ve got lupus and Lyme disease and all these things that can mimic MS,” she added. “I’m being tested for all that stuff, slowly but surely.”
Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, and its symptoms, from numbness to walking difficulties, can overlap with other conditions, as the National MS Society explains.
‘It’s been my identity for so long’
The hardest part may not be medical. “I lived as a person with MS for almost six years,” Applegate said. “It’s hard for me to try to shake that identity because it’s been my identity for so long.”
She also made it clear that she is not walking away from the people who supported her. According to RTÉ, she said she will remain part of the MS community “in one way or another.”
Like the Hart to Hart stars or the original Charlie’s Angels, Applegate belongs to the TV faces viewers grew up with, which is why her update has touched so many fans.
The limit
Applegate has not shared a new diagnosis, and the tests she describes are still underway. Anyone with symptoms like hers should see a doctor rather than draw conclusions from a celebrity’s experience.
The bottom line
After almost six years with one label, Christina Applegate is starting over, test by test, and doing it in public with the same honesty that made fans love her.
