For five years, Christina Applegate has been one of the most candid celebrities in Hollywood about living with a chronic illness. Now the actress says the diagnosis at the center of that story was wrong.
On a two-part episode of her podcast MeSsy, which she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate revealed that her doctor told her she does not have multiple sclerosis. But as she made clear, the news did not come with any relief for the symptoms she lives with every day.
“I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she said, according to the BBC and the Associated Press.
How the reversal happened
Applegate explained on the podcast that a few years ago her doctor suggested pausing her MS infusion treatment to see how her body would react. During that time off, her body did not respond in the way doctors would expect from someone with MS.
After looking more closely at her case, her doctors concluded she did not have the autoimmune disease. Applegate recalled the moment her doctor delivered the news: “She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS.'”
Her reaction was not what anyone around her expected. “I was, like, not happy at all,” she said. “Everybody else was so happy.”
‘If anything, I’ve gotten worse’
The heart of Applegate’s frustration is simple: a new label does not change how she feels. “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better,” she said, as reported by the BBC. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse.”
The episode marked her return to the podcast after a break she took to process the information. According to the BBC, an investigation into what has been causing her debilitating symptoms is set to begin next week, and Us Weekly reported she will be working with specialists to figure out what has really been going on.
A very public health journey
Applegate first announced her MS diagnosis in August 2021. Since then she has been open about how hard it has been, including in earlier podcast episodes where she spoke frankly about depression. She has said she could not walk without a cane, and she used a wheelchair while filming the Netflix series Dead to Me.
Fans also remember her 2022 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, where she appeared with a cane alongside her Dead to Me co-star Linda Cardellini.
That openness is a big part of why this update landed so hard with fans. Many people who live with chronic illness have followed her story closely and seen their own experiences reflected in it.
Why doctors say this can happen
Medical experts who spoke with the BBC pointed out that MS can be tricky to pin down. Dr. Marwa Kaisey, a guest on the episode, explained that there is no single yes-or-no test for MS, and that diagnosis relies on a list of criteria. Other neurologists quoted by the BBC described MS as a “diagnosis of exclusion,” where doctors work through medical history and many tests, and said second opinions can be valuable.
As always, this is one person’s story and not medical advice. Anyone with questions about their own diagnosis should talk to their own doctor.
Support from fans
The response online has been full of sympathy, with many fans praising Applegate for continuing to share the messy, unresolved parts of her health journey instead of waiting for a neat ending. The podcast’s name has rarely felt more fitting.
The takeaway
Christina Applegate’s update is a reminder that health stories do not always move in a straight line. She is starting over on finding answers, and she is doing it in public, with her trademark honesty. Fans will be hoping the next chapter brings her clarity and some relief.
Image: Dynamic microphone recording studio via Rawpixel, CC0 1.0
