Christina Applegate said her doctors concluded that she does not have multiple sclerosis, five years after receiving that diagnosis. The actress made the announcement Tuesday on her podcast MeSsy and explained that the news does not mean she has recovered: her symptoms continue, and she still doesn’t know what is causing them.
During the conversation with her podcast co-host, fellow actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate tearfully described how she received the news. Although her doctor presented it as good news, to Applegate it meant losing the explanation she had had since 2021 for her health problems.
Applegate stressed that ruling out that diagnosis has not made her physical difficulties disappear; on the contrary, she said she feels worse in some respects. Her account distinguishes two situations that should not be confused: her doctors revisiting their previous conclusion and her no longer experiencing symptoms.
The announcement came after a break from participating in the podcast. Now, she explained, her doctors will investigate what has happened since she received the original diagnosis. The actress described this stage as a return to square one, marked by the uncertainty of not having an answer for what she is experiencing.
Known for Married… With Children, Anchorman and Dead to Me, Applegate had spoken publicly about her limitations since revealing her diagnosis in 2021. She also became a prominent voice on the experience of living with the disease and discussed her difficulties in her memoir You With the Sad Eyes, published in March.
In the episode, Sigler expressed her support and emphasized that this new information does not diminish the value of what Applegate has shared. For now, what Applegate is reporting is a change in the medical explanation of her health, not an end to her problems or confirmation of another disease.
Image: Christina Applegate at San Diego Comic-Con in 2014. File photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
