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Christina Applegate announced on Tuesday that she had been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, more than five years after stating that she had been told she had epilepsy.
Applegate, 54, shared the news in a double episode of her podcast MeSsy, where she and co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler discuss life with multiple sclerosis. Applegate had taken a break from the podcast in recent weeks. She said Tuesday that she took that time to process the new information.
Applegate said that “suddenly, a few years ago,” her doctor wanted to take her off the infusion treatment and see how her B cells responded. The cell count didn’t increase or decrease after the treatment stopped, which “kind of started a check on my diagnosis,” Applegate said. Finally, her doctor had surprising news: Applegate never had multiple sclerosis at all.
“She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS,'” Applegate said. “I was, like, not happy at all. Everyone else was so happy.”
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease where the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system. Symptoms vary from person to person, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and there are many types of the disease. The situation has no reason, and it is impossible to predict.
Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s neurology department, said on the podcast that nearly one in five people who were told they had multiple sclerosis “didn’t really have it.” Misdiagnosis with the condition is “very common,” she said, because there is no test for it.
Applegate said during her initial diagnosis, she underwent tests including a spinal tap and MRIs. Scans showed lesions on her brain, she said.
Applegate said she still has debilitating symptoms that affect her daily life and mobility.
“You don’t get a misdiagnosis and then all of a sudden I’m better,” Applegate said. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse. 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 study that my doctors are going to get into just to find out what’s been going on since 2021, why did this happen?”
The investigation will begin next week, she said.
Applegate has previously described living with symptoms including numbness, feeling off balance, and tingling sensations in the limbs. She said in a 2022 interview with the New York Times that she cannot “walk without a cane.”
In the same interview, she said she used a wheelchair while filming the Netflix hit “Dead To Me,” and the show’s script was changed to accommodate her symptoms. In 2023, Applegate said her symptoms could follow giving up acting on camera. She said Tuesday that she has physical therapy three times a week.
After she was officially diagnosed with the disease, she became an outspoken advocate for MS. On Tuesday, she said the poor diagnosis made her feel “like I let everyone down.”
“It’s very rude and it’s very confusing to me,” Applegate said.
