Christina Applegate is back at “square one” after doctors told her she does not have multiple sclerosis.
The 54-year-old actress, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, addressed the surprising development Tuesday on her “MeSsy” podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
“This may come as great news, but to me, Im back at square one,” Applegate said while fighting back tears. “Its hard to say that [my doctor] came into my room, and she said, Congratulations, you dont have MS.”
“What does that moment feel like?” Sigler asked.
“I was, like, not happy at all,” Applegate admitted. “Everybody else was so happy ⦠You dont get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden Im better.”
“I havent gotten better, Jamie!” she continued. “If anything, Ive gotten worse in some ways. So Im back at square one that I dont know whats going on with me.”
Applegate said her doctors are now working to determine what has caused her ongoing health problems and why she was diagnosed with MS in the first place.
“Theres a pretty damn high number of misdiagnoses with MS,” she said. “So this is not a rare occurrence. Its clear now that theyre finding something different. Something else is going on.”
The actress also admitted that the news left her feeling confused and as if she had “let everybody down.”
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“Its this weird feeling of like ⦠I became this â you and I, the poster children for MS,” Applegate told Sigler. “And all that I did, everything I was doing. I had a reason. I had a f—ing reason as to why my day sucked every day.”
“And now I dont have a reason, and its very unnerving, and its really confusing for me,” she added.
Applegate also opened up about the toll her chronic pain and mobility issues have taken on her mental health and career.
“Ive gone through a great depression because of it,” she said through tears. “But you know, I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost â sorry. What do you say to someone whos been living with this for six years? God, Im so sorry, I get really emotional because it stopped my life.”
Applegate clarified that the change in her diagnosis has not changed her physical condition.
“I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctors office,” she said. “I cant walk from the car to the room. Im still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, You dont have MS. Nothing magical happened.”
Applegate first revealed her MS diagnosis on X in 2021.
“Hi friends. A few months ago I was diagnosed with MS,” she wrote at the time. “Its been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition.”
“Its been a tough road,” she continued. “But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a–hole bloc
