Christina Applegate said her condition is worsening and that she does not have multiple sclerosis, but she vowed to keep advocating for the MS community through her podcast. The “Married with Children” star shared the update in Tuesday’s episode of “MeSsy,” recorded with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler. She said her mobility had deteriorated so badly that she struggled to get out of bed, describing a 10-minute effort just to lift her head, with severe pain and weakness she had never felt before. She has no new diagnosis.
Applegate revealed the misdiagnosis last week. She quoted her doctor telling her, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” She said she was “back at square one” and still has every symptom of someone with the disease. She said new technology led to the discovery. She was first diagnosed in 2021, and the error brought five years of “havoc” and infusion treatments.
She told listeners she felt she had let everybody down after becoming the “poster child for MS,” and that losing the explanation for her daily suffering is confusing. Her words on Tuesday carried a different tone. “I’m still your warrior,” she told listeners, promising to speak out on their behalf.
Her history makes the revelation hard to ignore. She received the diagnosis after noticing tingling in her toes during the final season of “Dead to Me.” She retired from acting after the series finale and became a fierce advocate for people with MS. A long hospital stay in April preceded the update.
Sigler, who has lived with MS since age 20, has framed the episode as part of a known problem. She said misdiagnoses are not rare, especially with MS, and cited a 2019 Cedars-Sinai study that found nearly one in five patients with an established diagnosis had been misdiagnosed.
The episodes leave Applegate without a name for her illness. She has not said what tests she faces next, and neither she nor her doctors have identified a cause. Her return to the microphone, after a seven-month break, signals she intends to keep sharing the search publicly.
