LOS ANGELES, CA. (THECOUNT) — Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis and has spent more than five years believing she had the chronic neurological condition. The 54-year-old actress revealed the news Tuesday on “MeSsy,” the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has publicly discussed her own experience living with MS. Applegate said her doctor recently told her she did not have the disease, but her debilitating symptoms remain unexplained.
Applegate said the news was difficult to process, despite others viewing the revised diagnosis as a reason to celebrate. She explained that her doctor had previously wanted to stop an infusion treatment and monitor how her B cells responded. When her cell count did not change after treatment stopped, the results prompted a closer examination of her diagnosis.
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That process ultimately led to the doctor delivering the unexpected news. Applegate recalled being told, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” Rather than feeling relieved, she said she was unhappy and overwhelmed by the uncertainty surrounding her health.
“You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better,” Applegate said on the podcast. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse.” She described feeling as though she was back at square one and said her doctors planned to begin further investigation the following week to determine what had been happening since 2021.
Applegate first publicly announced her MS diagnosis in August 2021. At the time, she said the diagnosis had come after months of symptoms and described the experience as a difficult journey. She later explained that she underwent several tests, including a spinal tap and magnetic resonance imaging scans. According to Applegate, the scans showed lesions on her brain.
Her symptoms have included numbness, tingling in her limbs and difficulty maintaining her balance. In a 2022 interview with The New York Times, Applegate said she could not walk without a cane. She also used a wheelchair while filming the Netflix series “Dead to Me,” with the production adjusting the script to accommodate her physical limitations.
In 2023, Applegate said her health challenges could lead her to step away from on-camera acting. She has continued to describe the effects of her condition on daily life and said she currently attends physical therapy three times a week. The revised MS diagnosis has not resolved those difficulties, and she has not publicly identified another condition responsible for them.
Neurologist Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor in the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discussed MS misdiagnosis during the podcast. Kaisey said nearly one in five people who have been told they have MS may not actually have the disease. She explained that misdiagnosis can occur because there is no single test that definitively establishes MS.
Multiple sclerosis affects the central nervous system when the immune system attacks its own tissues. Symptoms and disease progression can vary widely, making the diagnostic process complex. Applegate’s account illustrates the uncertainty that can remain when a diagnosis changes but the underlying symptoms persist.
After receiving her original diagnosis, Applegate became an outspoken advocate for people living with MS. She said the news left her feeling as though she had let that community down. Her co-host and others have emphasized that her support for people living with the disease remains meaningful, even though doctors have revised her diagnosis.
For now, Applegate says she is focused on finding out what is causing her continuing health problems. She described the situation as unnerving and confusing, and said the upcoming medical investigation is intended to help her and her doctors understand the symptoms she has experienced for years.
Los Angeles is included here only as broad geographic context; the announcement was made on Applegate’s podcast, and no specific recording location was established in the available reporting.
Google Maps: Los Angeles, California (approximate geographic context)
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