Selma Blair reveals Christina Applegate discussed concerning symptoms with her before MS misdiagnosis
Selma Blair says she bonded with Christina Applegate over their shared multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis, only for the Bad Moms star to reveal that she was misdiagnosed.
Applegate, known for her roles in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead, announced in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with the incurable condition. According to the NHS, it affects the brain and spinal cord, causing a wide range of symptoms including problems with vision, arm or leg movement and balance.
However, the 54-year-old revealed on Tuesday that she is now ‘back at square one’ despite having ‘every single’ symptom of MS.
Blair, who starred alongside Applegate in rom-com The Sweetest Thing in 2002, was diagnosed with MS in 2018.
Advert
During an episode of The Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Show on Tuesday, she recalled talking to Applegate about her symptoms leading up to her 2021 misdiagnosis.
“She was just in so much discomfort and her feet had so much neuropathy and she was saying it was diverticulitis, something I also was diagnosed with younger as just an attempt to figure out what all these weird things were,” she recalled.
“And when she said she had the foot pain, I remember how bad my feet hurt after child birth for like four years. Like I just couldn’t even walk on them. It was so bad. And I said, ‘I don’t mean to put my stuff on you, but you should get an MRI. Like, this sounds neurological. You could have MS’.”
Applegate opened up publicly for the first time about her misdiagnosis on her MeSsy podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
She was recently reevaluated after ‘new technology that had come out’ revealed that doctors misdiagnosed her five years ago.
“This may come as great news, but, to me, it comes as I’m back at square one,” she said, explaining that her doctor ‘came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations! You don’t have MS’.”
Applegate was ‘not happy at all’, adding: “You don’t get misdiagnosed, and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better.
“I’ve gotten worse, in some ways. I’m back at square one. I don’t know what’s going on with me.
“That’s going to be an online investigation my doctors are going to get into to find out what’s been happening since 2021.
“Why did this happen? I have every symptom of someone with MS. Every single one. We both know that there are many things that mirror MS. Many different things.”
Sigler, who starred on The Sopranos, was diagnosed with MS in 2001, and said that ‘the labeling of things and how attached we become to them for so many reasons’ can impact recovery ‘because it feels like there’s a roadmap, at least, that you have for this’.
In the comments, viewers were still supportive of Applegate, with one person saying: “You let no one down. What you did for advocacy was extremely important. We love you and support you.”
Another penned: “I’m certain that Christina’s misdiagnosis will help others. I’m sad that she’s at square one, but she isn’t at fault at all!”
A third added: “My mother had lived with a misdiagnosis of MS for years. Symptoms she experienced eventually lessened to where they were manageable and she was able to engage in life as she had before her diagnosis... but she never found out what was causing those symptoms. Christina, you've given a voice and, really, a home for people suffering from MS.
“Resulting in people maybe feeling heard and less alone. That's worth so much to so many.”
In the US, nearly one million people are diagnosed with and living with MS.
Topics: Christina Applegate, Celebrity, Health
Anish Vij