First 'subtle' MS symptom Christina Applegate noticed as she shares devastating health update

Christina Applegate has opened up on the devastating impact multiple sclerosis (MS) has had on her family life in a new interview, having previously been very candid about the first signs of the disease.

Since revealing her diagnosis in 2021, the Married... With Children actor has been incredibly honest about her experience with the condition, including launching the podcast MeSsy alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler to discuss day-to-day life with MS. She's set to release a memoir titled You With the Sad Eyes next month.

The Dead to Me actor offered a devastating update five years on from her diagnosis in a new interview with PEOPLE.

Despite the pain, she revealed that she still tries to spend time with her daughter, but has to spend most of the day in bed.

"I want to take her [to school and activities]; it’s my favourite thing to do. It’s the only time we have together by ourselves," she said.

"I tell myself, 'Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed.' And that’s what I do."

Christina Applegate was diagnosed with MS in 2021, after noticing tingling in her toes (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

MS is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder which impacts a person's brain and spinal cord.

Common symptoms include fatigue, tingling in the limbs and feeling off balance. MS is incurable, however certain treatments can manage symptoms.

After going public with her diagnosis, Applegate revealed the initial symptoms she experienced.

Early signs of the disease she didn't recognise at the time included feeling off balance during a dance sequence while filming Dead to Me season one, which aired in 2019. She also found her tennis skills were slipping, she told the New York Times.

Recalling the subtle changes she began to notice during an interview on the podcast Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, the 54-year-old recalled experiencing numbness in her toes during a stressful period in her life.

"It was January 2021, my mom had just been diagnosed with cancer for the third time, there was some other stuff going on in my life, it was a really stressful and traumatic time," she explained.

The actor has since been open about her symptoms and experiences (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

"My toes started to feel numb, just my toes a little bit. I was still hiking, I was still playing tennis but my toes weren't feeling right."

According to MS Society, initial symptoms of the disease include changes to the vision, optic neuritis, however numbness and tingling are also common in the early stages of the disease.

Recalling how to symptoms progressed, she continued: "Eventually, over those months, it grew from my toes, to my ankles, to my knees down is a whole other ball game. I was losing balance, the pain was extraordinary. When I say numb, it was numb but it hurts."

Applegate went on to reveal that she visited a neurologist following advice from friend and fellow actor Selma Blair, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2018.

Revealing her response to Blair's observations, she said: "I was like 'No, there's no way the both of us from the same movie have MS."

Sadly, her illness has only progressed in the years since. In 2024, she told Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast: "The second my feet hit my carpet in the morning and they’re hurting as bad as mine do every day, you go f**k it and go back to bed."

She said on the MeSsy podcast in the same year: "I can’t even pick up my phone sometimes, because now it’s traveled into my hands.

"So I’ll try to go get my phone, or get my remote to turn on the TV [and] sometimes, I can’t even hold them. I can’t open bottles now."