Hollywood veteran Christina Applegate, famous for her roles in hit productions including *Anchorman* and *Married… with Children*, has opened up about a devastating medical mistake: she spent five years believing she lived with multiple sclerosis (MS), only to recently learn her initial diagnosis was incorrect. The star shared the shocking news in a new episode of her podcast *Messy*, released this Tuesday, marking the end of a brief hiatus she took to process the unexpected revelation.
Applegate made clear that far from celebrating the correction, she was overwhelmed with frustration and tears when she received the news. “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better,” she explained to listeners. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse.” After five years of adjusting to life with a presumed chronic autoimmune condition, she now finds herself back at the very start of her medical journey. “I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she added. A full investigation to identify the root cause of her daily, debilitating symptoms is scheduled to launch next week.
The chain of discoveries that led to the corrected diagnosis began a few years ago, when Applegate’s treating physician suggested pausing her regular MS infusion therapy to monitor her body’s response. During the treatment break, Applegate’s reaction did not align with what clinicians would expect for a confirmed MS patient. Prompted by this inconsistency, doctors conducted a deeper review of her case, ultimately concluding she had never had the autoimmune disease, which typically causes muscle stiffness and impaired mobility, speech, and coordination. Recalling the moment her doctor delivered the news, Applegate said: “She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS.’ I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.”
Joined on the podcast episode by guest Dr. Marwa Kaisey and co-host Jamie Sigler, Applegate’s conversation also shed light on a broader systemic issue in MS care. Dr. Kaisey explained that MS misdiagnoses are far more common than many patients realize, rooted in the condition’s inconsistent presentation and the lack of a single, definitive diagnostic test. Roughly one in five people told they have MS actually receive an incorrect diagnosis, the doctor noted. “It’s not like we have something like a pregnancy test that says ‘yes, you have it. No, you don’t,’” Dr. Kaisey said. “It’s a list of criteria.”
Applegate first announced her MS diagnosis publicly in August 2021, after months of experiencing unexplained symptoms. At the time, she framed her prognosis as a challenging but manageable new chapter, writing: “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps on going.” In the years following her initial diagnosis, however, Applegate spoke openly about her declining health and deepening emotional distress. Earlier in 2024, she told listeners she was stuck in “real depression,” admitting: “I don’t enjoy living. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t enjoy things anymore.” In a prior interview with *The New York Times*, she shared that she could no longer walk without a cane, and relied on a wheelchair throughout production of her hit Netflix series *Dead to Me*.