Christina Applegate is opening up about navigating life after her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Christina, 52, revealed that she was diagnosed with MS in August 2021, but in a recent interview with Good Morning America, the Married… with Children actress said she was probably living with MS for years prior to being diagnosed. “I probably had it for six or seven years, I think,” she said. “I noticed, especially the first season [of Dead to Me], we’d be shooting and my leg would buckle. I really just put it off as being tired, or I’m dehydrated, or it’s the weather. Then nothing would happen for months, and I didn’t pay attention."
Symptoms of MS vary, but some common symptoms include lack of coordination, tingling, blurry vision, and numbness or weakness on one side of the body, notes Mayo Clinic.
At the beginning of 2021, Christina started to notice tingling in her toes, she told GMA. Her symptoms then progressed more rapidly.
"By the time we started shooting in the summer of that same year, I was being brought to set in a wheelchair. Like, I couldn’t walk that far," she told the outlet.
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Fellow actress Selma Blair, who also lives with MS, is the one who encouraged Christina to get checked for MS.
"[Selma] knew. If not for her, it could have been way worse," Christina told GMA.
Christina spoke about her life after diagnosis alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who was diagnosed with MS in 2001. The two stars announced that they're starting a podcast together on March 19, called MeSsy. Though the actresses will talk about their experiences with MS, they don't want the podcast to be limited to that. "That would be boring," Christina said.
When talking about navigating life after her MS diagnosis, Christina admitted that it's not easy. Coping with her diagnosis continues to be a challenge every day.
"I'm never going to wake up and go, 'This is awesome!' I'm just going to tell you that. It's just not going to happen. I wake up and I'm reminded every day," she shared.
In addition to dealing with the pain that comes with MS, Christina is also dealing with the loneliness that comes with having a condition that lots of people might not fully understand.
“[MS] can be very lonely because it’s hard to explain to people. I’m in excruciating pain, but I’m just used to it now," she explained.
She acknowledged that she's grateful for the support she has received, but she also didn't sugarcoat what it's like to live with MS.
“I live kind of in hell. I’m not out a lot, so this is a little difficult, just for my system," she admitted.
"I'm isolating and that's kind of how I'm dealing with it is by not going anywhere because I don't want to do it. It's hard," she told GMA.
Christina and Jamie-Lynn also recently spoke to People about living with MS and supporting each other.
Prior to the People story, Christina hadn't done a photo shoot in four years. Days prior to it, she kept thinking she should cancel, and she said, “I wouldn’t have done it today without [Jamie-Lynn]."
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