Christina Applegate Says She Was Misdiagnosed With MS

Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The actor shared the news on her return to the MeSsy podcast after a seven-month break taken because of her health, according to Variety. The return episode was published on 20 October.

Applegate said her doctor told her, "Congratulations, you don't have MS." She added that her symptoms have not gone away. She said she has got worse.

She described needing wheelchairs for medical visits. She said she cannot walk from the car to the examination room.

Applegate first announced that she had multiple sclerosis in 2021. She was diagnosed while filming the final season of Dead to Me, the Netflix comedy-drama in which she starred. She retired from acting after that series ended.

She has since spoken openly about living with severe symptoms. In March, she said she had been in hospital upwards of 30 times in the three years after her diagnosis, according to Today. Last year, she said the symptoms had travelled into her hands, according to People.

MeSsy is the podcast Applegate co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler. The pair launched it in 2024 after bonding over their shared experience of multiple sclerosis, according to Good Morning America. Sigler also lives with the condition.

What that shared diagnosis means now is unclear. Applegate did not name a new diagnosis on the podcast. Her account focused on the confusion of being told she does not have MS while still coping with disabling symptoms.