Sharing her journey. Christina Applegate revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in August 2021 and has been candid about how the disease affects her life ever since.
“Hi friends. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with MS,” the Married … With Children alum wrote via Twitter at the time. “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a—hole blocks it.”
She continued: “As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘We wake up and take the indicated action’. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”
The California native’s Sweetest Thing costar Selma Blair, who also has the demyelinating disease, was quick to voice her support. “Loving you always. Always here. As are our kids. Beating us up with love,” the Cruel Intentions actress wrote via Twitter.
According to the National MS Society, the disease affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Symptoms may include numbness, tingling, pain, fatigue, memory problems, mood changes, blindness and paralysis. Applegate — who welcomed daughter Sadie in 2011 with her husband, Martyn LeNoble — told The New York Times that in retrospect, there were warning signs of the illness.
“I wish I had paid attention,” she said during a November 2022 conversation with the outlet. “But who was I to know?”
After the Anchorman actress received the life-altering diagnosis, production for season 3 of her Netflix series Dead to Me was halted for five months.
“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’” the Samantha Who? alum told the NYT. “And there is no better. But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So, I needed that time.”
Applegate added that finishing the show was the hardest thing she’s ever done, but she felt that it needed to happen.
“I had an obligation to [the series creator] Liz [Feldman] and to Linda [Cardellini], to our story. The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together. I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms,'” she said.
Scroll through to see everything Applegate has said about her battle with MS:
Applegate revealed via Twitter that she had been battling MS for “a few months”. The Emmy award winner said that the experience had been “a strange journey” and “a tough road.” Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock
The Hall Pass actress was honest about her ongoing struggles via Twitter. “Yup. I turned 50 today. And I have MS. It’s been a hard one. Sending so much love to all of you this day. Many are hurting today, and I am thinking of you. May we find that strength to lift our heads up. Mine currently is on my pillow. But I try,” she wrote at the time. David Fisher/Shutterstock
Applegate shared her love of her rowing machine. “I’m knowing it will help me to get healthy again. With MS, most exercises can be scary due to numbness in feet and legs. So, sitting and knowing I’m still using my body is awesome,” she wrote. Shutterstock
During a Twitter Q&A, a fan asked the Tony award winner about her 2022 goals. “Cure for MS maybe?????” she replied. After another Twitter user asked about The Sweetest Thing, Applegate said making the film was “so fun” but added of her costar Blair: “sad that both of us have MS.” Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
According to The New York Times, Mitch B. Cohn, a sound technician and longtime friend of Applegate’s, had to sit out of frame and hold up her legs during some season 3 scenes of Dead to Me. The Crash Pad actress told the outlet that her costar Cardellini helped advocate for her on set, stepping in when she was hesitant to ask for breaks herself. “She was my champion, my warrior, my voice. … It was like having a mama bear,” she said. Shutterstock
Applegate explained why she wanted to do a New York Times interview ahead of season 3 of the Netflix dark comedy. “This is the first time anyone’s going to see me the way I am,” she told the outlet. “I put on 40 pounds; I can’t walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that.” The Jesse alum added that she’s made her peace with the fact that some people might be critical of her appearance on the show. “If people hate it, if people love it, if all they can concentrate on is, ‘Ooh, look at the cripple,’ that’s not up to me. I’m sure that people are going to be, like, ‘I can’t get past it,” she said. “Fine, don’t get past it, then. But hopefully people can get past it and just enjoy the ride and say goodbye to these two girls.” Matt Baron/Shutterstock
The Friends alum told Variety that her role on Netflix’s Dead to Me might be “the last one” she’ll ever play. “With my disease, I don’t know how capable I am,” she shared. Applegate, who said she found out she had MS while she was at work, went on to recall the symptoms she experienced before receiving her diagnosis. “I didn’t know what was happening to me. That January, my toes got numb, and I ignored it. The balls of my foot got numb, and I ignored it. All of a sudden, I’d be, like, falling over,” she explained. “People were like, ‘Oh, it’s just neuropathy.’ At this point, they had to take me with a wheelchair to set because I couldn’t walk if the set was far. I was sleeping all the time, and I gained 40 pounds — a lot of things happened.” While she doesn’t think she’ll watch the final season of Dead to Me — “It’s too hard for me” — the California native shared that finishing the show was the only option for her. “I couldn’t have done it without this need to tell our story. They were gonna pull the plug, you know? Because it was like torture — and they felt like they were torturing me, too. But I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no, no: We have to finish this story. It’s too important to our hearts; too important to our souls,” she told Variety. “And we have to give this gift, not only to ourselves — there are people that love these characters, and we’ve got to let them have their closure too.’ So, if that meant me having to take a break in the middle of the day so I could go sleep — or me just leaving because I couldn’t do anymore — then that’s what we had to do.” Saeed Adyani / Netflix
During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the Big Hit actress opened up about receiving her MS diagnosis, saying it "sucked balls." She continued: "I found out on a Monday after work that I had MS, a disease I'm gonna have for the rest of my life." Applegate also detailed her experience with "very small symptoms" before she found out she had the neurological disease. “I didn’t know what was happening to me. I couldn’t walk. They had to use a wheelchair to get me to set. I was freaking out. Someone was like, ‘You need an MRI,'” she shared. Stewart Cook/Shutterstock
Shortly after making her first awards show appearance since her diagnosis at the 2023 Critics' Choice Awards, Applegate fired back at a troll who accused her of being a "scammer" and getting "bad" plastic surgery. "MS didn't make you look that way," the user wrote in a DM, which the actress shared via Twitter. Applegate added: "What is wrong with people. By the way, I laughed." Sara De Boer/Startraks
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