Christina Applegate vows continued MS advocacy after misdiagnosis

By Marcus Bennett

Christina Applegate returned to the “MeSsy” podcast on Oct. 21 after a seven-month break, according to Entertainment Weekly. The Emmy winner returned one week after revealing that new technology had led to the discovery that she had been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, or MS.

On the episode, Applegate said she would never stop advocating and fighting for people affected by MS. She also said that, without the disease herself, the community remained “my people.”

Entertainment Weekly reported that Applegate first disclosed her MS diagnosis in 2021. She retired from acting after the finale of “Dead to Me” in 2022, then became an advocate and co-founded “MeSsy” with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who was diagnosed with MS in 2001. The outlet also reported that MS causes damage to the central nervous system. Applegate and Sigler used the podcast to share experience and spread awareness.

What does this change for people with MS?

Applegate told Sigler:

“Even though I don’t have this disease, I’ve fallen in love with everyone that we know, our listeners, our friends that have MS”

She also said:

“I’m still your warrior, and I’m still going to speak out on your behalf forever and ever. Despite not having MS. I still feel like part of this community. No matter what, I love you.”

The practical change was plain: Applegate’s advocacy would continue without depending on her diagnosis, while people with MS retained an advocate promising to speak for them indefinitely.

Diagnostic relief did not restore her health

Applegate broke down in tears while telling listeners about the discovery. “This may come as great news, but to me, I’m back at square one,” she said.

“It’s hard to say that [my doctor] came into my room and she said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS.’”

Her account made clear that the diagnosis change did not restore her health.

“You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better … If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways.”

“So I’m back at square one, that I don’t know what’s going on with me.”

Applegate described symptoms of an illness that remained undiagnosed.

“I actually timed it today, it took me 10 minutes to be able to move off my pillow and get out of the bed and stand up,”

“at which point I almost couldn’t walk to the bathroom, and now a walker is sitting next to my bed because of what’s going on.”

“I don’t know what’s going on. This is what I’m still living with, and I never had that before. I was able to sit up and stuff.”

The account gave the episode its central tension: new technology prompted the finding that she did not have MS, yet Applegate still needed ten minutes to leave her pillow, with a walker beside her bed.

Advocacy continues without a diagnosis

Applegate said that becoming such a prominent advocate had left her feeling that she had let people down.

“it’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down”

She remained in a “state of shock,” she said, adding: “It’s a mindfuck, for sure.”

Her remarks leave two commitments in tension: a promise to remain present for the MS community and an admission that her own medical mystery remains unresolved.

For Applegate, the unresolved question is a diagnosis that explains the ten-minute struggle to leave bed and the walker beside it. For the MS community, her promise makes continued advocacy the more certain outcome.