Christina Applegate Reveals She Was Misdiagnosed With MS
Actress Christina Applegate has been living with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) for years only to find out she does not have the neurological and autoimmune disorder. Appl… — by Sandra Rhodes
FaithTap · Oct 20, 2026 · 2 min read
By Sandra Rhodes (/journals/sandra-rhodes)
Actress Christina Applegate has been living with a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) for years only to find out she does not have the neurological and autoimmune disorder.
Applegate, 54, spoke about her misdiagnosis Tuesday in a new episode of the MS-focused podcast, "MeSsY." Applegate co-hosts the podcast with actress Jamie Lynn Sigler, who also has MS.
“This may come as great news, but to me, it comes as like, very like I'm back at square one," Applegate said. "But it's hard to say … [my doctor] came into my room and she said, 'Congratulations, you don't have MS. Congratulations.'"
Applegate first revealed her diagnosis in 2021. MS is a disorder which causes the immune system to attack the cells in the central nervous system, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
In March, she spoke with ABC News' Robin Roberts about her struggles, saying she had not yet accepted her diagnosis.
"This is a lifelong disease with no cure. Period,” sh said.
On Tuesday’s podcast, Applegate said she still has "every symptom of someone with MS." The news of her misdiagnosis has left her with more questions than answers.
"If anything, I've gotten worse in some ways, and so I'm back at square one that I don't know what's going on with me," Applegate said. "And that's going to be an online investigation that, you know, my doctors are going to get into, and just to find out what has been happening since 2021. Why did this happen?"
"It's very unnerving and it's really confusing for me,” she added.
Applegate took a hiatus from the "MeSsy" podcast so she could "process" her misdiagnosis. This has led her to be in a "great depression."
"I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this," she said. "Nothing magical happened when [the doctor] said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened.”
She also feels she now without a community.
“It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down,” she said. “It’s this weird feeling because I became this — [Sigler] and I, the poster children for MS. And everything I was doing. I had a reason ... And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s very confusing for me.”