Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with MS

Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with MS Estelle.Bronkhorst Wed, 10/21/2026 - 06:00

LOS ANGELES - Christina Applegate on Tuesday said she had been misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which doctors had attributed her symptoms to since 2021.

The Emmy-nominated actor, who first gained fame in the late 1980s for her role in the sitcom "Married... with Children," said she continues to suffer debilitating symptoms and that learning of her misdiagnosis has only left her "back at square one."

Applegate discussed the ordeal on the latest episode of her podcast, "MeSsy."

"You don't get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I'm better," she told her co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler of "Sopranos" fame, who herself has lived with multiple sclerosis for more than two decades.

Sigler had been hosting the podcast solo for months while Applegate dealt with health issues, including a lengthy hospital stay.

MS is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly three million people worldwide and can be difficult to diagnose, leading to misdiagnoses in a fifth of cases, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Applegate had previously described dealing with difficulty walking and balance problems, as well as a lack of coordination and numbness in her extremities.

But she said the diagnosis had provided some clarity and a path forward, whereas having no explanation for her symptoms left her once again searching.

"It's hard to say, but she came into my room and she said,'Congratulations, you don't have MS.'" Applegate said. "I was like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy."

"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."

• AFP