NEW YORK (AP) — Christina Applegate, who has candidly shared raw details about her years-long journey with multiple sclerosis, revealed Monday that her doctor said she did not have the autoimmune disease and was misdiagnosed.
“I’m back to square one where I don’t know what’s happening to me,” the actor said on the latest edition of his podcast “MeSsy,” alongside co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has spoken publicly about her own battle with MS.
Applegate first announced publicly in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with a disorder that causes the immune system to attack cells in the central nervous system.
In Monday’s podcast, Applegate revealed that despite the misdiagnosis, she still has “all the symptoms of someone with MS”, adding: “I still have to use a wheelchair when I go to the doctor. I can’t walk from the car to the room.”
There is no single test for MS, and a diagnosis usually involves ruling out other causes. It can take years and multiple doctors to piece together the clues.
Applegate said the news put her in a strange situation since she and Sigler have become prominent advocates for people with MS.
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“It’s weird because I feel like I’m letting everyone down,” she said. “It’s very annoying and really confusing to me.”
Most autoimmune diseases, especially in adults, are not caused by a specific genetic abnormality. Instead, a variety of genes that affect immune functions can make people susceptible. Scientists say it then takes an “environmental” trigger, such as infection, smoking or pollutants, to trigger the disease.
On the podcast and earlier this year, while promoting her memoir, “You with the Sad Eyes,” Emmy winner Applegate has been candid about the unpredictable symptoms that forced her to use diapers and walk down stairs on her butt.
“My life has somehow shrunk to the size of my California king,” she writes in her book.
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