Christina Applegate says her doctor has told her she does not have multiple sclerosis (MS), despite years of debilitating symptoms that began in early 2021.
The 54-year-old actor, who publicly announced an MS diagnosis in 2021, shared the startling update during a new episode of her Messy podcast. Applegate discussed the development with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who has also spoken publicly about living with MS.
Applegate, who was recently hospitalized, became emotional as she recalled the moment her doctor delivered the news. “She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS,’” she said.
“I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.”
She said the change in diagnosis has not brought any improvement to her condition. “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better, Jamie. If anything, I’ve gotten worse,” Applegate said. “So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me.”
Applegate added that her doctors will begin a fresh investigation to determine what has caused her symptoms since 2021 and why her health has deteriorated.
Christina Applegate says her doctor told her she does not have multiple sclerosis, despite debilitating symptoms dating back to early 2021; pictured in 2023
Applegate, who has used a wheelchair and cane for years and stepped away from her acting career, said she has experienced profound depression; pictured in 2022
Multiple sclerosis is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body, damaging nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
The condition is lifelong and currently incurable. Its effects vary widely, with some people experiencing mild symptoms while others develop severe disabilities.
Common symptoms include fatigue, difficulty walking, vision changes, bladder problems, numbness or tingling, muscle stiffness and spasms, impaired balance and coordination, and difficulties with thinking, learning and planning.
Applegate said the health crisis has had a devastating impact on her life. “I’ve gone through a great depression because of it,” she said.
“But I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost—I’m sorry. What do you say to someone who’s been living with this for six years? God, I’m so sorry—because it stopped my life.”
She said she continues to need mobility assistance, including when visiting her doctor. “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,” Applegate said. “Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened.”
The new diagnosis has also left Applegate feeling as though she has disappointed people who followed her health journey. “It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down,” she said. “You and I became the poster children for MS.”
“Everything I was doing, I had a reason. I had a f*****g reason as to why my day sucked every day.”
“And now I don’t have a reason, and it’s very unnerving and very confusing for me,” she added.
Applegate described the possible misdiagnosis as a “mindf**k” and said she remains in a “state of shock” while seeking answers about the illness that has affected her for years.
Our News Outlet has contacted Applegate’s representatives for comment but has not yet received a response.
Applegate recalled her doctor telling her, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS,” prompting an unexpected reaction from the actor: “I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy”; pictured in Los Angeles in January 2024
‘You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me’ Applegate said; seen in April 2025 in LA
Applegate was reported to have gone back home in August after being hospitalized in Los Angeles since late March, TMZ reported.
Sources told the publication that the actress, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, was doing well since making the transition back to home life.
There have been few details about why exactly she has been in the hospital for months on end.
It’s unclear if the hospitalization was due to Applegate’s ongoing struggles with MS or related to other conditions.
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Applegate’s first words to reassure her followers after her March hospitalization came in April, when she said on Instagram that she was getting ‘stronger and better every day.’
She posted a snap of her memoir You With The Sad Eyes, sharing she would be ‘taking a moment to focus on her health.’
Her post was captioned: ‘Thank you for the outpouring of love and well wishes. Health issues are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.’
Sources previously told TMZ that the actress was admitted into a hospital late in March, but a reason hadn’t been revealed.
Applegate’s representative told Our News Outlet: ‘I have no comment on whether she is in the hospital or what her medical treatments are.’
‘She’s had a long history of complicated medical conditions that she has been refreshingly open about, as evidenced in her memoir and on her podcast.’
Earlier in February, Applegate shared that she is mainly confined to her bed due to her MS battle.
During an interview with People at the time, the star explained how the pain has largely kept her in bed.
However, she will make the effort to leave her bedroom for her teenage daughter Sadie, such as taking her to school.
‘I want to take her; it’s my favorite thing to do. It’s the only time we have together by ourselves,’ the actress told the outlet.
‘I tell myself, “Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed.” And that’s what I do.’
Applegate further expressed: ‘My life isn’t wrapped up with a bow. People’s lives, sorry for lack of a better term, f***ing suck sometimes. So I’m being as honest and raw as I possibly can.’
The Dead To Me actress also reflected on her MS battle in an excerpt of her 2026 memoir You With The Sad Eyes that was published in The Guardian in March.
‘One of the worst side-effects of the illness is the exhaustion,’ Applegate candidly wrote.
‘It feels as though I’ve been on a three‑day sleepless bender – and that’s how I feel after a good night’s sleep. Hence all the time I spend on and in bed, snuggled up against my heating pad.’
She continued: ‘On the back of that diagnosis and the symptoms I face, I no longer care what I say or how I come across or how it makes anyone feel.
Applegate rose to prominence as a child actress at the age of 15, while starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom Married with Children, which ran from 1987–1997; Pictured with Katey Sagal, Ed O’Neill, and David Faustino
‘I don’t have patience for bulls*** any more, for things that are meaningless or merely “extra.”‘
Applegate shared the news of her MS diagnosis on social media in August 2021.
And in 2022 she posted a photo of her canes, and said needing help with walking is her ‘new normal.’
During an episode of her MeSsy podcast last year, the actress revealed that she had been hospitalized multiple times amid her MS battle.
‘For three years since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in the hospital upwards of 30 times,’ she told her co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler – who is also battling the same disease.
‘That is unimaginable, okay? They’ve done every test known to man on me, put so much radiation into my body from CT scans to everything else.’
When it came to penning her memoir, which was released on March 3, Applegate previously shared that she made the decision to pen the book when she was ‘forced to slow down.’
