Christina Applegate's Heartbreaking Confessions About Her MS Battle: When It Began, Debilitating Symptoms and More

Following her battle with b----- cancer, Christina Applegate revealed in an August 2021 post on X that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

She wrote: "It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a------ blocks it.

Applegate added in a follow-up tweet, "As one of my friends that has MS said 'we wake up and take the indicated action. And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo."

On X, the Married… with Children alum uploaded a photo of her walking sticks as she began her MS battle.

In December 2022, the award-winning actress appeared on The Kelly Clarkson Show to share her status amid her health battle.

"My humor shield keeps me OK. But of course, down on the insides, you feel the things. I do it to kind of deflect and also make people not scared to be around me," said Applegate. "When people see me now as a disabled person, I want them to feel comfortable that we can laugh about it."

Before the release of Dead to Me's final season on Netflix, Applegate spoke with The New York Times in November 2022 to share how she reacted upon learning about the diagnosis.

"There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better,’" Applegate said. "And there is no better. But it was good for me. I needed to process my loss of my life, my loss of that part of me. So I needed that time."

She added, "The powers that be were like, ‘Let’s just stop. We don’t need to finish it. Let’s put a few episodes together.’ I said, ‘No. We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it on my terms.’"

When receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Applegate joked about her condition in her speech, saying, "Oh, by the way, I have a disease. Did you not notice? I’m not even wearing shoes. Anyhoo, you’re supposed to laugh at that."

During her interview with Jimmy Kimmel, the Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead actress did not hold back while speaking about her MS diagnosis.

"I'm not going to lie. I think anyone who has MS isn't going to be like, 'This is the best thing that ever happened to me!'" she revealed.

After winning a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her role in Dead to Me, Applegate admitted to the Los Angeles Times she thought playing Jen Harding on the series might be her last on-screen acting gig.

"Right now, I couldn't imagine getting up at 5 a.m. and spending 12 to 14 hours on a set. I don't have that in me at this moment," she said, adding, "It's my last awards show as an actor probably, so it's kind of a big deal."

Applegate spoke with Vanity Fair in May 2023 to share her current struggles and challenges caused by the disease.

"There are just certain things that people take for granted in their lives that I took for granted. Going down the stairs, carrying things — you can’t do that anymore. It f------ sucks. I can still drive my car short distances. I can bring up food to my kid. Up, never down."

After receiving a standing ovation at the 2024 Emmy Awards, Applegate failed to contain her tears but still offered a hilarious statement to viewers.

"You're totally shaming me with disability by standing up, it's fine, OK," she said, adding, "Body not by Ozempic."

In a March 2024 interview on Good Morning America, Applegate revealed further details about her MS diagnosis as she reportedly likely experienced symptoms six or seven years before her condition was determined.

"I noticed, especially the first season [of Dead to Me], we'd be shooting and my leg would buckle," she said. "I really just put it off as being tired, or I'm dehydrated, or it's the weather. Then nothing would happen for months, and I didn't pay attention."

The Grand Theft Parsons star revealed that the strange tingling feeling in her toes helped her to pay attention. From there, Selma Blair — who was also diagnosed with MS in 2018 — urged her to get tested.

"I said, 'Really? The odds? That doesn't happen to two people from the same movie,'" she told her Sweetest Thing costar. "If not for her, it could've been way worse."

The Hall Pass star revealed to People more details about her symptoms and how her daughter helped her fight the disease.

"The pain and the numbness and the balance. It’s horrible. So of course first thing in the morning, I’m real pissed off about it all. But I don’t want to be like this always," said Applegate.

Due to MS, Applegate also started dealing with weight issues and incontinence.

Speaking with Robin Roberts in an ABC News interview, Applegate disclosed how her legs constantly gave up while filming the last season of Dead to Me.

"My symptoms had started in the early part of 2021, and it was literally just tingling on my toes," she told Roberts. "And by the time we started shooting in the summer of that same year, I was being brought to set in a wheelchair. Like, I couldn’t walk that far."

While appearing on "MeSsy" in April, Applegate delivered the bad news about her remission.

"[I am experiencing] intense pain in my legs, not being able to walk to the bathroom without feeling like I'm going to fall, insane tingling that just has spurts of tingles that are weird coming from my b--- down," she divulged.

The symptoms also keep her from sleeping due to the discomfort in her eye.

On the June 4 episode of "MeSsy" podcast, Applegate told her co-host, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, that she was depressed due to her health.

"I’m trapped in this darkness right now that I haven’t felt like — I don’t even know how long, probably 20 something years. ... I don’t enjoy living. I don’t enjoy things anymore," Applegate shared her heartbreak.

She added, "I’m kind of just like giving up. I’m so like, ‘Well, this is it.' I’m just going to lay in bed and sleep all the time, and then when my daughter needs me, I’ll be there for her and I’ll do everything for her."