Christina Applegate opened up about the day she received her MS diagnosis

Christina Applegate opened up about the day she received her MS diagnosis

Christina Applegate has been open about her experience with multiple sclerosis since announcing she was diagnosed with the neurological disease in August 2021. Most recently, Applegate told host Kelly Clarkson what it was like to learn she was diagnosed with the terminal disorder in a new interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show.

The Dead to Me star previously told The New York Times that she received her diagnosis while filming the third and final season of the hit Netflix series. In her new interview with Clarkson, she shared more details about the day she was diagnosed. "Filming the show was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life because I was diagnosed during filming," the Married With Children alum told Clarkson. "I didn't know what was happening to me. I couldn't walk. They had to use a wheelchair to get me to set. I was freaking out until someone said, 'You need an MRI.' And then I found out after work on a Monday that I had MS, you know, a disease that I'll have for the rest of my life."

Applegate recalled having “very minor symptoms” in the four years before her diagnosis, including fatigue or weakness in her legs. “That became apparent a few years ago,” says the 51-year-old. As Clarkson empathized with how "tough" it must have been to figure out what was causing her symptoms while at work, Applegate joked, "It sucked. Can I say that?" Clarkson laughed and replied, "You can say whatever the fuck you want."

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“My humor shield keeps me okay,” the Bad Moms star, who is also a breast cancer survivor, told Clarkson. "But of course you feel things inside. I do it to distract myself and not make people afraid to be around me."

While it was challenging for Applegate to continue filming the show after receiving the diagnosis, she recounted. "Being diagnosed with MS last year and what happened to my body, to my mind, to my soul, to everything, of course I didn't want to be around anyone or talk about it, but I had to go to work," she told Clarkson. “I wasn’t forced to go to work, but I made sure we finished the show.”

“It was really incredibly difficult and then I fell asleep for a few months,” she continued. "And then all of a sudden I had to come out and be that person again. And people had seen me as this different person for the last almost 40 years, and I'm different now, and it's incredibly hard. I'm going to do my best to get through this, I suppose."

The mother of one also mentioned that there are "four different types of MS, so not everyone is the same," adding, "Everyone has different symptoms, everyone has different experiences with it." The chronic autoimmune disease can affect communication between the brain and body, potentially disabling it due to its effects on the brain and spinal cord, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can cause a myriad of symptoms in varying degrees, and treatments (such as anti-inflammatory medications and plasma exchange) can help patients manage symptoms and slow disease progression, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Applegate's candor will undoubtedly help others who may be suffering from similar chronic health issues feel a little less alone—and a little more humor-driven—on their own health journeys.