Christina Applegate says she was misdiagnosed with MS

In short:

Christina Applegate, who has shared details about her journey with multiple sclerosis for years, has revealed she was misdiagnosed.

The actor has spoken about the latest development in her podcast, Messy.

What's next?

Applegate says she continues to suffer debilitating symptoms.

Christina Applegate has revealed her doctor says she does not have multiple sclerosis (MS) and she has been misdiagnosed.

The actor, known for hits like Anchorman, Married With Children and Dead to Me, said she continued to suffer debilitating symptoms. 

“I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me," she said in the latest episode of her podcast, Messy.

Applegate announced on social media in 2021 that she had been diagnosed with MS and described how she had been on a "strange journey".

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

Applegate said the news had put her in an odd place because she, along with Sigler, had become prominent advocates for people with MS.

"It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down,” she said. 

"It's very unnerving, and it's really confusing for me."

MS is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly 3 million people worldwide and can be difficult to diagnose, leading to misdiagnoses in a fifth of cases, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

California-born 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 [the doctor] 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."