Gratitude & Learning to Live With a New Reality, Fans are Thankful for Christina Applegate’s Candor as She Adjusts to Life With MS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system in which the immune system eats away at the protective covering of the body’s nerves. Although there is no cure for MS, some people treat the disease using chemotherapy, medications, or steroid drugs.

Despite the incredibly difficult life hurdles since her 2021 diagnosis (after six years of mystery symptoms), the actress said in a recent episode of her podcast that she pushes forward with “the power of intention.”

 

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“The one thing we know that is always going to be there is the sun,” Applegate said in the duo’s Nov. 19 episode. “The sun is always going to be there every morning.” Expanding on her daily intention, she instructed people to “open your arms to the sun … [fucking] hold your arms out and go, ‘All my needs are met.'”

Applegate and Sigler kicked off the episode sharing that they recently hung out at Applegate’s home while Sigler was visiting Los Angeles, laying in bed and chatting, something Applegate has repeatedly said is very therapeutic for her to feel supported, since going out tends to take a big toll.

During the show, Applegate became emotional talking about her stomach, her “ball of trauma,” as she refers to it, a place where she tends to hold all of her tension in life. She also discussed the process of writing her book, with Sigler pointing out that she is literally releasing her life’s trauma throughout that process.

Applegate also acknowledged that she has unfortunately been looking more sickly. “People can’t see me, but I’ve been wasting away,” she shared, telling listeners that the last time she was pictured, she knows she was a “bigger girl,” but lately has been dropping weight and looks like a “stick figure” and “creepy small.”

Applegate said her medical team even asked if she had been taking the fad Hollywood drug Ozempic for weight loss, which she insisted that she has not.

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Sigler admitted to her friend that seeing her physicality “broke my heart” because “I know how sick you feel.”

Christina Applegate’s MS Diagnosis

Applegate began experiencing symptoms of multiple sclerosis for years before getting answers. She actually said she felt off balance during a dance sequence that occurred way back in season one of her dark comedy “Dead to Me.” She later noticed her aptitude for tennis started to fail.

“I wish I had paid attention,” she previously told the New York Times. “But who was I to know?”

It took several years of worsening tingling and numbness in her extremities before her diagnosis arrived while on set. This life-altering realization wouldn’t stop Applegate from finishing her portrayal of character Jen Harding, but she did need a break. Production of the final season ceased for about five months as she began treatment.

“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.”

Applegate admits she’ll never fully “accept” her condition, but she did learn how to work with it. And she’s previously talked about how her former TV show was a cathartic outlet and safe space.

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