By Zuleihat Owuiye, Nigeria

American actress Christina Applegate has revealed that she was incorrectly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) five years ago, leaving her struggling with uncertainty as doctors investigate the cause of her ongoing health problems.

The actress, best known for her roles in Married… with Children, Anchorman and the Netflix series Dead to Me, said she was devastated after learning that she did not have the condition she had believed she was living with since 2021.

Applegate shared the news during a recent episode of her Messy podcast, which she co-hosts with fellow actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler. The two-part episode marked her return to the programme after taking a break to process the unexpected medical development.

Speaking about the experience, Applegate said she was far from relieved when her doctor informed her that she did not have MS. Instead, she was overwhelmed by the realisation that the cause of her debilitating symptoms remained unknown.

“You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better,” she said. “If anything, I’ve gotten worse.”

The actress explained that she had been struggling with daily symptoms and was preparing for further medical investigations to determine what was happening to her body.

She said the latest development had left her feeling as though she was starting her search for answers all over again.

“I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she added.

Applegate said the process that led to the revised diagnosis began when her doctor suggested stopping her multiple sclerosis infusion treatment several years after she was initially diagnosed.

According to the actress, her doctor wanted to observe how her body responded without the medication.

During that period, Applegate’s condition did not respond in a way that supported the original diagnosis. This prompted her medical team to examine her case more closely.

Following further assessment, doctors concluded that she did not have multiple sclerosis, the autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system and can cause difficulties with movement, balance, speech and muscle control.

Applegate recalled the moment her doctor delivered the news.

“She came into my room and said, ‘Congratulations, you don’t have MS,’” the actress said.

Rather than feeling happy, Applegate said she was upset by the announcement because it did not explain the symptoms that had continued to affect her life.

She noted that other people around her were pleased with the outcome, but she could not share their excitement because her health problems had not disappeared.

The actress’s experience highlights the difficulties that can arise when a medical diagnosis is changed after years of treatment, particularly when the underlying symptoms remain unresolved.

Dr Marwa Kaisey, who appeared as a guest on Applegate’s podcast, explained that misdiagnosis of multiple sclerosis is not unusual because the condition can present differently from one patient to another.

She noted that there is no single test that definitively confirms or rules out MS in every case. Instead, doctors rely on a combination of clinical findings, medical history, imaging results and other investigations.

“It’s not like we have something like a pregnancy test that says ‘yes, you have it. No, you don’t,’” Kaisey explained. “It’s a list of criteria.”

Research suggests that approximately 15% to 20% of people diagnosed with MS may not actually have the disease, according to Elena Grebenciucova, a neuroimmunology physician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

One important part of diagnosing MS involves identifying lesions, or areas of damage, in the brain or spinal cord through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

However, Grebenciucova explained that these white matter spots are not exclusive to multiple sclerosis. They can also occur in people with other conditions, including migraines, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar and high cholesterol.

Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause neurological symptoms that resemble MS, including tingling sensations, problems with balance and cognitive difficulties.

Philip De Jager, director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, explained that diagnosing MS often requires doctors to rule out other possible causes of a patient’s symptoms.

Given the possibility of misdiagnosis, he advised patients to consider obtaining a second medical opinion when appropriate.

Applegate first publicly disclosed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in August 2021. At the time, she said she had been experiencing symptoms for a while before receiving the diagnosis.

Reflecting on her situation then, she described the experience as a difficult journey and acknowledged that it was one she would continue to navigate.

In the years that followed, the actress spoke openly about the physical and emotional effects of her health struggles.

During a 2024 episode of her podcast, she discussed experiencing severe depression and losing interest in activities she previously enjoyed.

In an earlier interview with The New York Times, Applegate also described the extent to which her symptoms affected her mobility. She said she could not walk without a cane and had used a wheelchair while filming Dead to Me.

Her willingness to discuss these experiences has offered audiences a glimpse into the challenges she has faced away from the screen.

Although the revised diagnosis means that Applegate does not have the condition she believed she had, it has not provided the answers she needs.

The actress said further investigations were expected to begin the following week as her medical team worked to identify the cause of her continuing symptoms.

For now, Applegate remains focused on finding an explanation for her condition and understanding why her health has continued to deteriorate despite the change in diagnosis.

Her experience also underscores the complexity of diagnosing neurological disorders and the importance of continued medical evaluation when symptoms persist without a clear explanation.