Christina Applegate Says Living with MS Is the ‘Worst Thing I’ve Ever Gone Through in My Life’

https://people.com/christina-applegate-multiple-sclerosis-worst-thing-ms-11728463

31 comments

  1. > “This is the worst thing I’ve ever had in my life,” she told O’Brien. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever gone through.”

    > When she said, “I’m going to start crying,” O’Brien told her, “Cry all you want, and then I’m gonna start crying.”

    > “I’m just having a pissy day today,” Applegate replied. “I’m having a bad MS-y day.”

  3. Sorry for her and everyone that is suffering from this horrible condition.

  4. It sucks so much. I always admired her, thought she was beautiful and talented!

  5. I think anyone with MS is allowed to have a pissy day about MS pretty much whenever they need to. 

  6. Sad to think one knows this disease is painful and incurable. Sucks to go out this way. Her career has kept me entertained for decades.

  8. I feel for her. Both my parents have MS. It’s a terrible disease.

  11. My cousin is 35 years old and she was diagnosed with MS 🙁 I’m devastated for her. She has gone through so much and the stress in her life seems to have triggered this early.

  13. I love her and I hate that she has this disease.

    Worked with many people who have it and it’s just terrible. My greatest fear, honestly.

  14. I have MS, been diagnosed since I was 15. Now 25. I have mild symptoms but mostly Im in remission and haven’t relapsed since 2020.

    Thankfully Im mostly healthy now at this young adult age. But I do have fears in the back of my head that when I hit 40,50 plus years of age, how will my nervous system be at that age.

    This lady’s symptoms sounds horrible. She clearly deals with fatigue and paresthesia. That numbness she feels, its that same static feeling you get when your arm falls asleep. Except with MS that feeling can be aggressive(in multiple locations at times), non stop, and painful. Like painful to the point where amputation becomes a secondary thought.

    I know father time is undefeated but still, I know my body may be more prone to break downs in the future than my peers simply because of this stupid disease where my own white blood cells want to attack my nervous system for some unknown reason.

    MS isnt a death sentence but people with it just have to go through a bit more as we’re always battling symptoms. I feel for those who truly have unfixable nerve issues because MS untreated can be devastating to quality of life. Like losing the ability to walk or see level bad.

  17. MS took my step mom, she was young and I miss her every day. Sending my love to everyone dealing with it or loves someone with it 💜

  19. Damn that was a sad read. Poor Christina, she had a double mastectomy and then MS. She was so funny and beautiful when she was younger and then to just have life fuck you up like that is just bad fucking luck. 

    I know MS is horrible but I’m sure I have no idea how horrible. Conan’s response was perfect too, you know he would cry with her and give her a hug.

  20. It’s a horrible disease especially for someone like Christina who was a very physical active person. It’s such a massive adjustment.

  21. My only exposure to MS is President Bartlett on the West Wing. It’s sad to hear her say that because if it’s anything like him, it only gets worse.

  22. I love her just saying “this sucks.” Let’s normalize that instead of the expectation that people are supposed to be brave and see their diseases and disabilities as gifts to learn from. Signed, a cancer survivor. It sucked and the long term effects of the massive surgery I had continue to suck.

  23. So initial symptoms for me were migraines, and then a couple of events that happened while sleeping. I would wake up and my whole left side would be numb(first it was annoying, then it was frustrating, and it lasted til it started feeling like pain). Down my arm, down my leg especially towards my foot. Strictly left side.

    We ignored it a bit but my mom was more worried and got me an appointment with neurology. The numbness was lasting, like wouldn’t go away.

    Did some Mri’s and went home. Got called into a children’s hospital where they broke the news and I immediately went on IV steroids to help my symptoms.

    First med I went on for MS was Avonex. Hated it, it was a once a week injection in the leg. Gave me horrible flu like symptoms, weakness, more fatigue, and sensitivity to heat and cold. Avonex was absolutely no fun for me, and really didn’t slow down my lesions. Wasnt a match for me.

    They changed me to Tysabri at about 16 years old. That was once a month infusions. Had generally no reaction to the infusion beyond fatigue. No real sensory symptoms which was cool, thats what we were looking for.

    Did that med to about 18-19 years old. Then because I was JC Virus positive, there was always a risk with Tysabri so they had me move up to Ocrevus. Been on it ever since. Best med I’ve tried. Its an infusion, bout 3-4 hours, every 6 months.

    Like I said earlier, haven’t had a flare up/relapse in major symptoms since 2020 and that situation I felt it was more a stress related relapse than the meds not doing its job. My legs nearly stopped working, weakness, numbness, and I couldn’t walk as long as normal. It can be scary when symptoms pop up because it’s nervous system related.

    Definitely talk to your neuro about meds and next steps. Gotta stay on top of your health with extra attention with MS. Be careful with heat with the summer coming, it can drain your energy a lot faster than normal people.

    Ocrevus tho, cant say enough good things about it. Its been awesome for me and keeping me stable. Plus its only twice annually so it doesnt hurt the schedule as much as other options.

    I hope your MS journey goes well, everyone will be different. Listen to your body and be as transparent as you can when describing symptoms. Best of luck, stay healthy.

    And tip, if you ever have a relapse and they want to do steroids. Choose IV because oral steroids taste ass. And even then bring gum or mints or something you can suck on with flavor. Even though they may be Iv steroids, that metallic ass flavor will still reach your mouth and water is no help in that situation. In my experience I’ve only gotten steroids for relapses for about 2-3 days. Im sure it can be longer for different people with more aggressive symptoms. Just tryna warn you that steroid taste in your mouth is not fun for anybody.

  24. She is living in the right timeline. My mom died in 1990 from MS. Diagnosed in 86. I had a front row seat to that horror. I still donate heavily yearly to this cause. We have come a long way.

  26. It’s a nasty disease. My mother and grandfather had it.

  27. One of a very few celebrities I truly empathize with. I grew up with the Bundys, and watched all the actors’ projects after. Dead to Me was an amazing show, (watch it if you haven’t, it’s so good) and they hid her decline well, but it was noticeable.

    She’s only a few years older than me, so I always think this could happen to me or my friends too. I don’t want to be weird to message her, but if she was in my friend group, I’d be sending encouragement or just silly stuff to lighten a friend’s difficult day.

  29. I am not a doctor, and I don’t know Applegate’s case. But a friend of ours was diagnosed with MS like 15 years ago. She’s certainly not in tip-top shape and she has limits. But she’s a pretty healthy 61 year old woman. Some days you wouldn’t even guess she’s sick. She tries to exercise and has kept her weight down. She has bad days, but she’s – generally – OK to do most normal things as long as it’s not too strenuous.

    I think the treatments are getting better and better.

  30. Didn’t she also have breast cancer? She really can’t catch a break. I wish her nothing but the best going forward.

  31. Not to mention the cancer she’s already survived, and recently losing her father. There’s a strength to her that’s just inspiring.

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