Christina Applegate says she does not have multiple sclerosis, and she does not yet know what is causing the symptoms that have upended her life since 2021. Speaking on her podcast “MeSsy” on October 20, 2026, the actress said her condition has not improved and has in fact gotten worse, according to Variety. Her doctors will now work to find the true cause of her illness and why the misdiagnosis happened, she said, as reported by ABC News and Good Morning America.
What She Revealed
Applegate shared the news after returning to “MeSsy” following a seven-month break due to her health, Variety reported. She co-hosts the podcast with actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
Recounting the moment she learned the diagnosis was wrong, Applegate repeated her doctor’s words: “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” The quote was reported by Variety, citing People.
For Applegate, the news did not bring relief. “I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy,” she said, according to Variety.
She explained that losing the diagnosis did nothing to ease her physical condition. “You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of the sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better … If anything, I’ve gotten worse,” she said, per Variety.
That leaves her without answers. “So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me,” Applegate said, according to Variety.
She also described the practical reality of her daily life. “I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, ‘You don’t have MS.’ Nothing magical happened,” she said, as reported by Variety.
Applegate told listeners she remains in a “state of shock” over the misdiagnosis and called the experience a “mindfuck,” Variety reported.
The Road Since 2021
Applegate first went public with her MS diagnosis in August 2021 via social media, ABC News and Good Morning America reported. In that announcement, made on August 10, 2021, she described the diagnosis as “a tough road.”
According to Variety’s 2024 reporting, Applegate was diagnosed that year after noticing tingling in her toes while filming the final season of her Netflix series “Dead to Me.” She retired from acting after the show’s finale, Variety reported.
The illness reshaped her career and her life. “I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. But I lost everything. I lost my job … It stopped my life,” she said, according to Variety.
In March 2024, Applegate launched “MeSsy” with Sigler, an actress who has lived with MS since age 20, Variety reported. The pair appeared together on Good Morning America to promote the podcast. Over time, Applegate became a prominent advocate for the MS community.
That role is part of what makes the news so difficult for her. “It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down,” she said, as reported by Variety.
She described how the diagnosis had given her an explanation for her daily struggles. “I had a reason,” she said, according to Variety, adding: “And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s very confusing for me.”
What Happens Next
So if it is not MS, what is it? At this point, there is no confirmed answer. Applegate herself has said she does not know what is causing her symptoms, and no new diagnosis has been announced.
What she has shared is that her medical team is now looking for one. Speaking about the next steps, Applegate said, as reported by ABC News and Good Morning America: “And that’s going to be an online investigation that my doctors are going to be getting into just to find out what has been going on since 2021, why did this happen?”
That investigation will focus on two questions, according to ABC News and Good Morning America: what has been causing her symptoms for the past five years, and how the misdiagnosis occurred in the first place.
For now, Applegate is facing the same physical challenges she has lived with since 2021, along with new uncertainty about their cause. She has been open about the emotional weight of that uncertainty, describing shock, depression and confusion in her own words.
Her decision to share the news on “MeSsy,” the podcast she built around living with MS alongside Sigler, reflects the candor she has shown throughout her illness. Her honesty about not having answers yet may resonate with many listeners who have faced long and uncertain paths to a diagnosis.
Applegate has not indicated when she expects to learn more from her doctors. Any update on her condition is likely to come from her directly.
