Christina Applegate shares symptoms she experienced before realising she had MS

Christina Applegate has described the symptoms she experienced before being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the summer of 2021.

The actor, 51, received her diagnosis while working the third and final season of Netflix's Dead To Me. Her life was changed in that moment, but she went through with filming the show because she was determined to finish Jen and Judy's story.

She has since opened up about her health issues, recently appearing at the SAG Awards with a cane that had the letters 'FU MS' written on it, and helping to shine a light on MS by revealing that her symptoms dated back years before she actually knew what she was dealing with.

MS can affect the brain and spinal cord, resulting in a wide range of potential symptoms including problems with vision, arm or leg movement, sensation or balance.

For Applegate, she first began to experience a loss of balance while filming a dance sequence in the first season of Dead To Me, which was released in May 2019.

The next sign came when her tennis game began to falter, but at the time she was sure she just needed to work harder.

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

Among the symptoms she experienced were tingling and numbness in her extremities; feelings the NHS describes as being among the 'main symptoms' of the condition.

REUTERS / Alamy Stock Photo

Applegate recalled being able to 'brush off' the symptoms in January 2021, but just before she started shooting the third season of Dead To Me, she felt as though she had been 'hit by a truck and didn’t know what was going on'.

Speaking to Variety, she continued: "It was very scary for me, because this body that I had known was no longer mine. We had to kind of work around that until, finally, I had answers.

"I found that I had MS while we were shooting on a Monday. I went home, and the doctor said, “I need to do this meeting with you.” I could feel that this Zoom was not going to be good news. It sucked, I’m not going to lie."

Following her diagnosis, production on Dead To Me shut down so she could receive treatment, but Applegate noted there was getting 'better' for her.

There's currently no cure for MS, though treatments can help control the condition and ease symptoms.

“There was the sense of, ‘Well, let’s get her some medicine so she can get better',” Applegate said of the hiatus. “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.”

Treatments for MS vary depending on the specific symptoms and difficulties of the patient.