Christina Applegate says one MS side effect has affected her 'more than the disease'

Christina Applegate has opened up about the one multiple sclerosis (MS) side effect that has affected her 'more than the disease'.

The 54-year-old Dead to Me actress was diagnosed with the chronic autoimmune condition, which affects the brain and spinal cord, in the summer of 2021 and has since been very candid about her health issues in order to help raise awareness on the condition.

Applegate's new book, titled You With the Sad Eyes: A Memoir by Christina Applegate, is out on Tuesday (3 March) and, in the run-up to the publication, the Hollywood A-lister has discussed a little more about her experiences with MS and how it impacted her body dysmorphia.

In an edited extract of the book recently published by the Guardian, she explained: "My relationship with food is so much better than it ever was, but it took a long time to improve. When the MS hit, the stability I’d fought so hard for went haywire. I had to take 15 hours of steroid infusions, and immediately everything just went like a f*cking blob."

Flash-forward some time, when Applegate was to receive her Hollywood star in 2022, she said she didn't even look like herself anymore due to 'medications and the ravages of the disease.'

Christina Applegate has opened up about one particularly difficult MS side effect she's had to deal with (Leon Bennett / Stringer / Getty Images)

She continued: "For all the joy of finally getting my star, it was still humiliating and horrible and devastating to be seen this way. Not just because I was bigger – that was one thing – but because the girl who had control all her life no longer had that control.

"I want to throw up when I think of the pictures that are out there of me. I look sad and embarrassed. Because all I can think is: everyone is staring. Once, people stared at my boobs. But now I knew they were staring not only because I was disabled; they were staring because I was fat, forever an unacceptable fate for women in Hollywood."

Applegate said she wants to 'throw up' when she sees her Hollywood star photos (VALERIE MACON / Contributor / Getty Images)

The actress candidly shared: "Sometimes the weight bothered me more than the disease. I didn’t look in the mirror for a year. Then I was put on a clear‑liquid diet because of my stomach issues, and all of a sudden, everything just dropped off of me.

"Within seven months, all of it was gone, and I was down by 50 pounds or more. These days, my legs are tinier than they’ve ever been."

Unfortunately, Applegate's condition stops her from eating what she likes as she is prone to serious stomach issues, which could land her in hospital.

Even so, she says she’s in a far healthier place with food now.

Applegate has revealed she’s in a far healthier place with food now (Instagram/@christinaapplegate)

"The illness has given me serious stomach issues," she wrote. "So once again, the good is followed by the bad: I’ve managed to create a much healthier place when it comes to my relationship with food, only to get out of the shower and see legs that are scary‑looking.

"I have no muscles – just sticks. It’s dangerous to be walking around with zero muscles on my body: it means my bones aren’t protected if I fall, and it scares me. But there’s still that little voice in my head saying, 'You’re really skinny. You have the legs you always wanted. Good for you.' This is the sickness. But she’s not going to win."

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article and would like to speak with someone in confidence, call the BEAT Eating Disorders helpline on 0808 801 0677. Helplines are open 3pm-8pm Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can try the one-to-one webchat.