Christina Applegate reveals she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis: “Not happy at all”

October 20, 2026 / 9:03 AM EDT / CBS News

Christina Applegate announced Tuesday that she was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, more than five years after announcing she had been told she had the chronic condition.

Applegate, 54, shared the news on her podcast MeSsy, where she and co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler discuss life with multiple sclerosis. Applegate had taken a break from the podcast in recent weeks. She said Tuesday she had taken that time to process the new information.

Applegate said that "all of a sudden, a few years ago," her doctor wanted to take her off an infusion treatment and see how her B cells reacted. The cell count didn't increase or decrease after the treatment stopped, which began "kind of a study into my diagnosis," Applegate said. Eventually, her doctor had surprising news: Applegate had never had multiple sclerosis at all.

"She came into my room and said, 'Congratulations, you don't have MS,' " Applegate said. "I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy."

Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a disease where the body's immune system attacks the central nervous system. Symptoms vary from person to person, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/