Christina Applegate Says She Was Misdiagnosed With MS: What Her Doctor Told Her

Christina Applegate has spent years as one of the most visible faces of multiple sclerosis. That changed on a recent episode of her“MeSsy”podcast, when she revealed her doctor told her,“Congratulations, you don’t have MS.”Her reaction wasn’t relief. She described sitting in shock while everyone around her celebrated, saying you don’t get misdiagnosed and then suddenly get better.

Applegate, who went public with the diagnosis in 2021, has been going to physical therapy three times a week. She told co-host Jamie Lynn Sigler that her symptoms haven’t improved and may have gotten worse. Now she’s beginning a new round of investigation with specialists to figure out what has actually been affecting her since 2021. Dr. Marwa Kaisey, a neurology associate professor at Cedars-Sinai, explained to Us Weekly that misdiagnosis is fairly common for MS because there is no single test for it, and nearly one in five people told they had MS did not actually have it, with most of them on medication.

The story raises big questions about how chronic conditions get diagnosed and how hard patients have to fight for answers even after they’ve been given a name for their symptoms. Have you or someone you know ever been misdiagnosed? Drop your story in the comments below.