Christina Applegate has offered her social media followers a frank health update, detailing how stress significantly impacts her multiple sclerosis symptoms and has recently led to several painful falls.
Stress-induced symptoms and multiple falls
The Dead to Me star shared a video on Instagram this Sunday, explaining that her autoimmune condition frequently flares up when she experiences stress or emotional distress. In the clip, Applegate stands before a door, gazing into the distance before suddenly making an inappropriate hand gesture.
"For people who don't understand MS," she wrote in her caption. "When we get stressed or upset our symptoms get worse. I had something happen to me on Friday and I have fallen like 5 times. Legs are busted. So if you know someone with a disease like this, maybe think..."
The 52-year-old actress received overwhelming support from followers and fellow celebrities alike. Jennifer Love Hewitt commented: "Sending you all my love," while Heather Dubrow from The Real Housewives of Orange County added: "Love youuuuuu."
MS diagnosis and production impact
Applegate first revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in August 2021, disclosing she had received the diagnosis several months earlier. The condition directly affected her professional work, forcing production on Netflix's popular series Dead to Me to halt for five months while she began treatment.
During a December 2024 episode of her MeSsy podcast with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the actress reflected on experiencing what she now recognises as early MS symptoms while filming the pilot for Dead to Me. She specifically recalled a scene requiring her character Jen to run across a field.
"I remember falling that day. Hi, first sign of MS!" Applegate revealed during the podcast episode, which also featured Dead to Me creator Liz Feldman.
Behind the scenes realisation
Feldman shared her perspective on gradually recognising something was wrong with the actress during production. "I remember you losing your balance a couple of times but it was very hard to figure out," Feldman recalled. "I remember one time it was like really late at night, we'd been shooting probably 14 or 15 hours, it seemed completely reasonable that anybody would be collapsing."
The creator emphasised Applegate's professionalism throughout the challenging period. "There's no handbook for this. I could just sense that A, she was scared and B, that something was wrong, something in her body was not working the way that she wanted it to," Feldman explained.
"I knew Christina well enough to know that something major had to be going on because she's an extreme professional," she added.
Applegate has been remarkably open about the challenges presented by the neurological disorder, previously discussing how the debilitating pain has at times left her feeling severely depressed. Her latest social media post continues her pattern of using dark humour and candid disclosure to navigate life with multiple sclerosis.
