Christina Applegate Shares Shocking TMI About Her MS Battle

Christina Applegate continues to be vocal about her multiple sclerosis (MS) battle, even if it means sharing the unflattering side of her health journey.

The actress, who was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease in 2021, revealed she was suffering from frequent stomach problems amid her condition. She believed her symptoms were related to MS following a fan’s query about similar experiences.

Christina Applegate’s TMI confession comes nearly a year after she addressed the impact of MS on her mental health. She admitted to being depressed, a revelation that shocked many, given her years-long resilience and positivity.

Applegate addressed her stomach problems during a recent episode of her “MeSsy” podcast with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler. She spoke about her situation while addressing a fan’s note about the same issues.

The individual revealed they were battling MS while dealing with frequent diarrhea and vomiting. Applegate noted the fan wasn’t alone, sharing that she often throws up whenever she does her business.

Applegate believed there was a link between these stomach problems and MS despite doctors not being convinced of one. She added that she had been hospitalized “upwards of 30 times” from throwing up, diarrhea, and excruciating pain in her stomach, per TMZ.

Applegate stressed that the situation was “scary,” noting she had undergone several tests to find the root cause of her stomach problems. After repeated failures, MS seemed to be the most viable factor for her horrible toilet experiences, and she planned to prove it.

The actress told her co-host she would push harder about the possible correlation at her upcoming colonoscopy. She also advised the fan to talk to their doctors about the relationship between their frequent diarrhea and vomiting to MS.

“Always have a little trash can next to your toilet. Because you can do both without it being messy,” Applegate advised the fan. Her words of wisdom come nine months after she got vulnerable on her podcast about battling depression amid her autoimmune disease.

During a June 2024 episode of her podcast, Applegate addressed the negative impact of MS on her mental health. She told co-host Sigler that she was battling depression that was so intense it could not be compared to the emotions she initially experienced after her 2021 diagnosis.

Applegate described the dark emotions “like a real, f-ck it all depression where it’s kind of scaring me too a little bit because it feels really fatalistic.” She noted this was something she had never experienced, saying:

“I’m trapped in like this darkness right now that I haven’t felt like … I don’t even know how long, probably 20-something years.”

“This is being really honest … I don’t enjoy living. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t enjoy things anymore,” Applegate added. She stressed that it was challenging living with a disabled body, but she pushed herself to get therapy despite her initial reluctance to seek help.

Two years before her depression confession, The Blast reported that Applegate had proudly declared she would stay positive amid her MS battle. She shared her vow with Kelly Clarkson on her talk show in 2022, with the host wondering if she coped with “dark humor.”

“Yeah, my humor shield keeps me ok. Um, but of course, down on the insides, you feel the things, and I do it to kind of deflect and make people not be scared to be around me,” Applegate explained. She noted people saw her as a “disabled person,” but she wanted them to be comfortable around her.

“I want them to feel comfortable that we can laugh about it. I have a song that I wrote called, ‘Disaby Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight. I can’t cause my wheelchair won’t fit down it,'” Applegate joked. Besides humor, the actress’s resilience was admirable amid her heartbreaking diagnosis.

Applegate recalled how heartbroken she was following her 2021 diagnosis, noting her body, mind, and spirit were affected. However, she refused to let the negative emotions stop her from doing what she loves and persevered to complete season 3 of Netflix’s “Dead To Me.”

“I wasn’t forced to work, but I made sure we finish the show. I pushed as hard as I could through that, and it was really, incredibly difficult, and I went to sleep for a few months,” the actress recounted.

She noted she had to come out of her slumber to be the person the public was used to seeing for the last 40 years. “I don’t want to be the fish in the fish tank, but you know, I’m gonna do my best just to get through it,” she added.

Applegate has stayed strong over the years, even joking about her MS condition during her Walk of Fame ceremony. She opted to take the stand without her shoes, laughing about being “the disabled lady.”