Featured Image Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
Topics: Christina Applegate, Health, Celebrity
Callum Jones
Topics: Christina Applegate, Health, Celebrity
Christina Applegate has opened up on the reality of living with multiple sclerosis (MS) after revealing she's mostly confined to her bed due to debilitating pain.
The actor first opened up on her health issues in 2021, writing on X at the time: "It's been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition.
"It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some a**hole blocks it."
MS, a serious health condition which affects both the brain and spinal cord, has no cure but effective treatment can help manage the condition.
Advert
Symptoms of MS include issues with vision, arm or leg movements, sensation or balance, muscle stiffness, numbness and problems with thinking, learning and planning.
Applegate has spoken openly about living with the condition in recent years, and detailed in a recent interview with People that she now spends a good portion of her day in bed.
Despite it being too painful to move around a lot of the time, Applegate still attempts to take her 15-year-old daughter Sadie to school and activities.
"I want to take her; it’s my favorite thing to do. It’s the only time we have together by ourselves," she said. "I tell myself, ‘Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed.’ And that’s what I do."
While being confined to her bed is not ideal, the 54-year-old now has a new perspective on life.
"My life isn’t wrapped up with a bow," she explained to People. "People’s lives, sorry for lack of a better term, f****** suck sometimes. So I’m being as honest and raw as I possibly can."
Applegate appeared on the Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa podcast last year and heartbreakingly revealed it was Sadie that was keeping her going.
"I don't get up in the morning with that, I get up because of her. She's the reason I'm still here and trying," she admitted.
The actor added: "But she did say to me, and we got into a big thing the other day, and sorry Sadie, but it has to be said. She said, 'I missed who you were before you got sick'.
"That is just like a knife to the heart because I miss who I was before I got sick too. Very much."
The Married... with Children star has previously opened up on the toll living with the condition has had on her mental health.
Speaking on an episode of her podcast MeSsy, the actor stated: "This is being really honest. I don't enjoy living. I don't enjoy it. I don't enjoy things anymore.
"If someone's like, let's get up and go for a walk and or let's go get a coffee… I don't enjoy that process."