Current:Home > MyChristina Applegate says she has 30 lesions on her brain amid MS battle -Apex Capital Strategies
Christina Applegate says she has 30 lesions on her brain amid MS battle
View
Date:2025-04-13 01:09:51
Christina Applegate is revealing more about her health challenges.
The "Dead to Me" star, 52, opened up about her battle with multiple sclerosis on Monday's episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast, telling the host she has "30 lesions" on her brain that she compared to herpes sores.
"So sores all over my brain," she said. "My biggest one is behind my right eye, so my right eye hurts a lot."
The "Anchorman" actress noted that she will sometimes get a "seizurey feeling" in her brain, adding, "I'm not really happy about all the ones in my brain. If you think that I'm just sitting here with 30 lesions on my brain … It's not a fun one to hang with."
According to the Cleveland Clinic, brain lesions are areas of damaged brain tissue that "can disrupt the way your brain works, causing a wide range of symptoms, such as weakness, disruption of one or more senses and confusion." Multiple sclerosis is one of the conditions that can cause brain lesions, the clinic notes.
Christina Applegatemay have had MS symptoms '6 or 7 years' before diagnosis
Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis while working on the third season of Netflix's "Dead to Me," and she shared news of her diagnosis in 2021. She reflected on "Armchair Expert" that her battle with MS is for "life" and that she isn't sure whether she'll be "around" in 10 years.
"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life," she acknowledged. "I hate it so much, and I'm so mad about it. You can't overcome it."
Although Applegate isn't sugarcoating the difficulty of her MS battle, she expressed regret that she publicly maintained a more sunny attitude while battling breast cancer in 2008. In an interview with Robin Roberts at the time, Applegate, who had undergone a double mastectomy, joked that after reconstructive surgery, she's "gonna have cute boobs till I'm 90."
The actress now says she was "lying my (expletive) off" in this interview about how she felt about the situation.
"I got up and I literally fell into the wall and sobbed because it was a lie," she said. "Everything I was saying was a freaking lie. It was me trying to convince myself of something, and I think that did no service to anyone."
Jamie-Lynn Sigler,multiple sclerosis and the wisdom she's picked up along the way
Earlier this month, Applegate again sat down with Roberts and said she lives "in hell" amid her MS battle. She also revealed she "probably" had MS symptoms for "six or seven years" before being diagnosed.
Applegate recently launched a podcast titled "MeSsy" with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also has multiple sclerosis. She has said she expects "Dead to Me" to be her final acting role.
On "Armchair Expert," Applegate and Shepard connected over both being stars who stepped away from acting and started a podcast, although Applegate stressed that she "did not want this" and would be looking for a "cool" project after "Dead to Me" if she were not disabled. But Applegate said she may continue acting via voiceover roles.
"As long as I can speak, I'd love to do that," she said. "That'd be fun. Mama needs to do something."
More on multiple sclerosis:This is America: I'm able-bodied until I'm (unexpectedly) not
Contributing: Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY
veryGood! (98)
Related
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- Alabama prison inmate dies after assault by fellow prisoner, corrections department says
- Pirates find regional network landing spot, sign on to become joint owners of Pittsburgh SportsNet
- Woman who Montana police say drove repeatedly through religious group pleads not guilty
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- Could a sex scandal force Moms for Liberty cofounder off school board? What we know.
- Woman gets 70 years in prison for killing two bicyclists in Michigan charity ride
- Owner of Washington Wizards and Capitals seriously considering leaving D.C. for Virginia
- Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
- The Excerpt podcast: UN votes overwhelmingly for cease-fire in Gaza
Ranking
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Off-duty police officer indicted in death of man he allegedly pushed at a shooting scene
- US nuclear regulators to issue construction permit for a reactor that uses molten salt
- Fire at a popular open market in Bangkok spews black smoke visible for miles
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- People have been searching for this song from 'The X-Files' for 25 years. Until now
- Missouri launches a prescription drug database to help doctors spot opioid addictions
- Analysis: At COP28, Sultan al-Jaber got what the UAE wanted. Others leave it wanting much more
Recommendation
'Malcolm in the Middle’ to return with new episodes featuring Frankie Muniz
BP denies ex-CEO Looney a $41 million payout, saying he misled the firm over work relationships
From bugs to reptiles, climate change is changing land and the species that inhabit it
New Hampshire attorney general files second complaint against white nationalist group
Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
13 reasons for Taylor Swift to celebrate her birthday
Wartime Palestinian poll shows surge in Hamas support, close to 90% want US-backed Abbas to resign
NFL to play first regular-season game in Brazil in 2024 as league expands international slate