Christina Applegate experienced her first MS symptoms in the Dead To Me pilot

Christina Applegate She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2021 – but the actress revealed that she first noticed mysterious symptoms more than two years ago, while filming the pilot episode of the series Dead to me.

The 55-year-old actress spoke about her experience on her podcast, saying: messywhich she hosts with fellow actress and MS sufferer Jamie Lynn Sigler. Applegate was in a conversation with her best friend, Dead to me creator Liz Feldman when she revealed that her symptoms first started appearing in 2019 – but she ignored them for some time before receiving medical help.

Applegate said she unexpectedly fell while running across a field during a scene in the award-nominated Netflix black comedy-drama series, and now knows it was an early sign of an autoimmune condition. “I remember falling that day,” she said. “Hey, first sign of MS!”

Feldman remembered that moment, too. “I remember you lost your credit a few times, but it was very difficult to find out,” she said. “I remember one time it was very late at night, and we had been shooting for probably 14 or 15 hours, and it was completely reasonable for someone to collapse.”

It wasn't until 2021, during the filming of the third and final season of the series Dead to methat Applegate was diagnosed with the condition after experiencing back problems, tingling and other symptoms. Feldman quickly assured the actress that her health was a priority on the show. “There is no evidence for this,” Feldman said. “She just felt that A was afraid, and B, that something was wrong, that something in her body wasn't working the way she wanted it to. I told her many times it was just a TV show. We're making a TV show, and it's so ridiculous “You know, at the end of the day!” “I knew Christina well enough to know that something big had to happen because she is such a professional,” she added.

The support Applegate received from Feldman and the rest of the members Dead to me The cast and crew continued until the end of the show, with producers modifying her scenes to make her more comfortable as her mobility deteriorated. “It wouldn't happen anywhere else,” Applegate said. “So my gratitude to you for being human—because you should be human and love other human beings!—I can't even tell you, that's not a normal reaction!”

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Christina Applegate believes laughter is the best medicine amid her battle with multiple sclerosis. Applegate, 52, who announced her MS diagnosis in 2021, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, March 18, and joked about making a funny entrance into the show. “I was thinking, wouldn't it be funny if I went out and I[…]

Since her diagnosis, Applegate has retired from acting, but has taken control of her voice-over work. In a previous episode From the Chaotic Podcast, she shared with Sigler that she's in pain “every day.” “I lay in bed screaming,” she said. “Such as sharp pains, aching, and squeezing.”