Christina Applegate is revealing the devastating physical impact multiple sclerosis has had on her body since her heartbreaking 2021 diagnosis.
On the latest episode of her MeSsy podcast, Applegate, 52, admitted to feeling like ‘Humpty Dumpty’ as she described the muscle atrophy in her legs and weight gain.
‘I have no muscles in my legs, which I showed you,’ she said to co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 43, who also has MS, as per TooFab.
‘I look like Humpty Dumpty. My little tiny, weird legs and then my big menopausal belly.’
Applegate has become more of a homebody due to her physical limitations and the side-effects of her illness.
‘I like being home now because, well, I like being in my bed, but also I don’t want to be in my bed. But once I do go out, I’m happy I’ve done it,’ she told listeners.
Christina Applegate is revealing the devastating physical impact multiple sclerosis has had on her body since her heartbreaking 2021 diagnosis; seen in January 2023
‘I have no muscles in my legs, which I showed you,’ she said to co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 43, who also has MS, as per TooFab
Since she can’t be as active as she used to be, Applegate has given a ‘disclaimer’ to friends who wish to hang out with her.
‘I always say, sure, if you want to go to lunch, just know — and you have to know this and you can’t be mad at me — that if right before you come to pick me up, if I say can’t do it, you can’t be mad. It’s my little disclaimer,’ she explained.
‘What I’ve done now is, with everyone that I know who wants to do something with me, and they know that it’s not going to be a hike in the hills.’
Applegate said she is ‘not conditioned right now’ to partake in intense physical activity anymore because she ‘[hasn’t] been moving.’
She added, ‘Like if I go up a hill, my heart starts beating really fast and I think I’m going to have a heart attack because my heart’s just… the muscle isn’t there.’
Sigler then described herself as being the ‘most active, athletic’ person before her own MS diagnosis at age 20.
‘If everyone was going to go play a sport, I was in it ’till the end,’ the New York native said.
‘That was my life. I just always wanted to be doing something, and up and out, I was never home. Now I feel like I’m always home.’
Applegate publicly announced her MS diagnosis in August 2021 — months after learning the news from her doctor.
Meanwhile, Sigler kept her 2002 diagnosis quite for 14 years before going public in 2016.
‘Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-lasting (chronic) disease of the central nervous system,’ according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The autoimmune disorder is a devastating condition that sees the body attack itself by mistake.
It’s noted that ‘MS is an unpredictable disease that affects people differently.’
Some may deal with mild symptoms while others may completely ‘lose their ability to see clearly, write, speak, or walk when communication between the brain and other parts of the body becomes disrupted.’
On the latest episode of her MeSsy podcast , Applegate, 52, admitted to feeling like ‘Humpty Dumpty’ as she described the muscle atrophy in her legs and weight gain
‘I have no muscles in my legs, which I showed you,’ she said to co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 43, who also has MS, as per TooFab . ‘I look like Humpty Dumpty. My little tiny, weird legs and then my big menopausal belly’; seen in February 2023
Because of her physical limitations and the side effects of her illness, Applegate has become more of a homebody in the last three years; seen in January 2024
Her co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 43, described herself as being the ‘most active, athletic’ person before her own MS diagnosis at age 20; seen in June 2024
Wanting to make a difference and connect with others dealing with serious illness, Applegate reached out to Sigler to hear about her first-hand with MS experience, which ultimately led to the creation of their podcast.
On the MeSsy podcast, the stars of Married With Children star and The Sopranos ‘get vulnerable about the curveballs that life can throw… theirs just happens to be MS,’ it reads on the homepage for the podcast.
‘Join them each week as they self-reflect, learn, laugh, and grow through their own raw and often-times hilarious conversations with each other, friends, co-stars, and the people that keep them going through the messiness of life.’
