Selma Blair urged Christina Applegate to seek medical answers years before the "Dead to Me" star revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis was wrong.
In an Oct. 20 appearance on "The Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Show,"
which was recorded before her recent arrest after an alleged plane altercation, Blair recalled encouraging her friend to get an MRI after hearing about her symptoms. The episode came out the same day Applegate announced she had been misdiagnosed with MS.Blair, who publicly shared her own MS diagnosis in 2018, was recounting a conversation that preceded Applegate's 2021 diagnosis.
Blair and Applegate starred together in the 2002 comedy "The Sweetest Thing." Blair said their friendship deepened when their children attended the same preschool.
"Christina was over [at my house], and she was sitting outside, and she was just in so much discomfort, and her feet had so much neuropathy. She was saying it was diverticulitis … something I also was diagnosed with," Blair recalled.
Blair said the symptoms reminded her of the severe foot pain she had experienced after giving birth, which made walking difficult.
"I don't mean to put my stuff on you, but you should get an MRI," Blair recalled telling Applegate. "This sounds neurological. You could have MS. And she did, and that was the beginning of her journey."
Applegate initially doubted she could have the disease, Blair recalled, but eventually underwent the scan. Blair said she was glad her friend had an opportunity to work with a doctor to investigate what was happening.
Applegate, 54, discussed the reversal of her diagnosis on the Oct. 20 episode of "MeSsY," the podcast she cohosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler who also has MS.
Christina Applegate says symptoms persist after MS misdiagnosis
The "Dead to me" actress tearfully recalled the moment her doctor told her "congratulations, you don't have MS." Despite the misdiagnosis, she continues to experience pain, fatigue and difficulty walking. Doctors will need to investigate what is causing her symptoms.
"This may come as great news, but to me, it comes as I'm back at square one," Applegate said during the podcast.
The actress had documented her health struggles in "You with the Sad Eyes," her memoir released in March. In the book, she described the "stabbing" pain, heavy knees, burning sensations on her skin and feet that were both numb and painful.
"My knees feel like I have bricks attached to them, heavy and painful. My skin feels like it's got third-degree, fourth-degree, fifth-degree burns," she said of her pain.
For Applegate, learning she had been misdiagnosed did not bring the physical relief others might expect.
"You don't get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I'm better," she said on the podcast Tuesday. "If anything, I've gotten worse in some ways."
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Erin Jensen, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Selma Blair urged Christina Applegate to test for MS before misdiagnosis
