The Most Heartbreaking Confession Christina Applegate Has Shared About Her Health Issues

Since sharing the heartbreaking news of her multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis in 2021, Christina Applegate has been open about the painful reality of living with the chronic disease, which affects both the brain and spinal cord. Due to her condition, the "Bad Moms" star suffers from mobility and balance issues and has numerous lesions on her brain, among many other symptoms. Patients can only manage the condition using medication and other treatments as MS remains incurable. Understandably, anger has been a constant companion since the actor's life-changing diagnosis. Although Applegate has had many different health struggles, including breast cancer, she confirmed on the "Armchair Expert" podcast in March 2024 that MS "is the worst thing that's happened to me," adding, "I hate it so much. I'm so mad about it."

Another thing that Applegate now has to live with is constant pain. In November 2022, the Emmy winner went barefoot for the ceremony where she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame because "the feeling of shoes may hurt or make [MS patients] feel off balance," as Applegate explained on X, formerly known as Twitter. By November 2024, the discomfort had spread to other parts of her body too and worsened to an almost unbearable degree. Making her most heartbreaking confession yet about her struggles with MS, Applegate recalled on her own podcast, "MeSsy," that, "I lay in bed screaming — like, the sharp pains, the ache, that squeezing." Aside from being predominantly confined to her bed, attempting to stand up or even hold her phone had gradually become impossible due to the immense pain contact caused her hands and feet.

Living with multiple sclerosis has affected every single aspect of Christina Applegate's life, including her career. Though the "Married... with Children" star hasn't officially retired, Applegate is unlikely to act onscreen again and has stopped taking on-camera roles since "Dead To Me" wrapped in 2022. But the disease hasn't just prevented the beloved star from doing what she loves most; it has also forever changed Applegate's relationship with her daughter Sadie Grace, whom she welcomed in 2011 with her husband Martyn LeNoble.

Speaking to People in March 2024, the "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" star confessed to being completely devastated that she could no longer be the mother Sadie had always known and do many of the things she used to do for her, such as "dancing with her every day," cooking her meals, and going on outings together. "She'll come in the room, and if she sees that I'm laying on my side, she knows that she can't ask me to do anything. And that breaks me, breaks me. Because I love doing stuff for my kid," Applegate disclosed.

Though she will always try her best for her daughter, it hurts knowing that this is her reality now and will remain so for the rest of her life with little reprieve as the years drag on. "This is forever. It's heartbreaking when you have to say to your kid, 'I can't.' It's like the worst feeling in the world as a mother. You're their protector in life. When you have to say, 'I can't,' it rips your soul apart. I freak out about it every day," Applegate sadly admitted.