In November, actor Christina Applegate received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and celebrated the release of the third and final season of her TV series "Dead to Me" on Netflix. The Walk of Fame ceremony marked the first public appearance for the 51-year-old “Married… With Children” star since she shared her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in August 2021.

"This is the first time anyone's going to see me the way I am," Applegate said of the ceremony in an interview with The New York Times. "I put on 40 pounds; I can't walk without a cane. I want people to know that I am very aware of all of that."

Applegate learned of her diagnosis while filming the current season of "Dead to Me" and later shared the news with fans on Twitter, writing, “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition. It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some [expletive] blocks it."

The Many Sides of MS

“One of the distinct features of MS is that no two patients are alike, and it’s a highly variable disease. [It ranges from] extraordinarily mild to extraordinarily severe,” says Patricia K. Coyle, MD, director of the MS Comprehensive Care Center and professor of neurology at Stony Brook University Neurosciences Institute in New York.

For Applegate, the condition appears to have progressed rapidly. In January 2021, the actor started experiencing symptoms that were “very small, something you could just brush off,” she told Variety. By the time she started shooting "Dead to Me" that May, “it was as if I got hit by a truck and didn’t know what was going on," she said. Production on the show shut down for roughly five months so she could undergo treatment.

When she returned to the set, Applegate needed a wheelchair, and crew members sometimes had to hold her up to film scenes. In a New York Times interview, Applegate explained that she now realizes that numbness and tingling sensations as well as balance problems she had while filming a dance number likely were MS symptoms.

“Ms. Applegate may have had symptoms for some time prior to her formal diagnosis,” says Barbara S. Giesser, MD, FAAN, a neurologist specializing in MS at the Brain Health Center of the Pacific Neuroscience Institute. “In general, it is unusual for people with MS to have significant disability early on.”

Weight Matters

Like Applegate, many people with MS gain weight. It can be caused by certain drugs, such as steroids and pregabalin (Lyrica) and gabapentin (Neurontin) used to treat neuropathic pain, or other symptoms such as fatigue, depression, anxiety, and impaired mobility, says Dr. Coyle. In general, though, the disease-modifying therapies used to treat MS do not cause significant weight gain.

I have a very important ceremony coming up. This will be my first time out since diagnosed with MS. Walking sticks are now part of my new normal. Thank you @neowalksticks for these beauties. Stay tuned to see which ones make the cut for a week of stuff. pic.twitter.com/O543p1G4vS

— christina applegate (@1capplegate) October 27, 2022

Informing the Public

Since breaking the news of her diagnosis, Applegate has shared glimpses of her life with MS via social media. In October, she posted a photo of fashionable canes she was considering using for a public appearance. When she attended the Walk of Fame ceremony, she arrived with one in hand, and was barefoot. She tweeted that for people with MS, wearing shoes hurts and makes them feel off balance, “so today I was me. Barefoot.”

Barefoot. For some with MS the feeling of shoes may hurt or make us feel off balance. So today I was me. Barefoot pic.twitter.com/eJBGg1Wyug

— christina applegate (@1capplegate) November 15, 2022

Applegate also has encouraged her followers to watch the documentary “Introducing Selma Blair,” about actor Blair’s life following her own MS diagnosis in 2018.  “Being technically disabled is what it is,” Applegate tweeted. “I didn’t know what MS was before I had it. My life is changed forever. But my girl Selma Blair documented the first year. Which is hard.”

Going public with a disease like MS is informative, says Dr. Coyle, who notes that some people tend to confuse it with muscular dystrophy. “Many people have no idea what MS is,” she says. “Celebrities coming forward about having MS can be extraordinarily helpful, particularly when those celebrities become well-informed about the disease.”

Dr. Giesser agrees. “This is particularly important with MS, because it is a very treatable and, to a large extent, controllable condition, and we know that early treatment helps prevent future nerve damage.”