The pair talk about diapers, how much they “break” them to see how the disease affects them as a mother and father, feeling outraged and, in Applegate’s case, how Selma Blair encouraged her to get tested for multiple sclerosis.
Cristina Applegate It is Jamie-Lynn Sigler they are both opening up about living with a lot of sclerosis.
O No life for me the star, 52, was first diagnosed with the disease in 2021 – but believes she has been living with it for years – while Sigler was diagnosed when she was 20, in 2001, while starring in The Sopranos. The pair bonded over their shared health situation and are launching a podcast together, Messynext week.
The celebrities caught up on their situation in two interviews this week, one for Good Morning America and another for PEOPLE Daily.
.@ABC EXCLUSIVE NEWS: Christina Applegate Delivers an Emotional and Highly Effective Interview to @RobinRoberts on her MS prognosis, grief and her bond with Jamie-Lynn Sigler: “They call it the invisible illness, but it can be very lonely because it’s hard to explain to people.” pic.twitter.com/idUEZgmmkj
– Good Morning America (@GMA) March 13, 2024
@GMA
Showing side by side in GMAApplegate said that although she feels the love and support from fans, she also lives in a “kind of hell” because of multiple sclerosis.
Getting emotional, the Married… with children The student said she started experiencing symptoms like tingling in her toes in early 2021 — but by the summer, she had to use a wheelchair to get to set, meaning it was time to tell others what she was feeling. .
When you have to say ‘I can’t’ it tears your soul aside
“I needed someone to help me get there and they were fantastic,” she said, choking up. “But I probably had it for many, many years, probably six or seven years.”
“I saw, in the first season, we would be filming and I might give in, my leg would give out,” she continued. “I considered that I was exhausted, or dehydrated, or it’s the weather, after which nothing happened for months and I didn’t listen. But when it was so difficult, I had to focus.”
She defined it as her Sweetest Factor co-star Selma Blair – who also has multiple sclerosis – who encouraged her to get tested for the disease.
“She said, ‘You should get tested for multiple sclerosis.’ Did I mention, ‘No, actually? The two of us in the same movie probably won’t happen,’” Applegate recalled. “She knew. If it hadn’t been for her, it could have been much worse.”
ABC
Christina Applegate Shares Update on MS Battle: ‘I Remain in Sort of Hell’
See story
Sigler also became a close confidant and someone Applegate said “keeps me going.”
“I’ve been turning chicken all day because of this and I’m outraged. I’m actually really upset,” Applegate shared. “I was a dancer and a runner and all these things that I love and a mom and she was like, ‘Okay, I got you and you’re going to be fine.’ If it weren’t for her, I really don’t know.”
“Sucks. It sucks,” she continued. “It’s not my favorite disease, I’ve had one. It’s not my favorite.”
Applegate also called the illness very “isolating” and something she remembers every day when she wakes up.
“That’s how I’m dealing with it, not going anywhere because I don’t want to, it’s hard,” he explained. “They call it an invisible illness, but it can be very lonely. It’s difficult to clarify to individuals. I’m in unbearable pain, I’m just used to it now.”
Ready with your permission to upload Instagram media.
Talking to PEOPLEApplegate said she dreaded the photo shoot for the publication, with only people considered touching up her hair and makeup making her “throw up” the night before.
Opening up about her daily symptoms, she said they are worse in the morning, “like a crazy dangerous city”.
“The pain, the numbness and the firmness. It’s horrible. So, of course, first thing in the morning, I’m really upset about this whole thing. But I don’t want to be like this all the time,” she said, becoming emotional again as she said Jamie-Lynn’s help made her know that she needs to “live a life long enough to know my son and the problems he’s facing.” . I am going to do.”
“I have to be here, so I have to fight,” she said, before sharing how the prognosis has also affected how she is able to parent her 13-year-old daughter Sadie.
“My daughter wanted to see her mother missed, the way I mothered her: dancing with her every day, picking her up from school every day, working at her college, working at the library. Being present, outside of the house, outside of my mattress, she no longer sees these problems,” Applegate explained. “If she’s in my room and sees that I’m lying on my side, she knows she’s not going to ask me to do anything. And it breaks me.”
“When you have to say, ‘I can’t,’ it shatters your soul,” Applegate added, crying. “I’m sorry. I go crazy with this day after day.”
Getty
Christina Applegate jokes at seventy-fifth Emmy Awards: ‘You’re completely embarrassing me and my inability to stand’
See story
Becoming even more confident about the reality of the illness, Applegate said doctors are “pretty certain that my stomach and intestines are not good partners,” which causes “severe pain and vomiting.” She added that she recently lost 30 pounds after gaining 100 following her prognosis — joking, “People are like, ‘What have you been doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Vomite.’ Not Ozempic. To vomit.
She also said the illness causes her to “pee… in her pants” because “you probably can’t get to the bathroom in time” – meaning she wears diapers.
The two also joked about the upsides of their prognosis, with Applegate saying, “For starters, parking is amazing.”
“There may very well be a medicine for multiple sclerosis and I can’t turn in my disability placard. We deserve it! exclaimed Sigler.
Applegate also praised wheelchair seating, pre-boarding on planes and airport transportation. “As much as I pulled my hat down, I’m embarrassed,” Sigler said — while Christina added, “I put on a mask. I don’t let people see.”
Watch the full GMA interview above and see more of your PEOPLE interview right here.