In the three years since Christina Applegate was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the actress' health has steadily improved. During a recent episode of her podcast Messy – co-hosted with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who also received an MS diagnosis – she described the chronic pain she struggles with and how it impacts her daily life.

“I lay in bed screaming – the stabbing pain, the pain, the pressing,” she explained. “Sometimes I can't even pick up my phone because it's now gotten into my hands, so I try to grab my phone or my remote to turn on the TV, or sometimes I can't even hold them. I can’t open bottles now.”

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Applegate called multiple sclerosis an “invisible disease,” which drew approval from her podcast guest Rory Kandel. Kandel is the founder of Rory's Bakehouse and was diagnosed with MS in 2023. The owner described her pain as follows: “It feels like I have knives in my stomach. I’m lying in bed, I wake up and I physically can’t turn from side to side.”

The pain was particularly severe in the morning, said the host and guest. “I put my feet on the ground and they hurt exceedingly when touched,” Applegate said. Turning the unfortunate truth into a comedic moment, she joked: “I thought, yeah. I'm going to lay back in my bed and pee in my diaper because I don't feel like walking all the way to the damn toilet… Just kidding. But it’s so damn painful and so hard and so uncomfortable.”

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease that affects the nervous system. “It is believed to be an autoimmune disease, a condition in which the body accidentally attacks itself,” reads a description of the condition. “MS is an unpredictable disease that affects people differently. Some people with MS may only have mild symptoms. Others may lose the ability to see, write, speak or walk clearly if communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted.”

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates that nearly one million people in the United States are living with MS, according to a 2019 study by the organization.

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