Christina Applegate is questioning whether her breast implants may be behind the debilitating symptoms she was previously told were caused by multiple sclerosis (MS).
Last month, the 54-year-old actress revealed that a doctor told her she does not have MS, despite enduring painful and disabling symptoms for more than five years.
Applegate, who has depended on a wheelchair and cane for years and stepped back from her successful acting career, said on Tuesday’s episode of her Messy podcast that she now suspects leaking breast implants could be contributing to her health problems.
The actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and underwent a double mastectomy after learning she carried a BRCA1 genetic mutation.
She later had reconstructive surgery using saline expanders, followed by saline implants, according to CNN.
Speaking to co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate said: ‘The message I found most interesting—and something I’ve been thinking about for years—was about breast implant poisoning.
‘I had my double mastectomy in 2008, and I’m well overdue to have the implants replaced.
‘For the past five years or so, I’ve kept wondering, “What if they’re leaking and poisoning me?”’
Christina Applegate fears her breast implants may have contributed to the debilitating symptoms she was told were multiple sclerosis. She is pictured in 2015, seven years after undergoing a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery following her breast cancer diagnosis.
Last month, Applegate, 54, said a doctor told her she does not have MS, despite years of painful symptoms. She is pictured in 2023.
Applegate told Sigler that she had seen ‘some study’ suggesting symptoms linked to leaking breast implants could ‘present’ like MS. ‘That’s something I’m going to investigate because it’s been on my mind,’ she said.
Breast Implant Illness, commonly known as BII, has been reported by women whose implants are intact as well as those whose implants have ruptured or leaked. However, many plastic surgeons dispute whether it is a distinct medical condition, and BII has not been formally recognized as a defined illness by the medical community.
Some medical professionals believe the symptoms may result from autoimmune or inflammatory reactions to implants, potentially leading to physical and psychological complaints including anxiety, rashes and chronic pain.
The discussion came weeks after Applegate tearfully disclosed that she had been told she did not have MS.
Describing the appointment, she said: ‘My doctor came into the room and said, “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.”’
‘I wasn’t happy at all. Everyone else was thrilled.
‘Being misdiagnosed doesn’t suddenly make me better. I haven’t improved, Jamie. If anything, I’m worse. So I’m back at square one, with no idea what’s happening to me.
‘My doctors are going to have to investigate this online and medically to understand what has happened since 2021 and why.’
Speaking with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate said she was long overdue to have her breast implants replaced and had wondered whether they might be leaking. She is pictured in 2022.
Applegate said she had read about symptoms from leaking breast implants possibly resembling MS and planned to investigate the theory. She is pictured in January 2008, before her mastectomy.
MS occurs when the immune system attacks the body, damaging nerves in the brain and spinal cord.
The condition is lifelong and currently incurable. While some people experience mild symptoms, others develop severe disability.
Common symptoms include fatigue, difficulty walking, vision problems, bladder problems, numbness or tingling, muscle stiffness and spasms, balance and coordination issues, and difficulties with thinking, learning and planning.
Applegate, who has used a wheelchair and cane for years and has been forced to put her acting career on hold, said: ‘I’ve gone through a very deep depression because of this.
‘I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost—sorry. What do you say to someone who has lived with this for six years? I’m so sorry, because it brought my life to a standstill.
‘I still need a wheelchair when I go to the doctor. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still dealing with all of this. Nothing miraculous happened when she said I didn’t have MS.
‘It’s strange. I feel as though I’ve let everyone down because Jamie and I became the poster children for MS.
‘Everything I was doing had a purpose. I had a reason why every day was so difficult.
‘Now I don’t have that explanation, and it’s incredibly unsettling and confusing.’
Applegate described the misdiagnosis as a ‘mindf**k’ and said she remained ‘in shock’ while trying to determine what is actually causing her illness.
The Daily Mail has contacted Applegate’s representatives for comment but has not received a response.
Applegate, who was recently hospitalized, became emotional while recalling the moment her doctor told her she did not have MS. She is pictured in Los Angeles in January 2024.
‘A misdiagnosis doesn’t suddenly make me better,’ Applegate said. ‘I haven’t improved. If anything, I’m worse.’ She is pictured in Los Angeles in April 2025.
Applegate said the illness had cost her career and disrupted her life. She is pictured as Amy Greene on Friends in 2002 with Courteney Cox and Matt LeBlanc.
Applegate is pictured with her daughter, Sadie, 15, in 2023.
Applegate is pictured with her daughter, husband Martyn LeNoble and actress Nancy Priddy in 2022.
Selma Blair has also spoken publicly about living with the disabling condition. She is pictured with Applegate in 2002.
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Applegate continued: ‘I have every symptom someone with MS might have—every single one. But we both know that many other conditions can look like MS.
‘I’m sure some people are thinking, “Stop complaining, you don’t have MS.” Of course, not having it should be good news. But that’s not the whole story.
‘I slept all day yesterday and felt absolutely awful because of the heat. My legs aren’t working. All the same things are happening to me. Yet I’m left thinking that because I don’t have MS, maybe I’m imagining it or somehow causing it myself.
‘I’m sure many people who receive a misdiagnosis start asking themselves, “What have I done wrong? What am I doing?”’
Dr. Marwa Kaisey, an associate professor in the neurology department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, explained on the podcast why MS can be difficult to diagnose.
‘There isn’t one definitive test for MS,’ Kaisey said. ‘It’s not like a pregnancy test that gives you a simple yes or no. Doctors have to assess a set of criteria.
‘Nearly one in five people who had been told they had MS—some of them for decades—did not actually have the disease. Most of those patients were taking medication for MS.’
Applegate reportedly returned home in August after being hospitalized in Los Angeles since late March, according to TMZ.
Sources told the outlet that the actress, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, was doing well after transitioning back to life at home.
The reason for her extended hospital stay has not been publicly disclosed.
Applegate first reassured fans following her March hospitalization in April, writing on Instagram that she was becoming ‘stronger and better every day.’
She shared a photograph of her memoir, You With The Sad Eyes, and said she would be taking time to concentrate on her health.
Her post read: ‘Thank you for the incredible outpouring of love and well wishes. Health challenges are a constant for me, but I’m a strong chick and I’m getting stronger and better every day. I’m taking a moment to focus on my health, but I’ll be back with more to say soon enough.’
Sources previously told TMZ that Applegate had been admitted to hospital in late March, although no reason was given at the time.
Applegate’s representative told Our News Outlet: ‘I have no comment on whether she is in hospital or what medical treatment she may be receiving.
‘She has a long history of complicated medical conditions, which she has discussed openly in her memoir and on her podcast.’
In February, Applegate said she was largely confined to bed because of the ongoing effects of her MS diagnosis.
In an interview with People at the time, she described how persistent pain had kept her in bed for much of her life.
Still, she made a point of leaving her bedroom for her teenage daughter, Sadie, including driving her to school.
‘I want to take her. It’s my favorite thing to do and the only time we have alone together,’ the actress said.
‘I tell myself, “Just get her there safely, then get home so you can get back into bed.” That’s what I do.’
Applegate added: ‘My life isn’t tied up with a neat bow. People’s lives—sorry, for lack of a better phrase—can really f***ing suck sometimes. So I’m trying to be as honest and raw as possible.’
Applegate is pictured accepting an Emmy in 2003 for her guest role on Friends.
Applegate became a star at 15 while playing Kelly Bundy on Fox’s Married with Children, which ran from 1987 to 1997. She is pictured with Katey Sagal, Ed O’Neill and David Faustino.
The Dead to Me actress also wrote about her experience in an excerpt from her 2026 memoir, You With The Sad Eyes, published by The Guardian in March.
‘One of the illness’s worst side effects is exhaustion,’ Applegate wrote candidly.
‘It feels as though I’ve been awake for three days after a sleepless bender—and that’s how I feel even after a good night’s sleep. That explains all the time I spend in bed, curled up with my heating pad.’
She continued: ‘Since receiving the diagnosis and dealing with these symptoms, I no longer care what I say, how I come across or whether it makes anyone uncomfortable.’
Applegate shared a photograph of her canes in 2022, describing the need for walking assistance as her ‘new normal.’
‘I don’t have any patience left for bulls*** or things that are meaningless or merely “extra.”’
Applegate announced her MS diagnosis on social media in August 2021.
The following year, she posted a photo of her canes and said relying on help to walk had become her ‘new normal.’
During an episode of her Messy podcast last year, Applegate said she had been hospitalized more than 30 times since receiving her diagnosis.
‘In the three years since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in hospital upwards of 30 times,’ she told Sigler, who is also living with MS.
‘That’s unimaginable. Doctors have performed every test known to man on me, exposing my body to enormous amounts of radiation through CT scans and other procedures.’
Applegate has said she decided to write her memoir, released on March 3, after her illness forced her to slow down.
