- Christina Applegate and Jamie-Lynn Sigler shared listener emails on the one-year anniversary of their podcast about MS, MesSy
- After a fan shared that she struggles with severe gastrointestinal symptoms, Applegate said she’s experienced the same, having been hospitalized “upwards of 30 times” with vomiting and diarrhea
- She said that she thinks it’s a symptom of MS and is going to have a colonoscopy soon to address it
Christina Applegate shared some of the more painful moments of her ongoing struggle with multiple sclerosis on the one-year anniversary of MesSy, the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
While reading listener messages on the March 18 episode, Applegate, 53, and Sigler, 43, addressed one fan, Kelly, who shared she’s been dealing with brutal gastrointestinal symptoms. When Kelly shared that her family didn’t understand “why I’m throwing up and having diarrhea every single day,” Applegate interjected, “Oh girl, let’s talk about that.” It’s something Applegate said she’s experienced, and thinks is part of how MS manifests.
“This is really important because for three years, since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in the hospital upwards of 30 times from throwing up and diarrhea and pain that is unimaginable,” Applegate shared. “They’ve done every test known to man on me, put so much radiation into my body from CT scans to everything else. And literally, just in the last month, I have figured it out. Now maybe this isn’t what’s happening, but I’m just gonna tell you this.”
The Married… with Children alum continued: “Talk to your doctor about motility issues, okay? Because one of the things with MS is that it slows down our organs — not, like, completely, but it there is a slowing of the function of your organs,” Applegate explained. “And I have noticed that —and I’m gonna be really honest — if I have to poop, I puke. And when I puke, I get all the pain, and then all the things happen. So there’s, like, this really horrible argument, and I think I’ve mentioned it on the show that I call it ‘The Fight Club.’ ”
“Everyone’s fighting with each other,” Applegate said, in reference to her body. “So please ask your doctor about that because I’m going in for my colonoscopy on Thursday, and I’m gonna have a big conversation with the big guys and be like, ‘I know you guys are saying that I’m crazy, and I’m coming in here for no reason. And now I’m seeing a pattern.’ ”
The chronic central nervous system disease can cause bladder and bowel problems, according to John Hopkins Medicine, which explains that the symptoms can be “unpredictable.”
Applegate said that her neurologist told her “that’s not an MS thing,” but given Kelly’s account, Applegate says, “it’s interesting because now Kelly has it too since the day she was diagnosed. So I’m sorry [but] there’s gotta be a correlation here, and I’m not a doctor, so I’m not giving medical advice.”
“I’m just saying, just think about that,” Applegate said. “Because I’m in the middle of the same exact situation, and it f—ing sucks, and it’s scary. So, yeah, that’s what I’m gonna say about that, lady.”
Applegate said she’s going to take Kelly’s email to her neurologist and tell them, “Stop being, like, in a box of, like, ‘Well, this is isn’t in the medical books.’ Well, we aren’t in the medical books. We’re human beings.”
She addressed Kelly, asking, “Have you puked and had diarrhea at the same time? Because that’s my favorite part.”
When Sigler quipped that it’s called a “double dragon,” Applegate said, “Always have a little trash can next to your toilet, so you can do both without it being messy. Wow, double dragon. I love that. I had one yesterday. Awesome.”
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