Christina Applegate reveals fears 'leaking' breast implants sparked five-year MS misdiagnosis

Christina Applegate fears her breast implants have caused her debilitating health issues that were misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS).

Last month, Applegate, 54, made the shock revelation that her doctor told her she does not have MS – despite battling painful symptoms for more than five years. 

Applegate, who has relied on a wheelchair and cane for years, and been forced to step away from her stellar acting career, revealed on the Tuesday episode of her Messy podcast that she now suspects leaking breast implants could have caused her health issues.

In 2008, the actress was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy after discovering she carried a BRCA1 genetic mutation. 

Following the procedure, she had reconstruction surgery with saline expanders and subsequent saline implants, per CNN.

Speaking with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate said: 'The one [text] that I found interesting that someone sent me, and I’ve been thinking this for years, is the breast implant poisoning.

'I had my double mastectomy in 2008 and I am way overdue for having them replaced.

'And I swear over the last five years or whatever, I’ve thought, "What if they’re leaking and poisoning me?"

Christina Applegate fears her breast implants have caused her debilitating health issues, that were misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis (MS). Above, in 2015, seven years after having a double mastectomy and reconstruction after a breast cancer diagnosis 

Last month, Applegate, 54, made the shock revelation that her doctor told her she does not have MS – despite battling painful symptoms for more than five years. Above, in 2023

Applegate told Sigler 'there’s some study' about leaked breast implants symptoms 'presenting' as MS, adding: 'So, that’s one that I will be looking into, because it’s something I’ve thought about.'

Breast Implant Illness, or BII, has been reported by women regardless of whether their breast implants remain intact or rupture and leak, but many plastic surgeons question whether the condition is truly real – and it has not reached the status of a defined illness in the medical community.

It is thought by some medical professionals to be caused by either auto-immune or inflammatory responses to implants which, in turn, trigger a series of mental and physical conditions such as anxiety, rashes and chronic pain.

The interview comes weeks after Applegate tearfully announced she did not have MS.

She said of the moment her doctor told her: 'She came into my room and said, "Congratulations, you don’t have MS”.

'I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.

'You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me. 

'And that’s going to be an online investigation that my doctors are going to be getting into just to find out what has been going on since 2021, why did this happen?'

Speaking with co-host Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate said, 'I had my double mastectomy in 2008 and I am way overdue for having them replaced. 'And I swear over the last five years or whatever, I’ve thought, "What if they’re leaking and poisoning me?" Above, in 2022

Applegate told Sigler 'there’s some study' about leaked breast implants symptoms 'presenting' as MS, adding, 'So, that’s one that I will be looking into, because it’s something I’ve thought about.' Above, in January 2008 before her mastectomy

MS is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body and causes nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord.

It is an incurable, lifelong condition. Symptoms can be mild in some, and in others more extreme causing severe disability.

Symptoms include fatigue, difficulty walking, vision problems, bladder problems, numbness or tingling, muscle stiffness and spasms, problems with balance and coordination, and problems with thinking, learning and planning.

Applegate, who has relied on a wheelchair and cane for years, and been forced to step away from her stellar acting career, said: 'I’ve gone through a great depression because of it. 

'But I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost - I’m sorry. What do you say to someone who’s been living with this for six years - God, I’m so sorry - because it stopped my life. 

'I still have to use wheelchairs when I go to the doctor’s office. I can’t walk from the car to the room. I’m still in this. Nothing magical happened when she said, "You don’t have MS." Nothing magical happened.

'It’s weird because I feel like I let everybody down, it’s this weird feeling because I became this - you and I, the poster children for MS. 

'And everything I was doing. I had a reason. I had a f***ing reason as to why my day sucked every day. 

'And now I don’t have a reason and it’s very unnerving and it’s very confusing for me.'

Applegate added the misdiagnosis is a 'mindf**k' and that she is still in 'a state of shock' as she seeks answers over the true nature of her illness. 

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Applegate for comment and has yet to hear back. 

Speaking of the moment her doctor told her, a tearful Applegate, who was recently hospitalized, said: 'She came into my room and said, "Congratulations, you don’t have MS”. 'I was, like, not happy at all. Everybody else was so happy.' Above, in January 2024

'You don’t get misdiagnosed and then all of a sudden I’m better. I haven’t gotten better, Jamie! If anything, I’ve gotten worse. So I’m back at square one where I don’t know what’s going on with me' said Applegate. Seen in April 2025 in LA

She said: 'But I lost everything. I lost my job. I lost - I’m sorry. What do you say to someone who’s been living with this for six years - God, I’m so sorry - because it stopped my life.' Pictured as Amy Greene on Friends in 2002 with Courteney Cox and Matt Le Blanc

Applegate is pictured with daughter Sadie, 15, in 2023

Selma Blair has waged a public battle with the debilitating condition. Above, with Applegate in 2002

Applegate continued: 'I have every symptom of someone with MS. Every single one. Now, we both know that there are many things that mirror MS. Many different things.

'I mean, I'm sure people are saying like, "Crybaby, you don't have MS." You know, that's a good thing. But no, no, no.

'I'm sitting here having slept all day yesterday feeling like absolute crap because of the heat. My legs aren't working. You know, all the same stuff is happening to me. And yet I have this thing of like, well, you don't have that, so you know, maybe you're faking it, in my head I'm like, what can I be doing differently? 

'What, you know, but this is what I'm sure a lot of people start thinking when they get their misdiagnosis is like, well, what have I done wrong? What what what am I doing?'

Doctor Marwa Kaisey, associate professor with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center department of neurology, gave insight into how MS can be misdiagnosed during an appearance on the podcast.

Kaisey said: 'We don’t have one single test for MS. It’s not like we have something like a pregnancy test that says, Yes. You have it. No. You don’t. It’s a list of criteria.

'Almost one in five of these people who’d been told they had MS, some for decades, didn’t actually have it. And a majority of them were on medication to treat their MS.'

Applegate was reported to have gone back home in August after being hospitalized in Los Angeles since late March, TMZ reported. 

Sources told the publication that the actress, who was diagnosed with MS in 2021, was doing well since making the transition back to home life.

There have been few details about why exactly she has been in the hospital for months on end.

Applegate is pictured in 2003 winning an Emmy for her guest role in Friends 

Applegate rose to prominence as a child actress at the age of 15, while starring as Kelly Bundy in the Fox sitcom Married with Children, which ran from 1987 to 1997. Above, with Katey Sagal, Ed O'Neill and David Faustino

Earlier in February, Applegate shared that she is mainly confined to her bed due to her MS battle.

During an interview with People at the time, the star explained how the pain has largely kept her in bed.

However, she will make the effort to leave her bedroom for her teenage daughter Sadie, such as taking her to school.

'I want to take her; it's my favorite thing to do. It's the only time we have together by ourselves,' the actress told the outlet.

'I tell myself, "Just get her there safely and get home so you can get back into bed." And that's what I do.'

Applegate further expressed: 'My life isn't wrapped up with a bow. People's lives, sorry for lack of a better term, f***ing suck sometimes. So I'm being as honest and raw as I possibly can.'