Christina Applegate has been in hospital 'upwards of 30 times’ from diarrhea and vomitting since MS diagnosis

The Hollywood star offered an update on her condition during her MeSsy podcast as a fan who also has MS shared their experience.

The fan asked if Applegate had also been suffering with vomitting and having diarrhea daily, as she had. In response, the Dead To Me actress said she understood her suffering.

“For three years, since I was diagnosed, I’ve been in the hospital upwards of 30 times from throwing up and diarrhea and pain,” the 53-year-old said during the March 18, episode of the podcast she cohosts with Jamie Lynn Sigler. “That is unimaginable, OK? They’ve done every test known to man on me, put so much radiation into my body from CT scans to everything else.”

Adressing the fan, she went on: “Now, maybe this isn’t what’s happening, but I’m just going to tell you this. Talk to your doctor about motility issues, OK. Because one of the things with MS is that it slows down our organs, you know, not like completely, but there is a slowing of the function of your organs.”

Within the last month, however, the actress said she thinks she has found the cause of the problem - but that medical professionals aren’t sure. She added: “I have noticed that — and I’m going to be really honest — if I have to poop, I puke.” Applegate noted that she was going to get a colonoscopy and take the listener’s letter with her to show the doctor that other sufferers also had the same symptoms as her.

“My neuro doesn’t — God bless her — says that’s not an MS thing,” she added. “So, I’m sorry, there’s got to be a correlation here, and I’m not a doctor. I’m not giving medical advice. I’m just saying, just think about that, OK? Because I’m in the middle of the same exact situation, and it f—ing sucks, and it’s scary.”

Applegate sarcastically concluded that her “favourite part” about living with MS is having diarrhea and vomiting simultaneously. Her advice to her listener was this: “Always have a little trash can next to your toilet. Because you can do both without it being messy,” she said, laughing. “I had one yesterday.”

The star was diagnosed with MS in 2021, and since then she’s launched her MeSsy podcast, which launched in March 2024, to speak more openly about her condition. She shared during a December 2024 episode of her podcast that she first started experiencing symptoms in 2019, but ignored them.

Referring to a time when she was filming the Dead to Me pilot, she said: “I remember falling that day . . . Hi, first sign of MS!” Applegate wasn’t diagnosed until the filming of the show’s third and final season.