Christina Applegate Commemorates 50th Birthday Amid MS Battle: ‘It’s Been a Hard One’

• Christina Applegate just turned 50, and she commemorated her big day with an emotional social media post addressing her battle with multiple sclerosis.

• “It’s been a hard one,” the actress wrote. “Many are hurting today, and I am thinking of you. May we find that strength to lift our heads up.”
  

• Applegate first revealed her MS diagnosis in August.
  

Christina Applegate celebrated a big milestone on Thanksgiving: her 50th birthday. Amid her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), the Dead to Me actress has worked to find hope wherever she can—and now, she’s inspiring others with a heartfelt message.

On Thursday, Applegate shared an emotional update on Twitter. “Yup. I turned 50 today. And I have MS. It’s been a hard one,” she wrote. “Sending so much love to all of you this day. Many are hurting today, and I am thinking of you.”

“May we find that strength to lift our heads up,” Applegate continued. “Mine currently is on my pillow. But I try.”

Applegate first revealed she had MS in August, a few months after she was diagnosed with the disease. “It’s been a strange journey. But I have been so supported by people that I know who also have this condition,” she shared at the time. “It’s been a tough road. But as we all know, the road keeps going. Unless some asshole blocks it.”

Actress Selma Blair, who also lives with MS and appeared alongside Applegate in The Sweetest Thing, has been one of the Married... with Children star’s strongest supporters. “Loving you always. Always here. As are our kids. Beating us up with love,” Blair tweeted in August.

MS is a central nervous system disease that disrupts communication between the brain and other parts of the body, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It’s unclear what, exactly, causes people to develop MS, and the disease’s “progress, severity, and specific symptoms” cannot be predicted in any patient, per the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).

Common symptoms of MS include vision problems, cognitive impairment, and numbness, prickling or “pins and needles” sensations, the NIH explains. Some patients also experience pain, speech impediments, tremors, dizziness, and depression. There is currently no cure for MS, the NIH explains, although treatment can calm flareups. Nearly a million Americans live with the disease, the NMSS reports.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Applegate has faced a life-threatening illness. In 2008, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and later underwent a double mastectomy; in 2017, she elected to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as a precaution against ovarian cancer.

Now, Applegate is firmly focused on moving forward—and helping as many people as she can along the way. “As one of my friends that has MS said, ‘we wake up and take the indicated action,’” the actress tweeted in August. “And that’s what I do. So now I ask for privacy. As I go through this thing. Thank you xo.”

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