Christina Applegate still needs a wheelchair to get from her car to medical appointments, even after doctors ruled out the multiple sclerosis diagnosis she’d received in 2021. They’re still trying to identify what’s causing her debilitating symptoms.
“If anything, I’ve gotten worse in some ways” — Christina Applegate
On the October 20 episode of MeSsy, the podcast she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Applegate tearfully recalled her doctor’s words: “Congratulations, you don’t have MS.” She described the uncertainty as “very unnerving” and “really confusing.”
Her symptoms persisted after she lost the medical explanation she’d had for 5 years. She’d also found support in the MS community, making the change a question about belonging as well as treatment.
Writing in The Conversation, King’s College London medical anthropologist Esca van Blarikom explored why losing a diagnosis can be distressing. Her research involved interviews and observations with people living with multiple conditions, examining how medical explanations affect their understanding of symptoms and hopes for care.
One participant had endured back pain so severe that getting out of bed was difficult. A rheumatologist suggested inflammation might explain it, offering the possibility of treatment and specialist support.
Her discharge from the clinic came weeks later, after a scan found no evidence of the suspected inflammation. Over the months that followed, she experienced a marked worsening of her mental health while still living with the pain.
That participant’s proposed diagnosis had never been confirmed, an important difference from Applegate’s experience. Both accounts show how much hope can rest on having an explanation for persistent symptoms.
Diagnoses can also change what people fear. Another participant described interpreting her symptoms as signs that her chronic condition was worsening after she received a diagnosis. Her account doesn’t establish that the diagnosis caused her quality of life to decline.
Van Blarikom argues that patients facing a withdrawn diagnosis need an explanation of what’s changed, acknowledgment of their distress and a plan for further investigation or symptom management. A 2024 study of GP consultations found substantial differences in how doctors explained follow-up plans when diagnoses were uncertain, including what patients should do if symptoms continued or worsened.