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1st November 2024
10:56am GMT
Christina Applegate has bravely spoken out about living with multiple sclerosis since her diagnosis in 2021.
The actress has helped raise awareness about the condition and is encouraging people not to ignore any symptoms.
Many of us, especially women, often brush off our health woes because we're often dismissed by our own doctors.
We are not taken as seriously as we should be which is why so many conditions go unnoticed.
Speaking about ignoring the early signs of multiple sclerosis, Applegate said she brushed off symptoms like fatigue and balance issues.
The actress told Today: "I really just kind of put it off as being tired, or I’m dehydrated, or it’s the weather.
"Then nothing would happen for, like, months, and I didn’t pay attention."
The main symptoms she experienced at first were balance and speech issues, shaky hands, feeling weak at the knees, and numb toes.
Speaking on This Life of Mine with James Corden, the Dead To Me star said, "Things just started to get weirder and weirder, and before I knew it, we were about to start shooting the last season of Dead To Me, and by this time I was like, 'You guys, I can't even walk up the steps to my trailer.'"
The most common early signs of MS are often the same in men and women but doctors have stressed that there is no typical pattern of MS symptoms.
People will suffer from different symptoms at different times, but the most common early signs are fatigue, stumbling, and memory problems.
Patients may also struggle with sudden eyesight issues and unusual skin sensations like numbness, pins and needles, or burning.
Applegate said she brushed off symptoms until she couldn't ignore them anymore.
