Christina Applegate has said she is wondering whether the breast implants she received after a double mastectomy in 2008 could be behind the health symptoms she has lived with for years, according to Parade and Tyla. She raised the question on the 10 November episode of her MeSsy podcast, which she co-hosts with Jamie-Lynn Sigler, and stressed it is something she wants to investigate — not something any doctor has confirmed.
"I had my double mastectomy in 2008 and I am way overdue for having them replaced," Applegate told Sigler on the episode, according to Parade. "And I swear, over the last five years or whatever, I've thought, 'What if they're leaking and poisoning me?'" She said someone had sent her a study about breast implant symptoms presenting as multiple sclerosis, and that she would be looking into it because it is something she has thought about for years.
Applegate had the double mastectomy after a breast cancer diagnosis in 2008, followed by reconstruction, according to Tyla. She was told in 2021 that she had multiple sclerosis, but revealed on 20 October that the diagnosis was wrong, and doctors are now working through other conditions that can mimic MS, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and Lyme disease. She said her symptoms have not improved, and if anything have got worse.
She described the daily impact of her symptoms on the podcast, saying she cannot move her right shoulder at all now and cannot lift her arm, according to Parade. She said it takes her at least ten minutes to sit up and get out of bed, that getting down the stairs is very hard, and that she has pain in her joints and "hurts all over". She has physical and occupational therapy every week.
Nothing in her comments establishes that her implants are leaking or causing her illness, and no doctor has confirmed a link. Breast implant illness is a term used by patients for a range of symptoms they associate with their implants, but it is not an established medical diagnosis with agreed criteria. Applegate said she intends to raise the possibility with her doctors as they continue testing for what has been causing her symptoms since 2021. The photograph above is from San Diego Comic-Con in 2014, not a recent picture.