Selma Blair Recalls Doctors Dismissing Her Early MS Symptoms as a Teen

Selma BlairThe health struggles she faced throughout her life were signs of multiple sclerosis, which doctors didn’t recognize until she was in her 40s.

“I was diagnosed with relapsing-limited MS in 2018,” Blair, 53, said at the Flow Space Women’s Health Summit earlier this month. “It turns out I may have had juvenile MS, as my first had an optic neuritis when I was about seven years old, which left me with a lazy eye due to nerve damage.” “But there were a lot of things that were lost throughout my life.”

Blair remembers constant pain, fatigue and undiagnosed neurological problems.

“I had CAT scans as a kid, had doctor visits, and stayed in hospitals for weeks at a time,” Blair recalls. “I had fever, pain, endless fatigue, bone-crunching fatigue, and I still have it. And my mom would say, ‘Why can’t you get an MRI on her?’ And they’d say, ‘Oh, she doesn’t need it.’ “Maybe her period will come.”

“But then a boy from my class comes in with a headache and they do an MRI first thing. Now, they weren’t wrong to do that to him, but it’s like, what? Because I looked fine, even though I had headaches the whole time,” she added.

The actress viewed her diagnosis as a relief after unexplained health problems that doctors often dismissed when she was younger as “growing pains.” Blair first revealed in 2018 that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She took a short hiatus amid treatment and later returned to acting while also continuing to speak publicly about her health journey.

“I just put it on my Instagram to thank the people on set who helped me stay at my job, because I couldn’t use my hands well, and I couldn’t take my clothes off. I still sometimes have dystonia and speech and movement dystonia, although I don’t relapse now,” Blair explained at the October event. “But when I posted, I saw that there was a whole world out there that seemed like part of his vision or could relate to someone with chronic health issues.”

Blair was thrilled about the way her story brought the community together, adding, “I realized it was a comfort to a lot of people. There weren’t a lot of resources around MS at the time.”

“There was a lot I needed to learn,” she continued. “I was still learning as I lived with him, but I saw that he was so much bigger than me. And then I had a purpose to share. It felt good. It felt good to know that people were feeling some comfort.”

Related to: Christina Applegate and more stars are battling multiple sclerosis

Christina Applegate, Selma Blair, Jamie Lyn Sigler, Jack Osbourne and many other celebrities have spoken out about coping with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease. Applegate revealed in August 2021 that she had been diagnosed with this condition. “Hi friends. A few months ago, I was diagnosed with MS,” the Married with Children alum wrote via X […]

Since being in recovery, Blair has continued to highlight how she can make progress.

“A lot of people have asked me how I’m performing so well and my movement is so different, and I’m really excited,” Blair exclusively said in a video to Us Weekly in August 2024. “I want to tell people that — I’m still in remission, I feel good — after the bone marrow transplant, I actually had a major setback.”

She explained that a recent MRI “turned on a flare” and showed her “new lesions,” after which the doctor suggested she try a new type of treatment.

“It was just pills. So you take that, a short series of pills, and within two years you’re done with your treatment. It’s called Mavinclad,” Blair said. we. “He was amazing, helped me move and speak so much, and allowed me to have a great summer and great years. I want you all to know that. Bye.”