Christina Applegate reveals teen daughter Sadie has been diagnosed with neurological condition... amid actress' struggle with MS
- The 52-year-old and her daughter, 13, have detailed her battle with the condition
- Sadie struggled at school because people thought she was faking symptoms
- Christina apologized to Sadie for not realizing something was wrong sooner
Christina Applegate has revealed that her 13-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, has been diagnosed with the neurological condition Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, amid her own ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis.
The 52-year-old actress and her teenage girl - whom Christina shares with musician husband Martyn LeNoble - have candidly opened up about Sadie's battle with the condition, which causes abnormally large increases in heart rate upon sitting up or standing and is heightened in hot weather.
Sadie also has Misophonia, which causes decreased tolerance to specific sounds.
Speaking on the 'MeSsy' podcast with her actress mother, who revealed her own MS diagnosis in 2021, Sadie shared her upset over her symptoms being ignored by her teachers in school - while her mother issued an emotional apology to the teen for not realizing earlier on that something was wrong.
'I have something called POTS,' Said shared. 'I have no clue what it actually is but it's something to do with the autonomic nervous system and it affects my heart.
Christina Applegate has revealed that her 13-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace LeNoble, has been diagnosed with the neurological condition Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome
'When I stand up, I get really, really dizzy and my legs get really weak, and I feel like I'm going to pass out,' she added.
On severe days, she can faint and even become unconscious.
Sadie said: 'That's only on really bad days when it's hot out.'
However, the teenager said that - initially - her symptoms were overlooked by teachers and nurses at school, explaining that they would often accuse her of faking her illness in a bid to get out of physical education classes.
'Last year, in sixth grade, I would go to the nurse multiple times a day for it because I always felt like I was going to pass out,' she recalled.
'In class, if I were to stand up then I would be like, "I have to go to the nurse. I can't do this." Or I'll be in PE, and I'll be like, "I have to go to the nurse."'
However, she said that whenever she went to visit the nurse, she was not taken seriously - and was instead told to simply 'go back to class'.
Sadie said: 'They were like, "You're doing this to get out of class. It's probably just anxiety. Go back to class." They wouldn't do anything for it.'
She would do her sports classes and suffer big time for it, which also impacted her mental health.
Sadie (seen with her mom in January) opened up about being diagnosed with POTS while appearing on an episode of the MeSsy podcast
Christina (seen in November 2022) described Sadie as the best podcast guest she 'could possibly ever have'
'When she got diagnosed [with MS], it kind of just felt like... it was hard seeing my mom lose a lot of the abilities she used to have in my childhood,' Sadie shared (seen in February 2023)
She continued: 'Them not doing anything about it definitely hurt me physically and emotionally.
'Because I was just like, "This is rude, and I feel sick and you're telling me to go to PE and run laps around the football field. I can't do that."'
Christina then issued an emotional apology to her daughter for not realizing earlier on that something was wrong, admitting that she never saw Sadie suffering in their home and therefore didn't understand the symptoms she was struggling with at school.
In fact, the actress said she simply assumed that her daughter wasn't a big fan of sports, much like she had been when she was in school.
Her mom said: 'She wears layers of clothes on 90-degree days and she hates PE — sorry school, not a big fan of PE or physical things.
'I was like, "Oh, I kind of felt that way too." I feel so horrible that we didn't pay attention to it.'
Apologizing to her daughter, Christina said: 'I just didn't see it at home, babe. At home you were fine. But it's kind of like us.
'We get out in the world, and the stresses and the anxiety of the world bring upon our symptoms much worse than they would be if we were in the safety and the coolness of our own homes.'
She added: 'And I'm so sorry Sadie Grace.'
Her daughter replied: 'It's OK.'
Sadie said her neurological issues make her have more empathy and understanding of her mom's battle with autoimmune disease MS.
She added: 'I feel like if I didn't have this thing it would be a lot harder to understand what my mom's going through.
'Like, when my mom's like, ''Oh, I'm kind of in pain right now. Oh, I'm having tremors.'' If I didn't have this, I probably would be like, '' don't really care. I don't know what you're talking about.''
