Selma Blair shared an update on her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), greater than seven years after revealing her diagnosis.
Speaking to Stellar on Saturday, November 22, Blair, 53, confirmed she had been relapse-free for a “couple of years” and shared her gratitude that her condition was not worsening.
“That, after all, means the world to me that I’m not, at this moment, accumulating more damage in my brain. I actually have also made loads of strides with the vibe of neuroplasticity,” she told the outlet.
Blair continued, “I’m very, very lucky. Everyone’s experience with MS is different. I feel I do have a certain place [to speak publicly]. My big mouth likes to see what I can do about stigma.”
Based on the Mayo Clinic, MS is “a disease that causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves. Multiple sclerosis could cause numbness, weakness, trouble walking, vision changes and other symptoms.”
The Cruel Intentions star publicly shared her MS diagnosis in October 2018 via an emotional Instagram post.
On the time, Blair shared a mirror selfie and wrote a couple of wardrobe fitting for her Netflix sci-fi drama, One other Life.
“I used to be on this wardrobe fitting two days ago. And I’m within the deepest gratitude. So profound, it’s, I actually have decided to share,” Blair wrote. “The sensible costumer #Allisaswanson not only designs the pieces #harperglass will wear on this latest #Netflix show , but she rigorously gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, buttons my coats and offers her shoulder to regular myself. I actually have #multiplesclerosis.”
Selma Blair. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Glamour)
“I’m in an exacerbation,” she continued, adding her symptoms were worsening on the time. “By the grace of the lord, and can power and the understanding producers at Netflix, I actually have a job. A beautiful job. I’m disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps. But we’re doing it. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I’ll do precisely but I’ll do my best.”
Blair went on to share details of her difficult health experience so as to give hope to others battling something similar and thanked those supporting her.
“I’m within the thick of it but I hope to provide some hope to others. And even to myself,” she added. “You’ll be able to’t get help unless you ask. It could actually be overwhelming to start with. You should sleep. You usually need to sleep. So I don’t have answers. You see, I need to sleep. But I’m a forthcoming person and I need my life to be full in some way. I need to play with my son again. I need to walk down the road and ride my horse. I actually have MS and I’m okay. But in the event you see me, dropping crap all around the street, be happy to assist me pick it up. It takes an entire day for me alone. Thanks and should everyone knows good days amongst the challenges.”
Selma Blair is getting candid on what it’s like being in remission for multiple sclerosis — and the pain that comes with getting older. “I hurt on a regular basis,” Blair, 51, said in an Instagram video on Monday, January 29. “I say that just for you those that hurt also. Like I get it.” The […]
Last month, Blair opened up about how doctors dismissed her early symptoms of MS before she was ultimately diagnosed with the disease.
“I used to be diagnosed with relapsing limiting MS in 2018. It turned out I probably had juvenile MS as my first optical neuritis was after I was about seven, which left me with a lazy eye from nerve damage,” Blair said on the Flow Space Women’s Health Summit. “But there have been loads of things missed my whole life.”
Blair recalled that she experienced consistent pain, fatigue and neurological problems — all of which were neglected when she was younger.
“I had CAT scans as a child, and I had doctor visits, and I stayed in hospitals for weeks at a time,” Blair said. “I’d have fevers, I actually have pain, infinite, bone crushing fatigue that I still do have. And my mom would say, why can’t you give her an MRI? They usually’re like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t need it. She’s probably getting her period.’”