Selma Blair Reveals she has Multiple Sclerosis

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Selma Blair Reveals Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis in Emotional Instagram Post
by Chris Gardner
October 20, 2018


Selma Blair has revealed that she has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

The 46-year-old actress shared the news Saturday afternoon with her 648,000 followers on Instagram.

I was in this wardrobe fitting two days ago. And I am in the deepest gratitude. So profound, it is, I have decided to share. The brilliant costumer #Allisaswanson not only designs the pieces #harperglass will wear on this new #Netflix show , but she carefully gets my legs in my pants, pulls my tops over my head, buttons my coats and offers her shoulder to steady myself.

I have #multiplesclerosis . I am in an exacerbation. By the grace of the lord, and will power and the understanding producers at Netflix , I have a job. A wonderful job. I am 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 are doing it. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.




Since my diagnosis at ten thirty pm on The night of August 16, I have had love and support from my friends , especially @jaime_king @sarahmgellar @realfreddieprinze @tarasubkoff @noah.d.newman .

My producers #noreenhalpern who assured me that everyone has something. #chrisregina #aaronmartin and every crew member... thank you. I am in the thick of it but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask. It can be overwhelming in the beginning. You want to sleep. You always want to sleep. So I don’t have answers. You see, I want to sleep.

But I am a forthcoming person and I want my life to be full somehow. I want to play with my son again. I want to walk down the street and ride my horse. I have MS and I am ok. But if you see me , dropping crap all over the street, feel free to help me pick it up. It takes a whole day for me alone. Thank you and may we all know good days amongst the challenges.




And the biggest thanks to @elizberkley who forced me to see her brother #drjasonberkley who gave me this diagnosis after finding lesions on that mri. I have had symptoms for years but was never taken seriously until I fell down in front of him trying to sort out what I thought was a pinched nerve.

I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least. And I am relieved to at least know. And share. My instagram family... you know who you are.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ra...gnosis-1154050

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Selma Blair is "In Remission" from her Multiple Sclerosis: "My Prognosis is Great"
by Julie Mazziotta and Christina Dugan
August 16, 2021


Selma Blair is sharing happy news — after years in a painful multiple sclerosis flare, she's now in remission.

The actress, 49, was diagnosed with the chronic immune disease in Aug. 2018. After a year of dealing with intense pain and physical struggles from MS, including having difficulty speaking and losing the ability to fully use her left leg, Blair opted for a stem cell transplant and an "aggressive" course of chemotherapy to restart her immune system.




It took time, she explained Monday while appearing virtually at the discovery+ TCA panel Monday in support of her upcoming documentary Introducing Selma Blair, but it finally worked.

"My prognosis is great. I'm in remission. Stem cell put me in remission," Blair said. "It took about a year after stem cell for the inflammation and lesions to really go down."




"I was reluctant to talk about it because I felt this need to be more healed and more fixed," she said. "I've accrued a lifetime of some baggage in the brain that still needs a little sorting out or accepting. That took me a minute to get to that acceptance. It doesn't look like this for everyone."

"I have really felt unwell and misunderstood for so long that it's just, me," she added.




Blair said that while getting an MS diagnosis "can be very isolating" for some people, she was lucky to have a ton of support from her family and friends, and that changed how she approaches life.

"People took great care of me. I never really like life. I do now — strange, huh?" she said. "Just because life's so weird. I was so scared in life. To suddenly start to find an identity and a safety in me, to figure out boundaries, time management and energy. I'm having the time of my life."

https://ew.com/syndication/selma-bla...osis-is-great/

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Selma Blair Discusses Living with Undiagnosed MS for 40 Years: "If you're a girl, you're called crazy"
by Sara Netzley
April 20, 2023


Actress Selma Blair experienced symptoms of multiple sclerosis for 40 years before receiving a diagnosis in 2018, and she's now using her platform to empower others with disabilities.

In a new interview with British Vogue, Blair, 50, said she wasn't aware that when she lost the use of her right eye, left leg, and bladder by the time she was 7, she was experiencing symptoms of the autoimmune disease. And when she attempted to bring it up with adults, she was accused of seeking attention and dismissed by her doctors.

"If you're a boy with those symptoms, you get an MRI," she said. "If you're a girl, you're called 'crazy.'"




Blair's childhood was also marked by nighttime fits of hysterical laughter, which became uncontrollable bouts of crying when she reached adulthood. "I just thought I was a hugely emotional person," the actress said.

But in fact the frontal lobe of her brain had been damaged by undiagnosed MS. "I looked like a 'normal' girl to them," Blair told the magazine, "but I was Disabled this whole time."




Following her diagnosis, Blair received a hematopoietic stem cell transplant in 2019, and the MS has been in remission since 2021. But living with the disease is still overwhelming.

"Sometimes I can't eat for days, and then when I can relax, I overdo it and all the hunger rushes in," she said. "I require more sleep than a bear in winter."




Blair is also optimistic about the possibility of returning to acting someday.

"Doors are closed until they are held open," she said. "Disabled people behind and in front of the camera or stage that will set this tone. I have hope for the industry. Times are changing. I want to encourage this by just being a loud squeaky wheel. And listening. And getting loud."

https://ew.com/celebrity/selma-blair...d-ms-40-years/

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Selma Blair Says she's "Relapse-Free" and Thinking about her Dreams again while Living with MS
by Lauren Huff
April 25, 2025


Selma Blair opened up to PEOPLE while attending The Daily Front Row's 9th Annual Fashion Los Angeles Awards on Thursday about how her improving health is making her think more about her future plans.

Blair, who was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2018 and has been in remission since 2021, told the outlet that she is "truly relapse-free" from symptoms of the disease and is "feeling really well."

"I am doing amazingly well. I've been feeling great for about a year," she said. "But I am finally well enough to really, genuinely ... I always try and feel my best, but now that I actually have stamina and energy and getting out and going out isn't so scary."



As for the future, she said, "It's funny, I haven't spent enough time having dreams. And now it's like, what are my dreams?"

She continued, "I think maybe since the diagnosis. You're just tired all the time. I spent so much of my life so tired from being unwell that I think I just was trying to get through the day. And now it's like, wait, I realize I don't know what my goals are."



Now that she's in a position to think about her goals, though, she shared that her focus is "much more career-oriented."

She "would love" to get back into acting again, as well as continue advocating for people with chronic illness.

https://ew.com/selma-blair-is-thinki...-free-11722644