Selma Blair Has MS

Sorry to hear that. She's a good bitch.

Aw that makes me sad. Always liked her.

Oh, god, that's fucking horrible. Poor Selma.

DLers who know medicine better than I do, what does this mean for her? Do most people go downhill quickly, or could she still have many good years left?

She could have many years left but they won't be good ones. Very sad.

It depends r3 and r4. It is a tricky fucking disease with different levels of severity. The actress who played Meadow on the Sopranos has had it for years now, and she manages quite well, and lives relatively "normally". Then you have cases like Annette Funicello, who soon after her diagnosis deteriorated very quickly, yet lived a long time trapped in her body. Here is hoping that this is not the worst case scenario for Selma (or anyone else living with this). SO many years of research and we still haven't been able to make substantial inroads into finding a cure.

[quote]It depends [R3] and [R4]. It is a tricky fucking disease with different levels of severity

I have a coworker who is very young and spry and one day I saw her with a cane and I asked if she had fell, but she has MS and most days are fine but some days she wakes up and her mobility is off. I hate to think of her health deteriorating.

Some can manage with low levels of disability in the long term. With many others, it's progressive. Someone I went to school with has it. He works full-time and I hope he has the former kind.

Oh wow, I just read her Instagram post at the OPs link, and I wish I hadn't. It's more advanced than I imagined. I don't know her at all but sending her supportive vibes.

After I saw your comment, R8, I went to read the post, too. You're right, her condition does appear to be advanced:

[quote]I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken gps.

She says she thinks she has had undiagnosed MS for the past 15 years.

Of further interest to DL: She's friends with Elizabeth Berkley, who insisted that Selma see her brother, Dr. Jason Berkley, after other doctors had failed her. It was Dr. Berkley who finally made the correct diagnosis.

There’s exciting new developments in the treatment of MS. Neurological damage with this disease can be reversed. Hopefully she can get access to new clinical trials in her area. There’s definitely hope.

I don't understand how she went undiagnosed for so long. It isn't *that* rare. I guess that's a moot point now. How fucking shitty. That's good to hear r10 I hope ALS isn't far behind. That disease terrifies me.

R10 Does medical research of degenerative diseases ever produce breakthroughs that help?

My mom has ALS. Her first symptoms started a year ago, now she can’t walk, use her hands, and has trouble talking and swallowing. She’s 74 and never had health problems before. Is MS fatal? I think ALS is way worse. I’m pretty sure she’s going to pass in the next year, maybe two if we are lucky. It’s a terrifying disease.

I am not the researcher but yes ALS is far, far worse. As you say, truly terrifying.

Her sister Linda must be so worried.

R15 terrible. 😶.

I know of people who have had REAL success with Stem Cell treatment out of the country. NOT embryonic- donor cells from cord tissue blood. Anyways, it works, people just don't know about it. Like everything else that is *relatively* new it is expensive ($20,000), and may need to be repeated a few times, thus the preview of the wealthy now. Big Pharma of course, wants you to know nothing of this. Oh, and DO NOT trust any stem cell treatment facility in the U.S. for the majority of ailments- most are scam operations- unless they are certified by the FDA- it's like the Wild West put there these days.

Lola Falana had MS and was cured.

[quote] Falana attributes her recovery to a spiritual experience which she described as “Being able to feel the presence of the Lord.

If someone other than Repub OP would start a thread about this, that'd be great.

r17 can you link to some info about this? I met a woman recently who'd had stem cell treatments in CA. She said it was very expensive. And I read something recently about the stem cells moving from the insertion sites and doing things the doctors had not expected. I'd like to learn more.

And I'd also like to point out that MS is no excuse for Salma's eyebrows to be one millimeter from her hairline.

I’ve heard that MS is triggered by cocaine abuse

Ann Romney is one who has had MS for years & seems to be doing relatively well.

Of course she does.

R12 As a clinical researcher, we are now testing the safety and efficacy of new antibody based therapies for MS and other similar diseases. These studies are very exciting and, if proved effective will provide a method to restore damaged neurons and provide functional recovery of motor skills for MS patients. This sounds to me like a breakthrough.

[quote]Oh wow, I just read her Instagram post at the OPs link, and I wish I hadn't. It's more advanced than I imagined. I don't know her at all but sending her supportive vibes.

Yeah, based on her post things look a bit bad for her. In another instagram post, she mentions having degenerative disc disease. Poor thing, MS is also an expensive disease, so she may have worries about finances and she also has a kid.

[quote]I don't understand how she went undiagnosed for so long. It isn't *that* rare.

There's a good lesson here for everyone, R11. She said her doctor (I'm assuming her PCP) didn't think there was anything wrong until Elizabeth stepped in and told her to call her brother who is also a doc. You have to keep looking for answers, even if you have a good or great doctor. Don't accept that their diagnosis of "nothing's wrong" is always correct or that it's in your head.

I had an illness that two doctors told me didn't exist. I believed them until things didn't improve. I even did my own research and told them what I had found. Neither listened. It wasn't until a friend recommended a specialist that I got some answers and was able to undergo treatment. It's not even that my illness is that uncommon, either. It's just that they (the first two) settled on that not being a problem and it took a third doctor to actually start from scratch with all of my tests and listen to me.

Yeah, some PCPs are pretty shitty. Selma lost years of getting treatment and meds.

Selma and Elizabeth Berkley went to the same school - Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan - until Elizabeth moved to LA for Saved By the Bell.

It's more common than not for women's obvious symptoms of severe injury and/or major illness to be brushed aside as hypochondria by everyone in the medical profession. Men's complaints may be misdiagnosed, but they'll actually be taken seriously and investigated to get to that misdiagnosis.

I'm not surprised, those tits must have given her backache for years!

OMG this disease is weecking a friend of mine right now.

Wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

I agree! It's horrible!

I'm shocked that Nomi Malone has a brother who is a doctor.

Hi, can we get back to the mystery of my hairline? Thx

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Whats on her Ipod?

Oh sure, sympathy for Selma, but you bitches don't give a fuck about MY autoimmune disease.

Lens, start using a cane and maybe you'll get some sympathy.

Selma is WAY more deserving of sympathy than that self important cow Lena. Love her. Her ex Ahmet Zappa is so hot.

Sad to hear it, love Selma. Hope it is manageable for her.

[quote]Selma is WAY more deserving of sympathy than that self important cow Lena. Love her. Her ex Ahmet Zappa is so hot.

What about me? I also dated Selma.

In 1994 I went to my PCP because the PT didn't help what we thought was a pinched nerve in my back. As we talked I raised my arm as a gesture. The doc put down his pen and asked me to walk down the hall. I guess I my gait was off and I kept bouncing off the wall. He said go upstairs to radiology, I've arranged for you to get an MRI. I asked what he thought was wrong and he didn't want to tell me but he finally said, well, a brain tumor or ms. I debated with myself as I lay in the machine.which one did I want?When I came out off the tube the tech asked me if I ever had trouble with my eyes and I knew immediately it was ms. I went back to the PCP's office and he had the results, ms. I was told not to drive. I had a friend come and give me a ride home. It was like boom. ms. I was referred to a neurologist. He told me they had no medicines for ms and to go home and get my affairs in order. At least now there are a lot of drugs to slow the trajectory of the disease. I wish her well and hope she's able to find a disease modifying treatment that works for her.

"At least now there are a lot of drugs to slow the trajectory of the disease"

If you have health insurance.

R42 How horrifying! How long ago was this if you don't mind me asking? Are you able to get anything now to slow the progression? Most importantly how are you now? So sorry for all of the questions, but your story really hit me on a gut level.

R42, sorry I see the date it was discovered now.

One person I knew was diagnosed with MS and was dead within 9 or 10 months. Another I know has had it for going on two decades and does more (travel, pet rescue, large family gatherings, yoga, etc.) than any healthy person I know. She gets weekly Interferon injections. Has a down day and then she's off and running. Hard to predict how MS will affect someone.

R26 It took 4 years for me to get a diagnosis. Every doctor I went to said there was nothing wrong with me and it was all in my head. Lucky for me my problem could be fixed with surgery. As I recall Annette Funicello came forward with her MS because people were saying she was drunk.

Jack Osbourne has MS. IIRC, he did mention being on medication. He's married now with a few kids. Saw him on some talk show a few months ago, he said he was feeling great. I guess it depends on the individual, some people with MS don't get as ill as others.

R29 don’t i know it! Dr. Bud DISMISSED me - told me I should change my hair color!

MY cousin died of complications from MS. My aunt, her mother, is in her late 70s and has lived with MS for decades - and had serious complications a couple of times.

Selma Blair is a jerk. She did a Vanity Fair photo cover with all the other hip kids back in 2000 with Leibowitz at a posh house in Coral Gables and she was literally poison. Rude. Flat as a board. Paul Walker was there, who was nice. She kept demanding cigarettes and all this shit. My friend's parents owned the house so he invited me over the day of the shoot. I couldn't believe how stuck up and bratty everyone was (aside from walker).

She also said on a talk show that she would drink Freddie Prinze Jr's bathwater.

She's a gross person.

There's a choreographer and dancer Courtney Platt who has MS. She's married to Ben Platt's less famous brother Jonah. Courtney seems to be in a great shape and she still works on movie and TV projects.

Thanks r51. Was it one of those "The New A-List" covers?

[quote]She did a Vanity Fair photo cover with all the other hip kids back in 2000

Oh, c'mon. That was almost two decades ago. Do you want to be forever judged by the shit you did and said in your twenties?

Exactly r54. I think most of us thought we were hot shit in our 20s and likely behaved like massive assholes at some point. If she did, it doesn't mean she got what she deserved with her MS diagnosis.

Yeah, Selma may been an asshole years ago. It's also possible that she has changed.

I'll say that I have more sympathy for Selma than Lena Dunham who has said and done tons of shitty things on social media and interviews. IIRC, weren't Lena's claims about raped in college debunked?

^ I meant to type "being raped in college"

r52- I've worked with Courtney for a couple of years on a series and had no idea that she had MS (the other dancers told me). She never complains and sometimes she goes blind temporarily or dances in great pain.

Jesus, reading this thread makes me realize what a fucking wimp I am, and how utterly amazing others are. I couldn't do it. I would move to Oregon and take the phenobarbital express.

(R44) I took both interferons ( injections) then I took Glyenia (pill) and the IV administered Tysabri for two years. That Tysabri really quieted all the inflammation so I felt great, but had to stop because of risk factors, and now I'm on a drug that's done through an IV every six months called Ocrevus. Physically I look good when I'm sitting down, but I need to use a walker. That's the key. You have to keep moving forward however slow the pace.

As the post after me said 'if you have insurance '. I was lucky that when the ms took me out of a really good job I left with a package that included health insurance. These drugs are outrageously expensive and if you have a good neurologist lots of MRIs. It is not a cheap illness. They sent me a bill for $76,000 for one infusion. It was covered by insurance, but it that's what it would cost out of pocket. Talk about sticker shock.

Jonah Platt is hot.

R60 thank you for answering my questions. You are definitely in the amazing column! Sending you every best wish.

R61 I agree. He should have a bigger career

A friend of mine's mother was diagnosed with MS around 1990 and is now in her 80s. She has had good and bad periods. Early on, she got drugs from Europe not yet approved in the US. She had them sent to him as he lived in NYC and international packages would not bring as much attention there--he then mailed them to her in Chicago. She has outlived her son by 25 years (he died of AIDS in 1993). There is no predicting...

Yes, the medications for MS are expensive. If you end up wheelchair bound due to MS, it can be expensive to make certain modifications to your home. A friend's wife is in wheelchair because of MS. They lucked out when they were able to sell their old house and buy a smaller one story house had been modified for a paraplegic many years before.

R51 What was Marley Shelton like (she was in that pic too)? I've always liked her.

She was alcohol & drug addicted for a long long time, even went to rehab a couple of times for it. I think she might have had a genetic predisposition to MS but it was most likely exacerbated by her substance abuse. There's no scientific correlation....YET but I think all substance abuse or even social substance users are playing with the roulette wheel. We don't know enough about the body & the reactions to substances, including marijuana. People should not do drugs for recreational usage imho.

My favorite story about Selma Blair is the commentary track to The Sweetest Thing. About halfway through, Selma makes a comment about Christina Applegate's hair and Christina was clearly pissed and Selma spent the rest of the commentary apologizing. It was really awkward.

When she was promoting The Fog, she clearly realized it was a shitty movie and said her fake breasts were the scariest thing in it. She said this on a talk show the day the movie opened.

R66 Damn. Only Penelope really "made it" of the people on that cover, though Wes Bentley still gets some work. LOL @ Sarah Wynter. Is she even still acting?

r68 that seems to happen on almost all of those Vanity Fair, the next "It" actor covers/feature. Maybe one out of the bunch makes it to some extent, and the rest end up c- list if they are lucky, or total obscurity if they aren't.

[quote]My favorite story about Selma Blair is the commentary track to The Sweetest Thing. About halfway through, Selma makes a comment about Christina Applegate's hair and Christina was clearly pissed and Selma spent the rest of the commentary apologizing. It was really awkward.

I'm so happy someone pissed off that homewrecking cunt Christina Applegate. Did Christina have an affair with anyone while shooting that movie?

[quote]Damn. Only Penelope really "made it" of the people on that cover, though Wes Bentley still gets some work. LOL @ Sarah Wynter. Is she even still acting?

I was thinking the same thing about Sarah Wynter. Some of the other ones mostly do TV gigs or indie direct to video/streaming movies.

Who?? I have no idea who this person is. But I'm sorry if she has some disease.

Glad you took time to post that r72

And you, R73

Sarah Wynter was definitely the shittiest actress on that cover (yes, even shittier than Chris Klein). Does anyone remember that Alma Mahler biopic she played the title role in? I guess that film was supposed to turn her into a serious actress but she was fucking ridiculous in it. I remember Roger Ebert gave that film 0.5/4 stars.

Penelope has definitely had the best career out of them all. I love her.

Remember when Selena was screaming on a plane about her master electrocuting her? The excuse was a white wine blackout, I believe.

Excuse me, Selma.

Selma Blair is a perfect example of MK Ultra mind control gone horribly terribly incomprehensibly WRONG.

"he burns me he burns me he burns me ..."

Misha Barton's rant at nobody a few years back was another example telling the air she'd be a conduit and all that shit.

Most of these celebrities are bonkers behind closed doors. See Britney when she was going "Oh, hello" in the middle of an interview then started crying?

^^^ Conspiracy nut alert.

R68 Sarah Wynter's career took a nose dive when people learned she dropped her dogs off at a kill shelter.

Selma has been on the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover more than once

Surprisingly, most of those actresses are still relevant and working. Except Brittany.

Remember she had a bit of buzz at the turn of the millennium, with that WB show Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane, which was allegedly an ensemble, but she seemed to be getting most of the press. Then she did 'Cruel Intentions' and after that...

Actually, when I was with my parents recently and they were watching an episode of 'The Good Fight', it took me a few minutes to realize that British actress, Rose Leslie was NOT Selma Blair.

[quote]If you have health insurance

I thought Obamacare was supposed to fix that.

Sad.

Has Charlie Sheen made a statement??!?

R79 In those instances that was the meth talking. All meth addicts.

I looked up Vanity Fair April 2000 to see if I recognized the house in Coral Gables, and it's just a bunch of people sitting on a lawn that could be anywhere.