It seems Christina Applegate isn’t alone in her family in dealing with health issues. This week, the actress’ teenage daughter went public with a condition called POTS.
As the “Dead to Me” star continues her battle with multiple sclerosis, her 13-year-old daughter, Sadie Grace Applegate LeNoble, said on a recent episode of her mom and “The Sopranos” actor Jamie Lynn-Sigler’s “Messy” podcast that she has been living with POTS — postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome — for years. On Tuesday’s episode, Sadie said she wasn’t officially diagnosed until recent months.
“I don’t know what it is exactly, but it has something to do with the autonomic nervous system and it affects my heart,” Sadie said. “So when I stand up, I get very dizzy and my legs get very weak and I feel like I’m going to pass out.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, POTS affects the body’s autonomic nervous system, which controls functions the body needs to survive, including heart rate, digestion, pupil dilation and contraction, and blood flow. It causes a person’s “heart to beat faster than normal” after standing up from sitting or lying down. The Cleveland Clinic says POTS is a common but incurable disease that affects 1 million to 3 million people in the United States.
POTS can manifest in different ways: Sadie says she experiences tremors and blurred vision, which can impact her school day. She said during the podcast that she feels sick and in pain during classes and that some teachers have dismissed her concerns and refused her requests to go to the nurse.
“Not doing anything about it has definitely hurt me physically and emotionally,” she said. “It’s rude and I feel bad and you’re telling me to go to PE and run circles around the football field. I can’t do that.”
School staff weren’t the only people who ignored Sadie’s condition: Applegate, 52, said she had no idea what her daughter was going through. “I feel really bad that we didn’t notice it,” she said.
Applegate apologized to her daughter and connected her own battle with MS to Sadie’s experiences.
“We go out into the world, and the stress and anxiety of the world make our symptoms worse than they would be if we were in the safety and cool of our homes,” he said.
Sadie, who is still working with her doctor on treatments and medication, said her experience with POTS helps her empathize with her mom. Applegate was diagnosed with MS three years ago and has spoken openly about her struggle with the autoimmune disease. Earlier this month, the Emmy-winning star detailed the return of her depression.
The teen, Applegate, whom she shares with musician Martyn LeNoble, told her mom, “If I didn’t have (POTS), I probably would’ve been like, ‘I don’t really care. I don’t know what you’re talking about.'”
Applegate consoled her daughter, saying: “I feel so bad for you. I’m so sad.”
She added: “I love you and I know you’re going to be OK. And I’m here for you and I believe in you. And thank you for bringing this to light and bringing awareness.”
