In the new documentary Introducing, Selma Blair, actor Selma Blair opens up about living with multiple sclerosis (MS), including receiving a stem cell transplant in 2019 to alleviate symptoms of her condition. Ahead of the release of the film, Blair spoke to Variety about having MS, her acting career, family life, and more for an August profile. Now, the publication has shared more quotes from the interview, specifically an update from Blair on how severe her MS symptoms are these days.
Blair has been very open about her experience with the disease ever since she first shared her diagnosis in October 2018. Read on to see how she's feeling now, post-stem cell transplant.
RELATED: Selma Blair Reveals the Early MS Sign She Didn't Know Was a Symptom.
The stem cell transplant had an impact on her symptoms.
In the Variety interview, Blair said that receiving a hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) helped with her MS. According to MS Society UK, HSCT "is an intense chemotherapy treatment for MS. It aims to stop the damage MS causes by wiping out and then regrowing your immune system, using your stem cells."
"I am in a lot of pain; I am well," Blair told Variety. "I said I was in remission, and I want to give that its due for the stem cell transplant, because nothing was taking down the flare. It absolutely put me in remission, which means no new lesions have formed since my HSCT."
It's not a complete cure, however.
Blair spoke to Variety about how the treatment shifted her outlook on living with MS.
"You go into it thinking, 'Oh, it's going to be a cure.' But what is cure?" the 49-year-old actor said. "It did what he said. It's just a period of acceptance that I'm changed. And that's fine; I'm lucky. It's softened my edges, and the neurological damage I have, it's been a gift because it's really softened me and created a lot more compassion for myself and others. Which is always useful."
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She was initially told she might have MS at 23.
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When Blair shared that she has MS on Instagram in October 2018, she said that she had been diagnosed in August of the same year. In the Variety interview, the Legally Blonde star explained that an eye doctor mentioned that she might have MS years earlier.
Blair talked about how, over the years, doctors have dismissed her pain, thinking that she just wanted to be prescribed pain medication. She also said that she dismissed her own pain because she thought it was just part of life or that she was exaggerating her symptoms. "I'm the opposite of a hypochondriac, because I convinced myself everything was in my head," the 49-year-old said.
But, when she was 23, an eye doctor brought MS up to Blair as a possibility. "At 23, after a very big medical issue. When I had gotten out of the hospital for something else, it had already gone back," she said. "But the vision damage had lasted. There was no Google then."
In another recent interview, she shared a surprising symptom.
Blair was also interviewed by The New York Times in October, and shared that what she thought was a personality trait was actually due to MS. She said that she was asked by a neurologist if she had ever been prescribed medication for pseudobulbar affect. "I said, 'No, this is just me, what are you talking about?'" Blair explained. "She's like, 'Or maybe it's not.' It never occurred to me."
According to Mayo Clinic, pseudobulbar affect is "a condition that's characterized by episodes of sudden uncontrollable and inappropriate laughing or crying." It "typically occurs in people with certain neurological conditions or injuries, which might affect the way the brain controls emotion."
MS manifests in a range of symptoms.
Multiple sclerosis, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, "is a chronic disease affecting the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). MS occurs when the immune system attacks nerve fibers and myelin sheathing (a fatty substance which surrounds/insulates healthy nerve fibers) in the brain and spinal cord. This attack causes inflammation, which destroys nerve cell processes and myelin—altering electrical messages in the brain."
Johns Hopkins notes that MS is "unpredictable and affects each patient differently—some individuals may be mildly affected, while others may lose their ability to write, speak or walk."
RELATED: If You Notice This While Walking, It May Be an Early Sign of MS.
Lia Beck Lia Beck is a writer living in Richmond, Virginia. In addition to Best Life, she has written for Refinery29, Bustle, Hello Giggles, InStyle, and more.Read moreFiled UnderCelebrities • Entertainment • Health Advice • NewsRead This Next"Cruel Intentions" Stars Reenact Their Iconic Kiss
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