Selma Blair’s lifelong health struggles were signs of multiple sclerosis that doctors wouldn’t acknowledge until she was in her 40s.
“I was diagnosed with relapsing limiting MS in 2018. It turned out I probably had juvenile MS as my first optical neuritis was when I was about seven, which left me with a lazy eye from nerve damage,” Blair, 53, said at the Flow Space Women’s Health Summit earlier this month. “But there were a lot of things missed my whole life.”
Blair recalled consistent pain, fatigue and neurological problems that went undiagnosed.
“I had CAT scans as a kid, and I had doctor visits, and I stayed in hospitals for weeks at a time,” Blair recalled. “I’d have fevers, I have pain, endless, bone crushing fatigue that I still do have. And my mom would say, why can’t you give her an MRI? And they’re like, ‘Oh, she doesn’t need it. She’s probably getting her period.’”
She added: “But then a boy would come in from my class who had a headache and they gave him an MRI the first thing. Now, they’re not wrong for doing that for him, but it’s like, What? Because I appeared OK, even though I had headaches all the time.”
The actress considered her diagnosis a relief after unexplained health issues often dismissed by medical professionals when she was younger as “growing pains.” Blair first revealed in 2018 that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She took a brief hiatus amid treatment and later returned to acting while also continuing to speak out about her health journey.
“I just put it on my Instagram to thank people on a set that were helping me stay at my job, because I couldn’t use my hands well, I couldn’t take my clothes off. I still sometimes struggle with dystonia and speech and movement, even though I’m relapse free right now,” Blair explained at the October event. “But when I did post I saw that there was a whole world that was that felt seen or a part of being seen or could relate to someone having chronic health issues.”
Blair has been thrilled about how her story has brought a community together, adding, “I realized that was a comfort to a lot of people. And there weren’t a lot of resources out about MS at the time.”
“There was so much I needed to learn,” she continued. “I’m still learning as I live with it, but I did see that it was much bigger than me. And then it had a point to me to sharing. It felt good. It felt good knowing people were feeling some comfort.”
Since being in remission, Blair has continued to shine a light on how she’s making progress.
“So a lot of people have been asking me how I am doing so great and my movement is so much different, and I really am excited,” Blair exclusively stated in a video for Us Weekly in August 2024. “I want to let people know that — I’m still in remission, I’m feeling great — after the bone marrow transplant, I actually fell into a major relapse.”
She explained that a recent MRI “lit up flare” and showed her “new lesions,” after which a doctor suggested she try out a new kind of therapy.
“It was just tablets. So I took that, a couple short series of tablets, and in two years your therapy is done. It’s called Mavenclad,” Blair told Us. “It’s been amazing and it helped my movement and speech so much, and it’s allowed me to have a great summer, great years. I need you all to know. Bye.”
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