Earlier this year, Selma Blair opened up in an interview with Good Morning America about her what it was like to be diagnosed with MS and how she’s been dealing with her 8-month-long flare up.
Since then, she’s given us an even closer look through her social media about what her day-to-day life has been like.
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Selma has bravely chosen to document her battle with multiple sclerosis to raise awareness.
Since the very beginning, she’s taken us through what it was like to tell her son about her diagnosis, what her symptoms have been like, and so on.
“Ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn’t know, and I was giving it everything to seem normal,” she said.
“And I was self-medicating when he wasn’t with me. I was drinking. I was in pain. I wasn’t always drinking, but there were times when I couldn’t take it.”
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that attacks the central nervous system.
It can cause pain, tremors, numbness, gait, difficulty speaking, failure of basic motor functions, fatigue, and more.
Selma has made it a point to spread the word about this debilitating illness.
Throughout her recent MS flare-up, she has taken the time to share with us via social media, all the ways it has been affecting her.
“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,” she said.
She often posts photos on Instagram of herself walking with a cane, to demonstrate the realities of her condition.
She even recently took a trip to Disney land where she was seen being pushed around in a wheelchair with her son on her lap .
So far, she’s done everything in her power to utilize her platform as a way to educate people on what MS is all about — and end the stigma that surrounds those with disabilities.
Even if that means putting herself center-stage, publicly sharing the obstacles along the way — nursing her grievances for the entire world to see.
She’s even got the ball rolling on a potential new adaptive clothing line for people with disabilities, with her good friend, Christian Siriano.
” Selma and I talked about it at dinner. What’s happening with her is so unreal, so I was like, ‘Well maybe this is something that is needed in a way,’ so we’ll see. I don’t know yet but maybe,” Christian revealed .
Like I said before, MS is notorious for attacking certain motor functions that would make everyday activities, like getting ready in the morning, a trial.
This means something as simple as putting on makeup in the morning can be a challenge for Selma.
She recently posted a video on Instagram of herself applying makeup, to show us exactly what it’s like.
She managed to keep things funny and lighthearted — without missing the point she was trying to get across.
Selma has actually managed to stay positive throughout most of this experience from what we can tell.
She definitely hasn’t lost her charm or sense of humor!
Anyways, as you know, she has always kept us in the loop and been extremely candid about her symptoms, like speech, balance, and insomnia.
And it turns out things are getting slightly worse before they get better — because now she is facing another symptom.
Yesterday she posted this photo on Instagram, with a caption explaining her most recent symptom: Hair loss.
“My right eyelashes all fell out except 3 corner ones. Happened in end of August. Haven’t regrown!,” she wrote.
“2 just started falling out in left eye so there goes my profile posing,” she added.
“I guess immune system figured it has bigger kid to spank. Im going to bed. With a lack of lashes but an abundance of love and beautiful flowers.”
While hair loss is not a direct symptom of MS, it can be a symptom of MS treatment.
Certain medications that target autoimmune diseases can cause hair loss.
“A number of medications can help slow the progression of disease but some are quite potent,” explained Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD, a neurologist and neuroscientist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. “Some are even chemotherapy drugs and can cause things like hair loss.”
Props to Selma for staying strong and sharing her struggles with us.
She has raised a ton of awareness, and hopefully made others who suffer from MS feel like they aren’t alone!
