Jamie-Lynn Sigler was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 20 years old, she revealed to People. At the time, she was a few seasons into "The Sopranos" and at the height of her fame. But she continued to have a hard time with the MS diagnosis long after the show's conclusion in 2007. It wasn't until the 2016 interview with People that she felt comfortable openly discussing her condition. "I wasn't ready until now," Sigler said. "You'd think that after all these years, somebody would be settled with something like this, but it's still hard to accept."
Her autoimmune disorder, which affects the nervous system, first struck in 2000 while Sigler was shooting the film "Campfire Stories" in rural New Jersey, she told The Star-Ledger in early 2001. Her symptoms started as mild tingling in her feet that evolved into full-blown paralysis of her legs in a matter of hours, requiring a five-day hospital stay. Later, doctors diagnosed her with Lyme disease. "It was such a life-altering experience," she said. "I realized it could all be taken away in a moment. It's hard to explain, when you sit there and can't move anything."
But the numbness returned and started to affect her bladder control. "I thought I might have a bladder infection, since none of my symptoms by themselves seemed alarming enough for a doctor's visit," she told Brain & Life. When the symptoms became persistent enough, she sought help from neurologists who found the cause.
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