Selma Blair reveals the 'toxic' way she coped with MS symptoms

Selma Blair says she used to drink to mask her her multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms, which she first showed signs of as a child.

It wasn't until Blair was 46 that she received an official MS diagnosis, but she believes she likely experienced juvenile MS.

Speaking last year at the Flow Space Women's Health Summit, the Legally Blonde star said: "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."

She added: "But there were a lot of things missed my whole life."

In light of it taking years before she was diagnosed with MS, Blair turned to alcohol to mask her MS symptoms, which she recently admitted to Jenny McCarthy on her podcast.

Selma Blair opened up about turning to alcohol to cope with her early symptoms of MS (@thejennymccarthywahlbergshow/YouTube)

"It's wild the times that I've gone, even as a very young girl, to alcohol. I was never someone that liked drugs. I was just afraid of them, you know," Blair said.

The 54-year-old continued: "I was never someone that could tolerate opiates, thank God. Like vomit, vomit, vomit, you know, especially with all my teeth stuff."

Apparently drinking was the 'one thing that took away [her] nerve pain', Blair went on, but she knew it 'wasn't going to lead [her] to the right place'.

McCarthy then weighed in and said that having alcohol while dealing with an autoimmune condition is like 'drinking toxic sludge'.

Now Blair says she's sober – but not 'sober sober'. She explained: "I don't live like a sober sober lifestyle with AA, but drinking, no, I cannot do."

Blair divulged further: "I wish I could be someone that could have two glasses of wine and just be flirty and fun and listen better.

"I'm still a human being, but I recognize that alcohol is not good medicine for me."

It wasn't until the actress was 46 years old that she was diagnosed with MS (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Desert Cove Recovery, a rehab center in Arizona, warns on its website that the affects alcohol can have on a person with an autoimmune disease like MS is 'more severe'.

It states: "The effects of alcohol on those with autoimmune diseases have the potential to be much more significant. One can experience an enhanced vulnerability to sickness or feeling sluggish for up to two weeks afterward."

Apparently fatigue is 'the most common complaint' by those with autoimmune diseases who drink alcohol.

"That fatigue, however, can play into other choices that affect the body. Science says we binge eat more frequently when we’re tired," it says of this.

"Our bodies naturally crave sugars and carbohydrates as they desire a quick source of energy. Poor dietary decisions make way for an increase in autoimmune disease symptoms, including inflammation."