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'My right eyelashes all fell out...': Selma Blair shares latest side effect of MS

Selma Blair. Image via Getty Images.
Selma Blair. Image via Getty Images.

Selma Blair is opening up about the side effects of living with multiple sclerosis.

In a recent Instagram post, the “Legally Blonde” star revealed to her followers that most of her eyelashes have fallen out due to her illness.

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“My right eyelashes all fell out except three corner ones,” Blair wrote. “Happened in [the] end of August. Haven’t regrown! Two just started falling out in left eye so there goes my profile posing.”

View this post on Instagram

Thank you universe list , partial: thank you to @jaime_king and @artfleurla for making sure I have the most lovely and original floral arrangement every week. This is a huge act of love to do for someone who is housebound, people. Major. Heartbreakingly touching. I hide in them and breathe. 2. I am trying to remember to breathe. I can’t believe people do this easily. I hold my breath accidentally for oodles of time. Always have. That is problematic. 3 . @aftermovie had an la premiere this evening. I have been unable to be in crowds easily lately and couldn’t go. Didn’t even realize it was tonight as that is how in a different zone I am, but I am so proud of you @gagebetterton and @annatodd and @josephinelangford and @hero_ft and the rest of you gorgeous ones. 4. Thank you to @thejenniferbeals for last minute attempt to get me there. Sometimes we get so much support , but if there is an option , home is apparently where a body in need needs to be. 5 thank you @busyphilipps for super yummy food tonight. And @sarahmgellar for figuring out this lifesaving #mealtrain for us. 6. My son is here. Love Very small list of crappy random. 1. My right eyelashes all fell out except 3 corner ones. Happened in end of August. Haven’t regrown! 2 just started falling out in left eye so there goes my profile posing. 🤯. I guess immune system figured it has bigger kid to spank. Or it’s a weird coincidence. Or meds. Im going to bed. With a lack of lashes but an abundance of love and beautiful flowers. #jaimeking #artfleurla #bloom #aftermovieapril12 💛 #itsallyellow

A post shared by Selma Blair (@selmablair) on Apr 8, 2019 at 9:10pm PDT

The 46-year-old actress has been open about living with the chronic illness, with side effects such as impaired mobility and strained speech, known as spasmodic dysphonia.

Since revealing her illness in October 2018, Blair has done her best to stay in good spirits, and is hopeful that she’ll regain 90 per cent of her abilities once her MS flare up subsides.

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“I guess [my] immune system figured it has bigger kid to spank,” she wrote. “Or it’s a weird coincidence. Or meds.”

According to experts, hair loss is a common side effect of MS treatment, and not the disease itself.

“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, Calif. during an interview with Women’s Health. “Some are even chemotherapy drugs and can cause things like hair loss.”

While hair loss may be an unfortunate result of treatment, Kesari says patients should weigh their options before opting for a medication change.

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“If hair loss is related to a drug and the drug is actually helping the MS, you want to consider that,” he explained.

Blair is choosing to focus on the support from those around her, including celebrity pals Busy Philipps, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Beals.

“I’m going to bed,” Blair told her followers. “With a lack of eyelashes but an abundance of love and beautiful flowers.”

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