This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

heya k, welcome to the forums. sounds like you're having a pretty nasty time! if you've read anything of mine posted here, you'll likely know i'm the supplement fanatic. i see several things in your symptom list that should drastically benefit from magnesium supplementation. the twitching, fatigue, confusion, anxiety, and swallowing difficulties. possibly the vertigo too. you can boost your intake of nuts and seeds, and dark leafy green veg such as kale, spinach, etc to get more mag also. the more mag you can cram into your diet the better. the supplements are hard to absorb. get the most soluble form you can if you're going to try magnesium pills or powders. mag citrate is a good one. take 250-500mg per day to start. if you just take a 250, do it at bedtime. if you take 500, take one in the morning and one at night.
vitamin b6 and potassium are two things that help magnesium do the best.
also, look into vitamin d3 for the ibs and any autoimmune/inflammatory condition. eat more fish like mackerel and salmon. that'll help with the omega 3 status too.
for bloodwork, if you decide to look into these ideas, i've heard a few things about magnesium, but it's not conclusive yet. i've read in a few places that people should test the rbc (red blood cell) magnesium (not the serum magnesium). elsewhere i've read that 'Intravenous magnesium challenge' is better than testing rbc. here's an article that points up some of the difficulties with magnesium bloodwork - http://www.mgwater.com/Seelig/Magnesium ... ndix.shtml
my magnesium test was probably the wrong one. i didn't know about the testing controversy when i ordered my magnesium check, and the level i got back seemed to be inside my lab's normal range. but when i took magnesium pills it was like night and day. especially for the swallowing and muscle issues. it was possibly also partly or totally responsible for clearing up some serious confusion issues that had my neuro on the brink of pulling my license to drive. yikes!
moving on from mag, it's much easier to effectively test your 25hydroxyvitamind3. (don't bother testing 1,25dihydroxyvitamind3). make sure your level is over 100 nmol/L, and you can go as high as about 200-250nmol/L safely. you have to be sure you're getting enough calcium, magnesium and zinc when you high dose d3. (meaning if you get into d3 4000IU plus per day over a long time period). hmm if you're in washington, probably your lab will not be using nmol/L so you'd want to be looking at getting yourself up to around 50 ng/mL minimum for serum 25hydroxyvitamind3 levels. that's about 125 nmol/L.
you can take action on this stuff even without bloodwork, you don't have to wait around for the doctors. so frustrating to have all this going on and they are just shrugging. but if you can get someone to order just one test, make it your d3. you can just whip out to the pharmacy tomorrow and start working on all these issues. oh yea and for your eyes, consider a supplement with lutein. and talk to a pharmacist. i've run into one very helpful fella in particular, with whom i've chatted about symptoms and nutrition and he helped change my life.
good luck!