Could This be an MS Symptom

[sariley]

I have 10+ WML that are not typical of MS. All blood work comes back with no issues and I'm otherwise an active woman. Brain MRI's date back to 2007 with each new one showing "slight progression." Recently had sciatica like pain but lumbar MRI confirmed that it's not sciatica. I was given 2 rounds of oral steroids which helped while taking them but pain returned when dosages were over. I had spinal steroid epidural as offered by my neurologist. It has helped significantly. Cervical or thoracic MRI shows possible lesion as told to by my neurologist. Many on off symptoms of facial numbness, tripping, exhaustion, warm feeling running down leg, forgetfulness, lack of concentration, urinary incontinence (couple times), major bouts of constipation despite plenty of fiber/water/exercise (went to gastro last year because I couldn't take it anymore: no physical issues found, interspersed with occasional unexplained emergency type onset of diarrhea ....
Is constipation a symptom of MS?
And I have a issue that has returned that I experienced back in 2012....when I move my foot into certain positions it get all of a sudden stiff, and my toes curl and it hurts....not all the time but occasionally. Could this be a symptom?
I appreciate any input that you may have to offer.

[jimmylegs]

i don't believe your foot issue could be a result of ms. i have experienced those kinds of cramps, both before and after my dx. for me they were (past tense) nutritional. the first time i heard such an idea was from a relative in australia who said it was a low potassium situation.

10 years later this makes more sense to me than it did at the time. generally i would connect cramps and spasticity with low magnesium, which is a common finding in ms patients. but low magnesium and low potassium are often seen together, and low mag impairs cellular potassium repletion: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1728927
so now, it makes more sense. and i no longer get those nasty foot cramps

when i had nerve pain in my hip, i happened to be in physiotherapy for something else at the time AND my own physiotherapist happened to go on vacay and the stand in zeroed in on my SI joint, roughed me up a bit accordingly, and the pain was gone for good.

it's a real pain how terrible standard bloodwork is at picking up nutritional issues. it's a major gap in health policy and i hope one of these decades the normal ranges used in literature and in labs get a really thorough update. i think we're okay as far as serum ferritin goes, but for the rest of it, not so much. there are voices in the academic literature suggesting that the current state of affairs amounts to negligence. sad but true! luckily anyone willing to make the effort in their own behalf can just check if their day to day habits meet their actual nutritional requirements. it's no magic pill however. a lot of work!