Currently, because of the vagueness of the symptoms, and because of the fact that these come and go and there seems to be no apparent connection between them, the early symptoms of multiple sclerosis are fairly difficult to name. Also, some of “signs” are possible not to be early symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, as these can be entirely unrelated to this condition.

Persons who are going to be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, and the doctors, have troubles relating the various signs and early symptoms to MS due to the fact that they can be related to a number of other conditions. A single MS symptom can be diagnosed as an illness in itself, while a bunch of them combined can be seen and diagnosed as something completely different.  So, how can someone truly recognize the early multiple sclerosis symptoms?

The answer isn’t an easy one, as in order to make sure that the condition is in fact MS implies tests that are performed in hospitals and clinics, and there is a fair amount that a doctor who’s not familiar with MS will diagnose something  else.

There is however, a list of outlines that are noted to be early MS symptoms:

-    Unexplained fatigue, which usually isn’t resolved with plenty of rest. Also, this fatigue can be insidious, meaning that it gradually works its way into one’s everyday life, making the person feel like he or she is tired all the time

-    Clumsiness which is uncharacteristic in the person and which manifest itself by knocking or dropping things over, tripping, and such.

-    Unexplained weakness in one’s legs and/or arms

-    Language skills problems – this translates into being able to speak fluent one day, and another day having problems expressing thoughts. Most of the times, this manifests as thinking one thing and saying another thing. However, most people see this like something related to stress or lack of sleep, and this early symptom is most likely to be ignored.

-    Slurred speech – mispronunciation or slurring without any obvious cause

-    Troubles focusing and concentrating on things. This is a very commonly ignored symptom that’s attributed to stress or tiredness.

-    Depression - this is usually seen only as something psychological, rather than a condition that‘s caused by an underlying organic disease.

-    Aggression and/or dis-inhibition or other inappropriate social behaviors.

-    Incontinence or urinary retention – which is most likely seen as only a urinary problem and treated by an urologist

-    Vision problems, which include transitory eye pain and blurring. It is estimated that about 15% to 20% of people who are going to be diagnosed with MS to be first diagnosed with optic neuritis.

As it has been said, these symptoms come and go, and don’t occur all at the same time. But, if these symptoms have a pattern or occurrence and are present on and off over long periods of time, a MS specialist should be consulted.