I didn’t feel sick, but something felt different
He wasn’t in pain.
He still went to work.
Still ate his meals.
But something had shifted.
It was small.
He couldn’t name it.
Not dizziness.
Not fatigue.
Just less of everything.
He started waking up tired.
Not groggy—just unfinished.
And he needed naps he didn’t used to need.
There was more foam in the toilet than before
She didn’t notice it at first.
Just brushed it off.
But one day, she stared longer.
The bubbles stayed.
Even after flushing.
She started watching it more closely.
It wasn’t every time.
But often enough to wonder.
My ankles looked swollen by the end of the day
Not huge.
Not painful.
But her socks left deeper lines.
She took them off earlier than usual.
By dinner, her feet felt heavier.
And when she pressed her finger,
It left a dent that stayed longer than expected.
I had to get up to pee at night
That wasn’t normal for him.
He used to sleep through the night.
Now he got up twice.
Every night.
At first, he thought it was water.
Or age.
But the frequency didn’t stop.
My skin started itching without a rash
Not just in one place.
Everywhere.
Mostly at night.
No bumps.
No redness.
Just irritation.
She changed laundry soap.
Changed lotions.
Nothing helped.
The skin felt wrong
But looked fine.
I couldn’t eat like before
Not nauseous.
Not full.
Just uninterested.
She left plates half-finished.
Food she used to love didn’t taste right.
It didn’t disgust her.
It just didn’t belong.
That scared her more than pain would have.
There was a constant metallic taste in my mouth
It wasn’t strong.
But it stayed.
Brushing didn’t help.
Gum didn’t hide it.
She checked her tongue every morning.
Nothing was there.
But everything tasted like metal.
Especially meat.
Especially breakfast.
My breath changed without warning
No garlic.
No onions.
No coffee.
But still, a strange smell.
He noticed it first.
She didn’t believe him.
Then coworkers mentioned gum.
That’s when she started to smell it herself.
I got tired too quickly for no reason
Walking upstairs felt harder.
Not breathless—just slow.
Her muscles felt heavier.
Like her body needed more effort for everything.
She rested often.
But didn’t feel rested.
Even with eight hours of sleep.
My hands started tingling while I slept
It wasn’t sharp.
Just light pins and needles.
Mostly in the fingers.
It faded after waking.
But came back every night.
She started wearing looser clothes.
No change.
The area around my eyes looked puffier in the morning
He didn’t drink the night before.
Didn’t eat salty food.
Still, his eyelids looked swollen.
Just under the brow.
It faded by lunch.
But it came back the next day.
My blood pressure was harder to control
It had been stable for years.
Now the readings changed.
Some mornings were normal.
Others spiked.
Even with medication.
Even with low salt.
He wrote them down.
His doctor circled the pattern.
Said, “We need to look at your kidneys.”
My urine looked darker, even when I drank water
She drank plenty.
Still, the color didn’t match the intake.
Sometimes brownish.
Sometimes orange.
Not always.
But enough to notice.
I couldn’t concentrate like I used to
He reread the same paragraph three times.
Forgot small details.
Left keys in the fridge.
Nothing big.
But enough to notice.
Enough to feel slower.
I had muscle cramps at night without overexerting
She hadn’t exercised.
But her calf seized up at 2AM.
Then again the next night.
She drank water.
Ate bananas.
Still happened.
Mostly in the legs.
Mostly at night.
My nails changed texture without injury
Small ridges appeared.
Some were vertical.
Some split.
They weren’t soft.
But they didn’t grow like before.
She painted over them.
But they kept chipping.
I stopped sweating the way I used to
He ran in the morning.
Used to leave soaked shirts.
Now, barely a drop.
Same distance.
Same weather.
Less sweat.
And less energy to match it.
I started craving things I didn’t eat before
Pickles
Chips
Ice
Lots of ice
Chewing it
Sucking on it
She didn’t know why
But she did it daily
Someone online said it might mean something
She mentioned it casually
The doctor didn’t think it was casual
Nothing felt urgent, but everything felt off
There was no one moment
No single day
But many small signals
One after another
None were loud
None were dramatic
But they kept coming