01 | The Onset of My Symptoms in July 2025 : Early Signs I Didn’t Understand

Early signs I didn’t understand at the time

In early July 2025, I began experiencing symptoms that felt unusual but not immediately alarming. I had been healthy, active, and fully independent. There had been no recent illness, no injury, and no obvious trigger. As a mid-forties male I was actually in the best shape of my life in terms of lifestyle and diet.

What started as small, isolated changes quickly became something I could not explain.

The first sign was restricted jaw opening when yawning. It felt mechanical at first — as though my mouth simply would not open fully. Within days, I began experiencing sudden backward falls without warning. These were not trips or slips. My body would shift abruptly, and I would lose balance before I had time to react.

Soon after, I noticed painful cramping in the underside of my feet and difficulty standing upright from a seated position. I could not flatten my heels to the floor without forcing myself onto my toes. Walking became unstable. The symptoms were progressing over days, not weeks.

At that stage, I assumed it was something temporary — perhaps muscular, perhaps stress-related. There had been no preceding viral illness and no obvious neurological event. I did not recognise these early features as potentially significant.

Looking back, the combination of stimulus-triggered muscle contractions, unexplained falls, jaw involvement, and rapidly changing gait were early warning signs that something more complex may have been developing.

Concerned, I booked an appointment with my GP. Blood tests were arranged but an appointment was not available for 1 week, and it was suggested that the symptoms could represent a post-viral effect. At that stage, this felt reasonable. Many neurological symptoms can follow viral illness, even if the initial infection was mild or unnoticed.

However, there had been no clear preceding illness, and the symptoms continued to progress. Looking back I feel I should have perhaps impressed upon the GP the seriousness of the falls I was experienced, which fortunately had all happened without serious injury.

Painful cramping developed in the underside of my feet. Standing upright from a seated position became difficult unless I shifted onto my toes. My gait changed. The symptoms were not static — they were evolving over days rather than weeks.

Looking back, the combination of jaw involvement, unexplained backward falls, progressive stiffness, and stimulus-sensitive muscle contractions were early warning signs that something more complex may have been developing.