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Molly ... I had numerous convulsions as a child in England. I was not aware that this was called epilepsy until many years later. As a child you accept what your parents say, and Mum used to be so matter of fact about them, and so calm and accepting, I just became calm and accepting also. It was really no big deal. I was not on any medication, and had no real problems at school with it. It just never bothered me. If I had a convulsion, I got over it quickly, and life went on with no fuss or drama. I think perhaps it was my family’s attitude that helped me to be like this. When I was about fourteen, they lessened, and I virtually grew out of them. I lived a perfectly normal teenage life, and was quite a serious ballet dancer for a while. I was always quite open about the fact that I had convulsions as a child, and I never found it to be a problem for anyone else. Much the same as saying you had bouts of bronchitis, or high fevers, as a child. I married quite young, and had a seizure when I was a few weeks into my first pregnancy. I was put on Phenytoin, but found it made me feel so awful I came off it after a while, and had no more seizures. I had a perfectly normal and healthy baby, and my subsequent pregnancies were normal and quite uneventful. Since then, I have traveled widely, visiting England, Europe and America quite regularly. I have raised a family, had a long and successful marriage, and also a career and active social life.
I don’t have
seizures but I believe I do need to take care of myself. I always used to
feel them coming on, and very occasionally I get a tinge of that feeling
still. The things I find might bring that feeling on include when I had a
bout of food poisoning, about sixteen years ago, chemical fumes in the air
when we had the house redecorated, and excessive tiredness. So I watch my
health in a sensible, not obsessive way, make sure I eat healthily, don’t
drink to excess, and just get on with life. |