Epileptics, Please!

Since coming out as epileptic, I cannot count the numbers of persons who have come to me quietly to say they "used to have epilepsy" but that they "grew out of it"... 

This is a kind of self identification that hedges one's bets, don't you think? Most of us know that if epilepsy comes into your life, epilepsy will remain in your life. Sure, it can remit... you can go for really long periods without it, but quite often, it will return with a vengeance. 

Those of you who feel you have either overcome E. or that you have outgrown it still need to see a doctor once in awhile. You need to keep an eye out for it's return... At last report, there has been no cure for epilepsy presented. Even surgery only promises minimal results for some people. 

Stop taking half-way measures! Stop shoving epilepsy to the back of your consciousness. E. can be dangerous, particularly if it catches you off guard. Be smart, be safe---go all the way out of the closet and admit having epilepsy.

You don't have to lie, you can let folks know that your E. has gone into remission and that you are not having seizures presently. It is probably a really good thing to let others know that this happens to us, that we are sometimes free of seizures for long periods of time. Some of us are even able to go off our meds when that happens. But, we are never free of E., neither are we cured of it... we must always use our awareness to see if it is coming back.

If it seems like it is coming back, we need our docs and our meds all over again, until the next remission.

One in one hundred people have E. and they need to hear from the rest of us that it is OK to say so. They need to know that there are others of us talking about it, writing about it, etc. and that we can offer advice and let them know they are not alone with this disorder. 

So, stop telling others you "used to have epilepsy"--- wake up to the notion that you still have epilepsy! You are not cured of E.--- but you may well be in remission from it!