53+ yrs
I have had it since birth. Something happened when I was born, as I wasn't breathing (guess someone in the OR farted?). My mom never told me anything, except for dramatic effect. and then sporadicly.
"One week later my grandma called back and then tells my mom about her oldest sister of how they had to put her away because she would be wild as an Indian making a strange noise, falling on ground, and the parsonage told them she was demon possessed. They tried to cast demons out of her and could not. And her second eldest sister had the same spells later on after a bad bout of whooping cough and fevers, and they had to put her away. All there was left were 2 brothers and 2 sisters and we were instructed by our father never to talk about our elder sisters for they brought shame and disgrace to the family. "
I was concidered demon possed too. It was my moms 'cross to bear' for her 'sin' of marrying someone of a different denomination. Yet they thought it was important to keep me on phenobarb. Guess to keep the demons sedated.
"Epilepsy is KNOWN to go into Remission, if you didn't know that."
"But funny you should say that, I was telling someone how I went 22 years without having a seizure and the drs had told my parents that I had outgrown the epilepsy when I was younger. The person I was talking to had said to me that I could've still had epilepsy time during the 22 year break and just not realised."
Fortunately, this is true. I was able to join the military for a brief while. But during a security check, my sister told them about all the demon possession nonsense, and the chronic demanding of attention because of it.
(she wanted to be the family star, and is jealous that I got a bunch of unwanted attention.)
It seems tho' on looking back, my epilepsy never went away, even when 'dormant'.
I don't do meds, and I try not to discuss it with anybody, because of the primitive treatment I received when I was a kid.