Epilepsy: ‘It took 15 years to get a diagnosis — it seemed doctors viewed me first and foremost as a swooning maiden.’

I was about 14 the first time I remember it happening. I was in my room, reading Naked Lunch instead of doing my maths homework, when I felt strange. It’s a feeling that I would come to recognise when it happens, but afterwards, it slips away like a dream does as you slowly awake. It’s like floating — or drowning.

Ciara Moloney first experienced a seizure at the age of 14 but was only diagnosed with epilepsy last year, at the age of 29. She writes about 15 years of living without a diagnosis, and the impact getting one has had on her life Ciara Moloney: ‘It seems like medical professionals viewed me first and foremost as a swooning maiden.’ Photo: Steve Humphreys I was about 14 the first time I remember it happening.

I was in my room, reading Naked Lunch instead of doing my maths homework, when I felt strange. It’s a feeling that I would come to recognise when it happens, but afterwards, it slips away like a dream does as you slowly awake. It’s like floating — or drowning.

My thoughts become a nonsense mixture of disorientation and déjà vu. I try to cling to consciousness — tell myself where I am, what I’m doing, the day of the week — but no matter how white-knuckled my grasp, time and space and self seem to slip away. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news.