I am 44 years old and, for a couple of years, have experienced what I call "deja vu". I feel as though I've been in the situation before - like I've done this run, or made this presentation, or talked to this person, or heard this song, at some time in the past, and I get dizzy and disassociated for 4-5 seconds, then I'm fine. It feels like deja vu. My PCP sent me to a neurologist who told me that I have partial complex seizures and prescribed Lamictal. When I was 19, I had a head injury that induced nighttime grand mal seizures, but the scarring went away and I recoved from that. At the time, I took Tegratol and Dilantin. I went off of them at 24 and have been off since with NO seizure activity. Now, 20 years later, this. I am hesitant to just dive right back into taking a medication for a fairly non-obtrusive thing like these little 4-5 second episodes. The neurologist called this jamais vu, but, in looking up the definition, it seems more like deja vu. I have a few questions - 1 - If I don't go on the medication, and if these are partial complex seizures, can they progress into something more serious, like grand mal seizures, and 2 - is this medication something I'll be taking for the rest of my life, 3 - are these dangerous (never happened when driving), and 4 - are the side effects, other than the rash, really benign?
Thank you.