Intense and recurrent déjà vu experiences related to amantadine and phenylpropanolamine in a healthy male

Abstract

We report a case of a 39-year-old caucasian healthy male physician who developed intense and recurrent déjà vu experiences within 24h of initiating concomitant amantadine-phenylpropanolamine treatment against influenza. Déjà vu experiences terminated on discontinuation of medication. Findings in temporal epilepsy suggest that mesial temporal structures, including hippocampus, are related to paramnesic symptoms. On the other hand, previous case reports have confirmed that both amantadine and phenylpropanolamine alone, and particularly in combination, can induce psychotic symptoms due to their dopaminergic activity. The authors suggest that déjà vu experiences may be provoked by increased dopamine activity in mesial temporal structures of the brain.