Hi CJam,
Welcome to the forum! I've had absence and complex partial sz. for over 30 yrs. and I've had to see many different neuros. or epileptologist because a lot of them just try and load me up with different AED's (sz. meds) The type of sz. you are discribing when you're still aware of things going on around you and are able to talk sounds a lot like a simple partial sz.
Just like you I took valproic acid for many yrs. it was a great help to me but the down fall was that I had to have blood tests every month to check my liver and at one point I was admitted into the hospital because the valproic acid was eating up the platlets in my body and I almost bleed internally. Check out these websites for more info. on epilepsy.
www.epilepsy.com
http://www.neuropat.dote.hu/neurology.htm
when the main page comes up click on epilepsy

Also stay away from anything with nutra sweet in it like diet soda because it's been proven that nutra sweet causes more electrical activity in the brain which can lead to sz. Here's wishing you well and May God Bless You!

Sue