Patrick's story: 1 dose on restarting

Years on Lexapro, then coming off

Patrick had been taking antidepressants in Germany for a long time. He took escitalopram (Lexapro) for years with no withdrawal problems, and decided to come off it during a good period in his life.

What followed, he says, was severe akathisia, emotional numbness, cognitive dysfunction, seizures and nerve damage throughout his body, after a single dose when he restarted the medicine. He was later given antipsychotics, Seroquel and risperidone.

What Patrick describes

• Being admitted to hospital, and doctors who denied any link to the medicines.
• Being given further drugs, he says, without proper warning.
• Chronic depression, extreme apathy and physical pain.
• Neurological problems that he says have left him disabled.

He dedicates the interview to his parents, who supported him throughout.

Thank you to Patrick for telling this story. This interview was recorded by Moral Medicine, who have filmed more than ninety of these conversations.

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