Stephen's story: 6 days back on Lexapro
Stephen took escitalopram for 15 years without trouble. He restarted it for 6 days, and everything changed.
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Fifteen years, then six days
Stephen took escitalopram (Lexapro) for about 15 years with nothing going wrong. He tapered off it successfully, and says he felt better than ever for seven months.
During a period of temporary anxiety he restarted it at a low dose, for 6 days. Within days of stopping again, the symptoms came on suddenly.
What Stephen describes
- Severe sexual dysfunction.
- Emotional blunting and anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure).
- Cognitive impairment, insomnia and derealisation.
- Problems with the autonomic nervous system, and a deep loss of identity.
- Symptoms that have now continued for nearly three years.
Stephen lives with Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD). Moral Medicine notes that this came after many years of uneventful use, and a brief return to the same medicine.
He also talks about what he was, and was not, told before he started.
Thank you to Stephen for telling this story. This interview was recorded by Moral Medicine, who have filmed more than ninety of these conversations.
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This information does not replace medical advice. Talk to your doctor before you make any decision about your treatment.
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