I took escitalopram 5mg for three days, had bad side effects: headaches, eye disturbances, weird thoughts. i have been off the medicine for almost two months, questions is has this medicine altered or damaged my brain, eyes? i have dry eyes now.

Not likely.: Medications like escitalopram, a cousin to citalopram (Celexa) can cause weird symptoms both when you start it & when you d/c it. Your symptoms are particularly unusual but, if they were caused by this med, they will go away. However, please contact your doctor. You may need a different type of anti-depressant OR those symptoms may be totally unrelated to it. Best wishes. Dr. Anne

No: It is highly unlikely that you have altered or damaged your brain or your eyes. You should have a physical evaluation of your general health and specifically the headaches and any eye symptoms. There also needs to be consideration for what will be the best approach to treat the problems that led you to be on the medication.

Very unlikely: Given that you took the medication for only three days and has been off for over 2 months, the chances of a long lasting side effect is very low (although anything is possible in medicine). You may want to see the advise of an ophthalmologist if the symptoms do not improve.

Temporary: The medication is completely out of your system by this point and unlikely that there was permanent damage. However, your dry eyes need some evaluation, especially to answer question of Sjogren's disease.