A 23-year-old man was brought to an emergency department after intentionally swallowing 2,000 milligrams of sertraline, the antidepressant sold as Zoloft. About six hours later, his legs were jerking in sustained, rhythmic spasms, some of them starting on their own, and his knee reflexes were exaggerated.
The movements were captured on video. The diagnosis was serotonin syndrome, a potentially life-threatening reaction caused by too much serotonin activity in the nervous system.
