Tianeptine, found at convenience stores, at smoke shops and online, can mimic an opioid. It is among a growing class of substances that are difficult to control.
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Often sold as a dietary supplement and promoted by retailers as a mood booster and focus aid, tianeptine is among a growing, unregulated class of potentially addictive products available in gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops and across the internet. They typically include synthetic pharmaceuticals and plant-derived substances.
Some, like kratom and phenibut, can be addictive and, in rare cases, fatal. They often originate in other countries, including Indonesia and Russia, where they are commonly used, even prescribed, for mood management. But the Food and Drug Administration has not approved them as medicines in the United States.
“Tianeptine is an emerging threat,” said Kaitlyn Brown, clinical managing director of America’s Poison Centers, which represents and collects data from 55 centers nationwide. “We have people who are able to get a substance that’s not well regulated, that has abuse potential and that, in high doses, can cause similar effects to opioids, leading to really harmful outcomes.”
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Tianeptine is a drug developed by French researchers in the 1960s as an antidepressant. It is approved in low doses for that use in many European, Asian and Latin American countries.
But at higher doses, it also works much as an opioid does, delivering short-lived euphoria. In the United States, many people take tianeptine under the widespread, mistaken belief that it is a safe alternative to street opioids like fentanyl or heroin, or even a way to taper off using them. On social media sites like Reddit, its merits are hotly debated, with more than 5,000 people subscribing to a “Quitting Tianeptine” forum.
As far as drugs go kratom is super mild though. I think off the shelf NyQuil is way stronger. No offense, and hope you’re managing it, but you being easily addicted is more a you problem than something that laws should be shaped around.
I agree with you. People seem to think everyone has the addictive response, when people like me have such a muted response.
I have spent the last 20 years with Chronic Nerve pain. Morphine doesn’t work with me, and I rarely feel alcohol unless it’s at poisonous levels. I tried to use Cannabis for pain management and spent almost $3K a year for two years of buying the highest potency I could find. I spent those years constantly smoking or vaping every hour to try to control the pain. I ended up damaging my blood vessels in my brain.
Even in pain management at the VA they won’t give me the medication that works and just throw massive amounts of buprenorphine at me, which does nothing.
I understand that some people have a problem, but for me I wish their voices would stop being amplified over the reality that people need access to opioid pain medication. Tylenol is not what people should have to take for major damage.