31 replies to this topic

[Max Headroom Incident]

Background: I'm at the 3.5 month mark clean from etizolam (aka Satan in a pill). I quit cold turkey in late September and have been dangerously depressed and anxious ever since. I've always had mild-to-moderate anxiety/depression/OCD, but they were controllable before. Not anymore. I spent 9 years on SSRI's, SNRI's, atypicals, TCA's and even Risperdal but quit all meds and began self-medicating around 2008--quite successfully I might add! Until my run-in with etizolam.

I took 13 mg tianeptine sodium for the first time last night on a half-full stomach. I always wake up in a TERRIBLE mood due to the hangover from the Benadryl I take to sleep. Within 10 minutes of dosing, I felt a definite energy boost and mild visual changes. (I always take a stimulant immediately upon waking, but the need was completely diminished with tianeptine).

While walking to the mailbox in the cold, I felt positively euphoric and caught myself smiling for no reason. I used my motivation to go to the gym for the first time in a month, which only amplified the clear-headed feeling. Before this benzo nightmare, music was my main source of happiness. Tianeptine seems to have restored the beauty to my favorite music. The description of tianeptine as a "mood brightener" seems to be accurate.

It's way too soon to tell if this will be a long-term solution, but for now it's great. It's definitely more of an "upper" than a "downer," so if you're prone to anxiety it might not be the best option. I plan to use it in the following fashion:

1st half of the month - Phentermine
2nd half of the month - 2-FMA + tianeptine (Mon/Wed/Fri) // Methylphenidate (Tue/Thurs/Sat)

I know there are a ton of tianeptine reports on this site, but here's another! Will update if anything changes. Feel free to post any personal experiences/advice here.

Edited by Max Headroom Incident, 07 January 2014 - 01:40 PM.

[riloal]

Max, how is your second day with tianeptine? Which brand and dose are you using? Thanks

[nowayout]

I am not sure if this immediate effect of tianeptine is the same as its supposed antidepressant effect. As far as I know, any initial euphoria tends to be transient and short term with the first few doses only. The antidepressant effect tends to take a few weeks to kick in.

[Max Headroom Incident]

Second day was also a success! I find myself laughing at things I'd normally find stupid, like TV shows I usually hate. The main drawback is the short duration, but that's no big woop in the grand scheme of things.

I got the tianeptine sodium powder from Nyles7 on eBay. He's got great reviews and is very friendly.

@nowayout, I've definitely heard that before, which is why I'm reserving judgment until I've been using it a while. The neuroplasticity effect is what I'm really aiming for, so as long as no weird side effects crop up everything should be fine. (I've got plenty of other options if euphoria is what I'm looking for, lol).

Edited by Max Headroom Incident, 09 January 2014 - 11:39 AM.

[dunbar]

I am on stablon. I feel nothing. This stuff sucks.

[Max Headroom Incident]

Hmmm. That blows! Strange how differently the same drug can affect different people. Hope you find what works for ya!

[riloal]

Hi, dunbar, which is your source of tianeptine? perhaps it,s fake?

[dunbar]

I don't have a fake. I have tianeptine from a pharma company as antidepressant. It's available in Europe.

[Max Headroom Incident]

Damn, now I REALLY want to try amineptine! Too bad it's virtually extinct

[jonathan-g]

Tianeptine is such a tease; the first time i took I felt amazing and euphoric. I thought I had finally thought I had found something that would enhance my life and remove the depression for good. The second time I took it, I felt "pretty good." The third time "I felt nice" and the fourth time and after that, it doesn't appear to have a noticable effect. Sometimes I feel a mild bit of happiness or decreased anxiety, but i don't know if its placebo or the tianeptine. But the effect is small either way.

[Max Headroom Incident]

^ How disappointing! Still getting a noticeable mood lift here, albeit not as giddy as the first couple times. Been taking it 3x per day since the 7th, which is about 2 weeks now. Gonna take the next 2 weeks off starting tomorrow. Will report back when I start up again regarding whether the euphoria returns to its original levels.

The effect is still incredibly positive, especially considering my mindstate BEFORE starting. Yikes. Tianeptine is leaps and bounds above the other antidepressants I've tried and makes tramadol feel like a dirty mess by comparison.

[dunbar]

This is so weird. I didnt even feel my first dose. I also tried taking 25mg at once, also felt nothing.

[jonathan-g]

Well, everyone reacts differently to different medicines and drugs. I tried cocaine in Colombia and I hated it. I tried marijuana and in small doses it did nothing, and in large doses it made me paranoid as hell, time slowed down, and i got very nauseous.

[dunbar]

Do you have depression?

Maybe stablon only works like that for people without depression.

[jonathan-g]

I have severe depression.

[nowayout]

Maybe stablon only works like that for people without depression.

It would not be surprising.

Perhaps some depressive are by the very nature of their condition deficient in some aspect of releasing or responding to the rush of feel-good chemicals tianeptine kicks off in healthy people. This kind of deficiency may be why they are anhedonic in the first place.

[BlueCloud]

Damn, now I REALLY want to try amineptine! Too bad it's virtually extinct

I had a prescription for Amineptine in the past, before it was taken out the market. I didn't feel anything from it.... But then again i didn't feel much from Tianeptine either.

[Max Headroom Incident]

I've always had depression, albeit moderate rather than severe. I feel tianeptine is perfect for my type of depression because it works without taking away my personality and passion for life. (It literally enhances emotion rather than inhibits it, as the SSRE label implies). SSRI's are great if you're on the verge of suicide and don't mind giving up the highs to avoid the lows, but there's really not much out there for us less depressed folks.

That's interesting you tried amineptine, Bluecloud! And a bummer it didn't do anything for you. I'm almost certain it would be ideal for me since tianeptine works so well. Meh. Maybe one day it will reappear

Edited by Max Headroom Incident, 21 January 2014 - 02:12 AM.

[Reformed-Redan]

I don't know how coke feels; but, when I was taking Tianeptine in large doses at work I felt extremely confident, was cracking jokes, and very talkative. I also felt like my fluid intelligence went up sky high. You can literally get high off of Tianeptine. Not something I would suggest doing for a couple of days. In my case I lost my job during a comedown, yikes!

[xks201]

I find myself laughing at things I'd normally find stupid, like TV shows I usually hate. The main

That's exactly how I felt the one time I took it - like I just had a lobotomy.

[Guacamolium]

Tianeptine is a great alternative to SSRI's in my opinion. I feel the benefits within minutes.

[magniloquentc0unt]

i feel tianeptine is good from one aspect especially: you take it for a while, enjoy things more in a very anticholinergic way, and when you stop taking it because its pooping out or you feel its not strong enough or you think you have had enough, you're better off than before
that was my experience with it

[Max Headroom Incident]

Nice to hear some other experiences--good or bad!

I can see the similarities between tianeptine and cocaine, yadayada. The dopamine boost is pretty evident, albeit less pushy than releasing agents like amphetamines. As for "laughing at shows I normally think are dumb" I consider that a positive thing. My pessimism/depression has sucked the joy out of a lot of things, so being able to shake the heaviness off and laugh is desirable for me. No lobotomy necessary!

Today is my first day off tianeptine, and there's definitely a mental craving for it (but no physical withdrawal symptoms, luckily). Sticking to my 2 weeks on/off schedule doesn't seem like it will be a huge issue. Back to phentermine/kratom for a while!

[nowayout]

Nice to hear some other experiences--good or bad!

I can see the similarities between tianeptine and cocaine, yadayada. The dopamine boost is pretty evident, albeit less pushy than releasing agents like amphetamines.

Since I feel nothing from tianeptine and I also feel nothing from amphetamines, I kind of suspect that what you are feeling is indeed a dopamine rush (which for some reason I am unable to feel ).

[Max Headroom Incident]

Wow, no effects from amphetamines? That's crazy! It's hard to understand how human beings can react so differently to the same drug. Dopamine seems to be the key to easing my depression, as SSRI's and other antidepressants are worthless for me (and often make symptoms slightly worse). Have you found any class of drugs that does produce favorable effects for you?

[nowayout]

Wow, no effects from amphetamines? That's crazy! It's hard to understand how human beings can react so differently to the same drug. Dopamine seems to be the key to easing my depression, as SSRI's and other antidepressants are worthless for me (and often make symptoms slightly worse). Have you found any class of drugs that does produce favorable effects for you?

Only opioids and benzos, both of which cause quick tolerance. Oh and weed, but I hardly ever have access to it.

[dunbar]

This sucks. Why do so many people feel tianeptine and I feel nothing? This is very discouraging.

But I also dont want to start taking high single doses to see what happens. This is probably not worth it.

[Babychris]

Don't worry dunbar we are two here . the funny part is I live in France so I have the most original stuff (Stablon from Servier) But I don't know never felt much on it and when I, it was not specially euphoric to say the least. But there is definitely a very mild effect, because I remember my face use to look better on photo and I was more in ease to go in very vast place like the Blibliothèque of Sainte Genevieve which is one of the most beautifull on the world I remember studuying there in joy but I was obsessed by an impression of lowered cognitive function which was in fact full of illusion but I really didn't like this exacerbation of kind anhedonia and kind of OCD (it's really hard to describe how I use to feel on it seriously)..

Edited by Babychris, 25 January 2014 - 01:31 PM.

[Max Headroom Incident]

Sounds like a lot of people don't respond well to tianeptine. I was very torn on whether to even try it because the reviews are so mixed. I know how discouraging it can be to put your hopes into a medication (or, in my case, 15+ meds) only to have them suck. Keep exploring! Hopefully some new, exciting things will come out soon. (The most interesting one I've seen recently was diclofensine, a serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor).

Bottom line: Americans need more options that aren't SNRI's or SSRI's.

[Peak Noots]

mixing tianeptine with 2-FMA could be neurotoxic. This combination is also likely the reason your are getting the crazy euphoria. How much 2-FMA are your taking?