SoberJohn

Hello Everyone,
I wanted to write tonight about my battle with the drug Tianeptine for many reasons but the most important so that those out there struggling with the same demon know that there is a path to sobriety from this demon and I wanted to share my path to that battle. I know I googled "Tianeptine" many times in search for something that worked to get away from this horrible drug many times with no real luck so hopefully this will serve as a new updated fight that will help others.

I quit drinking January 19th 2015. I remember I got ****-faced after an NFL play-off game on beer and whiskey and literally had enough of being the person I was. Fast forward 4 months of not drinking and my addictive voice was searching for the next best thing. I was bored in my sobriety and wanted to know what would make me feel better. I was always interested in Noopterics (sp?) for the brain as I had been feeling down and wanted to naturally feel better. I frequent these forums everyday and someone posted their struggle with the demon "Stablon" which is Tianeptine. The post read a horrifying tale of getting hooked on this stuff, increasing dosages and not being able to shake it. You have to love the addictive voice because in my dementia I thought "Perfect" exactly what I need because it makes you feel good like opiates but its legal but I'll be real careful so as to not get addicted like these poor souls that wrote this post. (yea Right!!!)

I researched Tianeptine thoroughly online and saw that it actually improved brain cognition and helped alcoholics from relapsing. I was finding all the positive about the T drug and ignoring the negative until one day I bought it online. Now Tianeptine is available from about 100 online noopteric stores and they sell it in powder form so that you have weigh it out and encapsulate it on your own. So I bought a good MG scale, some empty capsules and 10G of Tianeptine. The normal dosage for Tianeptine is 37.5mg a day administered in three doses. I tried that the first day with no results and on the second day I shot that first dose to 100 mg and sat back and got high. The feeling is just like an opiate but very short lived. I knew from that first mega dose I was in trouble. This was April 2015 and I was 4 months sober from alcohol. A couple days later I started drinking again too.

My doses started at 1 per day of 100 mg and quickly progressed to about 250mg 3 times a day as the tolerance builds incredibly fast. Some prro folks I have read get up to about 5G a day which is terrifying. I knew I had a serious problem in October of 2015 when I woke at 6:00 AM in full blown opiate withdrawal. My stomach hurt, every muscle in my body ached. I was sweating but freezing. My eyes burned and were swollen and I was exhausted even though I slept over 10 hours. My mistake was Tianeptine in the Sodium form only lasted 4 hours in the body and I had slept 10 hours. I quickly re-dosed as soon as I got up and felt 100% better. Tianeptine is an anti-depressant that helps many people used at the lower doses but used in large doses activates the mu opiod receptors in the brain just like opiates. Now I started thinking about my dilemma as Tianeptine is a drug that is legal in the USA but it is also not regulated in the USA so that means you go to the doctor to claim that you have a problem and the Doctor has no clue what the hell you are talking about. No one knows what Tianeptine does to the body at the mega doses that I was taking so that added to my anxiety ten-fold. To add to my problems I had started drinking again heavily to calm myself down from the anxiety of discovering my Tianeptine addiction but again I knew I was in trouble back in April.

I googled everything I knew about Tianeptine and became a makeshift chemist overnight. I learned that I could take the Free Acid form of the drug at night as it had a longer half life and I could avoid withdrawals during the night. So I was dosing 250mg three times a day of the sodium form of Tianeptine and dosing 450mg of the Free Acid form before going to bed.

I learned how people were taking loperamide (Imodium AD) to help battle their opiate addiction and I followed suit. If Tianeptine tickled the same receptors as opiates than the loperamide had to work. Loperamide is an opioid from the 1950s and ingesting large doses of it fed the brain enough to curb an opiate appetite and a few days of this was able to get an addict back on their feet. I tried this recipe and found that Loperamide had no effect on Tianeptine for me. I have read that it has helped some people but everyone is different in the brain chemically so please don't take my story as the gospel. I took incredible amounts of loperamide and it did nothing but make me sick to my stomach. Now I was terrified because if loperamide didn't work I would be left to nothing but the clear cut withdrawal of Tianeptine which from what I read and felt for myself was just as bad a heroine. (No Joke)

About this time I remembered that I overcame my benzo addiction a couple of years ago because I was proactive and looked up online a tapering program involving a short half-life benzo mixed with a long half-life benzo. I took it to my doctor and he prescribed me the needed meds and I stepped off my benzo addiction with zero withdrawals. If I could do that with benzos I knew I could solve the Tianeptine withdrawals formula and I did for myself and it was Tramadol.

Tramadol is a synthetic opiate that is basically a pain killer that creates no high. More importantly it attaches to the same opiate receptors that Tianeptine does. It is highly addictive if taken in high doses and for a lengthy period. A lengthy period is considered anything over 12 days. I was prescribed the Tramadol by my doctor along with some Gabapentin and started taking the very next day.

On Tianeptine I was unable to go more than 4 hours before I had to re-dose so a couple days before Christmas I woke up and took 3 (50mg) tablets of Tramadol and I felt no withdrawal symptoms from Tianeptine. At lunch I took another 3 (50mg) tablets and still felt fine. At night time I took 2 (50mg) of Tramadol and felt fine and slept through the night. I was suffering physical withdrawal still as my legs were restless but the tramadol helped it tremendously and the bad withdrawal symptoms were absent. I had made it a whole day without any Tianeptine and only an addict would understand that accomplishment. I continued my Tianeptine cleanse using Tramadol and Gabapentin over the next 8 days following the below tapering method:

Tuesday-
Tramadol: 150mg (morning)-150mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Wednesday-
Tramadol: 150mg (morning)-150mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Thursday-
Tramadol: 100mg (morning)-150mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Friday-
Tramadol: 100mg (morning)-100mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Saturday-
Tramadol: 50mg (morning)-100mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Sunday-
Tramadol: 50mg (morning)-50mg (lunch)-100mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Monday-
Tramadol: 50mg (morning)-50mg (lunch)-50mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Tuesday-
Tramadol: 50mg (morning)-None (lunch)-50mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Wednesday-
Tramadol: None (morning)-None (lunch)-50mg(after dinner)
Gabapentin: 300mg (morning)-300mg (lunch)-300mg (after dinner)

Thursday-
No Tramadol or Gabapentin

I had to dose 20mg (10 pills)of loperamide Thursday and Friday to jump off the Tramadol without getting addicted to it. Unlike Tianeptine, loperamide extinguishes Tramadol cravings.

I had little to no withdrawal symptoms using this method and I even went out to the movies and restaurants while withdrawing. I am sitting here today on a Saturday completely clean from Tianeptine and I have to say I feel really good that I can sleep without worrying and wake without being in withdrawal. My eyes no longer burn like they used to and my anxiety is almost nil. I am a lucky one because I had the drive to break loose of Tianeptine because I was terrified that I wasn't going to make it out. I hope my post serves as some type of help to someone out there struggling with Tianeptine and for those thinking of doing Tianeptine please re-read this post and DO NOT EVEN THINK OF DOING TIANEPTINE EVER!!!!!!!

Things to remember:

1) Gotta want to quit-don't do this method if you plan on using as you could find yourself addicted to Tramadol and Tianeptine.

2) Tramadol doesn't work for everyone as you must have the correct liver enzyme to process it. Some people take it and get sick and it does nothing and some, like me can take it and it is a god send. Please be aware of that.

3) We are all addicts but respect the power of these drugs or you might end up addicted to more than one. I knew that Tramadol was addictive and respected the fact that I did not want to be addicted to it so I tapered aggressively off of it. Please, please, please do not trade one addiction for another. Respect the drugs.

I know most on here will tout that I am stupid or full of it but this is what worked for me and I had no other choice and I hope it works for someone else out there struggling.
Good luck to all of you struggling to beat this addiction along with alcohol. It is not easy but it is possible my friends.
If you have any questions please let me know via this post or PM.

lisatryingagain

Im really glad you were able to kick it. Do you have a plan of some sort to help you going forward?

SoberJohn

Thanks Lisa. First off I plan on never touching pills again to include herbal supplements, nooptics, and be grateful for my sobriety everyday. One of the worst feelings in the world is feeling lost or being so far gone that help is not there. Hard to explain but I never felt so alone than when I was addicted to a simple OTC supplement.

Focusing now on my drinking and putting a stop to that madness as well. One day and fight at a time.

sobrietyisagift

Your story is SO INSPIRING! I am addicted to tianeptine and cannot get off because of the awful withdrawel symptoms. But I pray daily for help to get off this stuff! I am willing to try your way... My problem is that I have no way of getting tramadol. Any suggestions??? My doctor will NOT prescribe it given my history of opiate addiction.

SoberJohn

Hi sobrietyisagift,
I would explain to this doctor that you are trying to come off a legal supplement that affects your opioid receptors like regular opiates and that you need their help.

Many rehab/detox centers use other opiates to get the patient off their opiate drug of choice. The tricky part is not getting addicted to the opioid that was used to help. Tramadol is used mostly because it does not get you high so there is no reward but it satisfies the opioid receptors so the withdrawal from tianeptine is almost non- existent. Most doctors if you come to them for help and you have a plan will want to help you. Good luck to you and if you have any questions just let me know. Nothing better than being free from that devil powder.

Pudmuffer

Im in the same boat. I started taking Tia thinking it was a noopteric and read on Wikipedia that abuse potential was small.

Once I started on the power, the recommended 12.5 mg X 3 was hard to maintain. Its been almost a year and it has almost ruined my life. The waking up with opiate like withdrawls are awful. Some Days are better than others. I ended up almost doubling my alcohol intake due to the extra anxiety.

Ambien has almost no effects on waking up with the withdrawls. The night seats are horrible.

I am trying to taper but it is extremely hard. Down to about 750 mg a day. I have a long way to go.

Soberwolf

Welcome Pudmuffer

4mytasha

Hi John~
I found the part of your story saying you researched high and low and found so many positives similar to what I did.
How I missed the negatives is beyond me. (?)

I, like many, started at the recommended dose which was fine for about a week.
I am now at 300-400 mgs daily.
This amount has been working wonderfully for me.
I realize it's high but damn it, it works!!!
When I first started up~dosing, I wasn't concerned as I had yet to read the down side so I did whatever amount I wanted to which was probably double to what I am taking now.
I didn't start counting and adding until I started reading the negatives and because it works, I still don't have much interest in stopping.
(Started taking 10/2015, stopped counting and took it without any thought or counting from 11/2015-1/2016 and have now been on the 300-400 mg amount since late 1/2016.)

I was a practicing alcoholic from the age of 14-32 and have been SEARCHING for SOME kind of "normal content" since I quit and now that I am living that way, FINALLY, disheartens me where there are NO words to describe!!!
The reason I even have thoughts on quitting is because I am fully aware of the Hell I will enter once my state bans this and they WILL.
I am in one of the 3 that outlawed Kratom so as soon as word gets out, I'm sure it WILL be.
(That causes a whole different kind of anxiety~JUST when I thought I had the answer to my prayers living without it along with the depression!!)

How ironic~ I was SO proud of myself for finding something that not only works but is "clean" and affordable compared to all of the other crap I've sought out.
I am 54 years old and didn't feel I was stupid~just desperate to be "normal" and now I can pretty much safely say, not only am I STUpid, I will soon be FAR from feeling normal~going through withdrawals and going BACK to living a depressed and anxiety filled life.

So....the reason for my post is....
Why did YOU feel the need to quit?
Is it because there will ALways need to be an UPdose or was there another reason(s)?

Thanks in advance!!

Lucky23irish

Hello Sober recovery, my name is Pat. I would first like to start out by thanking whoever is taking the time to read this. I came across this website while doing research on ways to get off of this horrible drug. Seeing other people that are addicted to this gave me hope so now I'm posting my story.

About two years ago I went to my doctor because I felt my depression worsening and asked to be put on an antidepressant. My doctor decided to put me on citalopram 20 mg which I stayed on for about 3 months. After going back to the doctors and telling him that I didn't think it worked he decided to put me on double the dose, now I was taking 40 mgs. A month and a half later I had decided enough was enough, if my doctor wasn't going to listen to my requests to try something different, I'd have to do my own research.

I found out about Tianeptine accidentally when a buddy of mine had mistakenly given me and capsule that was in a Ziploc bag full of other nootropics. The dosage was 100 mg and I felt amazing, almost like an Oxy high (or so I've heard). Anyways Immediately I fell in love, I was no longer depressed, I had energy, and I physically felt happy it seemed almost too good to be true and it was. I found out the hard way waking up one morning in full-blown opiate withdrawal. My whole body aches I was sweating but freezing my ankles were swollen and I felt downright horrible. Looking back now my problem was I never researched this chemical until I was already addicted.

Tianeptine or (Stablon) as it is known in Russia, is an anti depressant that is meant to take in doses of 12.5 mg 3 x a day. Interestingly enough when taken in recreational doses as I was taking it in, it is an opiate agonist. When I realized I had a problem I was taking 100 mg 7-8 a day and it was about to get worse, (a lot worse). When I went to back to the doctor and confessed, it was recommended I try to taper or go to a suboxone clinic.

Long story short tapering was hell and I ended up going on zubsolv (my insurance wouldn't cover suboxone). I stayed on zubsolv for a few weeks dealing with a horrible depression that was most definitely me withdrawing from the anti-tricylic (antidepressant) chemical in the Tianeptine, though most of the physical symptoms were gone. . BetweenThe having to go to the clinic every week and paying 40 bucks a visit for that plus the expensive prescription for the zubsolv I decided to get back on Tianeptine and taper down. I have read the stories of how hard it is to withdraw from subs.

When I started taking the Tianeptine again, I was horrified to find out how much of it I needed to actually feel normal because I had become addicted to zubsolv. I was taken 500 mgs about 8-10 times a day.
I have taken Kratom in between this addicting and I don't think it helps with the part that is so hard, the mental part. Nevertheless I have some on hand and may use when I get off completely. I made it four days cold turkey before but the mental part was just too much for me. I have severe depression so withdrawing from massive amounts of Tianeptine makes my emotions unbareable. Anyways here's my plan... It's needs help.

Right now I'm taking 6x70 mg scoops every 2-3 hours. I plan on trying to go down 1 white scoop from each dose per week. So for example next week I'll take five scoops every 2-3 hours.
My new Dr has me on Zoloft 100 mgs and says that I need to get off of the Tianeptine before she can prescribe me something stronger for depression.
I have Kratom, immodium, 26 zubsolv pills, 100 mg gabbapentin about 100 of them...here is where I need help.
I live alone, and I am not close with anyone in my family (long story). I have two people that I would consider my friends but only hang out with them about a handful of times a month because they both have their own families. I find my depression to be uncontrollable when withdrawing or weaning too fast.
I need all the advice, support, tapering ideas, or even ways to make withdrawls as painless as possible. Thank you for reading and I hope to get some feedback

4mytasha

Hi Pat~
I wish I had an answer for you (ALL of us!) but I just want you to know, I am thinking about you and will be following you closely!
I hope you get many responses so you feel you have a safe place to come.
What a crazy chemical, huh?
Something that works just HAS to have a negative. :/
I see the list you have on your plan to come off of this crap....I just don't see Tramadol listed.
Something ELSE I never knew had such an evil side.....(????)
ANYway, I wish you all the best on your journey and wish I could do more to help at this time.

Tash

4mytasha

Just wanted to explain what I meant by this statement from an earlier post I wrote on the 18th~
I was a practicing alcoholic from the age of 14-32 and have been SEARCHING for SOME kind of "normal content" since I quit
I mean that I have been searching for something to combat my clinical depression.
I'm not at ALL in denial that I AM an addict.
It's my relentless depression/anxiety that got me drinking at 14.
I have been on over 14 anti-depressants that did nothing so when I found out that tianeptine worked so well, I thought this was the answer to my prayers.
Now I am stuck feeling worse than what got me to take it initially.
And it's only just the beginning as it still works, but my mind is conSUMED with the fact that I KNOW I HAVE to QUIT and sooner than later.

I am a Google freak so again, how I missed the negatives is beYOND me.
Or maybe they were there and I just didn't choose to look........ (?)

SoberJohn

Hi 4Mytasha,
Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you well on whatever you choose in your sobriety.

To answer your question as to why I quit Tianeptine was I noticed my dosage was climbing fast. I needed more and more to feel normal. Not good or high anymore just normal and that terrified me. I knew if I slept in on the weekend I was woken with severe withdrawals and I would be exhausted like I never slept. My eyes could barely open up as my body was severely dehydrated. But the number one reason I wanted to quit is because no one knows what this stuff does to your body short or long term. Yes there have been clinical studies done when this drug was created but not at the levels most of us take which is extremely high in some cases. Lastly I didn't like the fact that I needed something to feel normal and if I changed my tianeptine from a different vendor I would go into an anxiety attack everytime as my body was used to a certain powder.

One time all the vendors online were out of stock and that was a terrifying 3 weeks as I was rationing my doses praying they would stock up on this. After that I became paranoid that the vendors would sell out so I bought large quantities of this stuff just to keep my anxiety levels low. As you can see this is no way to live because you are living around the drug. I have been off the stuff since December and I do not regret my decision to come off this stuff as I feel better and my mind is awake again and the sleep is 100% better.

There is a way out of this addiction. Find what works for you and your body chemistry and get off this stuff. Good luck to all of you, I can honestly say I feel your pain.

SoberJohn

Pat,
I know this is a late response but I hope you were successful in getting off Tianeptine. Please let us know how you are doing.

Soberwolf

Hi SoberJohn

Soulbeam

Don't forget to keep exercising when taking substances like Tianeptine. Keeping fit & eating well often make a taper possible.

DrRock675

My addiction problems with tianeptine persisted already 4-5 years.It's so hard to get rid of it.I succeeded couple of times to quit using it,as i go far away at vacation without any quantity of tianeptine,but i started using it again as soon as i returned.It's complete
disaster,regarding health and financial issues.WD is pure hell on Earth,and i am desperate and miserable.Many times thinking about suicidal escape from it all,as i must look normal at work and home.If someone has experience like mine and had some success struggling tianeptine,please help.

Jasper77

I've been on Tianeptine for over 10 years and it's finally caught up with me. I'm having kidney pains and liver pains and cutting down has helped but it has not solved the warning pains I am getting.

Today is my first day without my any Tianeptine in over 5 years. I am trying Tramadol to ease the withdrawl pains and guess what? It's working! As soon as I start getting the withdrawl I am taking 50mg of Tramadol. The Tramadol takes the withdrawl pain completely away and even provides a nice pleasurable sensation. I'm kind of worried I'll be replacing one addiction with another but I'm willing to take the chance to get off this demon drug Stablon (Tianeptine).

Tramadol also works a heck of a lot longer than Tianeptine. So I'm finding I don't have to redose for about 6 hours at a time. I really want to quit Tianeptine and Tramadol is really helping thank goodness.

I was able to get Tramadol thru an online pharmacy without a prescription. I think I used CoinRx.is which only take bitcoins. But I went through the trouble of getting some bitcoins and sure enough the Tramadol arrived. So thanks god I found a way out from this satan drug because my kidneys couldn't take it anymore.

Already I'm feeling 100% better and this after only one day of not taking Tianeptine. I can tell I'm gonna be able to recover if I just stick to my Tramadol treatments and not over indulge.

I've been so worried and to finally see an end to this is so hopeful to me. Thanks to the original poster for recommending Tramadol. It does work and allows me to sleep for at least 6 hours straight which is amazing in itself. I will keep on posting once every few days to let you guys know how I'm doing.

Goodbye Tianeptine. Hello sleep! I am so looking forward to being able to sleep a full 8 hours again.

See ya in a few days. Hopefully by then my soar kidneys will feel all better.

LostEarthling

Hey Jasper. I too am hooked on this awful substance. It's been about a year and half for me. Nothing works to help alleviate the torturous withdrawal pains and the lack of sleep when you try to quit this stuff. I am willing to try this method, anything to get off this awful stuff. I'm on it because I used it to get off suboxone and got hooked on it. Let me know if possible your outcome. Did you taper at all? Good luck to you.

Jasper77

Hello Earthling,

Yes, I tapered off considerably. I used to take 500mg doses like candy whenever I wanted. Like once every hour. Then I started getting back pains and found out it was my kidneys complaining. So over about a 3 month period I was able to taper down to 50mg every 2 hours. That helped my pains but I know I was still doing damage.

I recommend that everyone on this drug get a milligram scale so that you know exactly how much you are taking. It really helps also when you are trying to taper down.

So, my second day without Tianeptine went ok. Last night with Tramadol I was able to sleep for 7 hours and then not take my dose until lunchtime when withdrawl kicked in and hard. It took 150 mg Tramadol this time to get rid of the pain. I am now preparing for my nighttime dose which I will try 100mg Tramadol. I'm trying to do just enough to keep the withdrawl away and not indulge in the pleasure it can give. I only have so many pills and they have to see me through this withdrawl or I know I'll be right back to Tianeptine. I hate this drug. It feels so good but you have to pay for it with your health.

If I ever get off opiates I swear I'll never touch them again.

So tomorrow is my 3rd day without Tianeptine. So far so good. My kidney pain is way down although they are still sensitive. I know they are healing though so that is good. We' ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Jasper77

Well, here I am on my 4th day without a bit of Tianeptine. The Tramadol takes all the cravings away. I am also tapering off the Tramadol now.

This morning at 8 am I did 100mg Tramadol and it's now 5 pm here and I still have not redosed. So my cravings may be down considerably which means I may not have to do any more Tramadol. At least not much more. I may have to do 50mg tonight but I think after that I may be in the clear.

We'll see how tomorrow goes.