Posted by psychobot5000 on May 6, 2006, at 13:50:58
In reply to Do you know tianeptne?, posted by foreigner on April 29, 2006, at 14:54:16
Hi,
Here's what I know about tianeptine.
I recommend Tianeptine above other drugs. In my experience, it has the same positive effects on mood and anxiety as a good antidepressant, without the negatives. I experienced everything from insomnia to sleepiness to upset stomach to dry mouth to racing heart with other antidepressants, and they made life difficult to live.
Tianeptine seems to cause no side-effects at all at the normal dosage. At high doses it gave me mild dry mouth, but nothing else.
Things to know:
Normal dose, 12.5mg, 3 times a day, for a total of 37.5mg daily. 3x a day dosing is probably necessary, because this drug passes through your body quite quickly. One study I saw suggested that 75mg per day was more effective, but in my case the high dosage was no better, with the addition of mild drymouth as a side-effect.Tianeptine has fewer interactions with other drugs, because the liver processes it differently. It does not undergo 'first pass metabolism.' This may mean it's easier on the liver than other drugs, and can be better combined with them. HOWEVER, since there is less information about Tianeptine available than we'd like, drug combinations are risky.
Tianeptine's mechanism of action is unknown, but it does directly increase serotonin reuptake--thus reducin serotonin supply. It is worth noting, that Tianeptine will be an effective antidepressant in patients who also are aided by serotinin reuptake inhibitors (when taken separately, not together. They would probably cancel each other out), like prozac, zoloft and etc. These drugs work in the opposite manner.
Who knows why. But once again, tianeptine has far fewer side effects, or none at all.
For whatever reason, it has not been studied as well as the mainstream drugs, and so it's something of a wildcard. However, some researchers suggest that its effects are less powerful than other drugs. In my experience this was not true.
Also, the limited data available suggests that Tianeptine elevates mood in between 75 and 80 % of depressed patients who take it. These are very good numbers, when compared to other drugs. It's reputation for having very slight, or nonexistent side-effects would seem to make it an excellent candidate to be marketet widely. It's anyone's guess why it hasn't been, though it's pharmacalogical cousin amineptine (removed from international use in 1999) was found to cause liver damage (very rarely).If you are going to take a drug, I recommend it above others. It seems almost criminal to me that it's not available in many developed nations, such as parts of Europe or, I believe, the US.
poster:psychobot5000
thread:638142
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060504/msgs/640629.html