Posted by psychobot5000 on April 5, 2009, at 12:01:15
In reply to Soon starting Stablon/Tianeptine, Expectations?, posted by AdamCanada2 on April 2, 2009, at 3:03:13
Hi Adam,
I wish you luck in your trial. I take tianeptine every day, and while it's not a miracle drug, it's better than anything else I've ever tried (for me), and like many on this board, I've tried almost everything.
As you've probably read, its presumed mechanism of action is increasing serotonin reuptake, but no one really knows for certain whether that's the case. There is some evidence of a -modest- effect on dopamine in some areas of the brain, to the point of possibly offering mild benefit to ADHD sufferers. For me it seems to offer a pretty mild bit of assistance in concentration. Some percentage of patients get a 'stimulant-like' effect from it, at least at the beginning, but it doesn't seem to be very strong or lasting. I can't vouch for that, because I never received such an effect.
What to expect:
Hard to say for certain--it's different with everyone, of course--for me, I feel nothing the first few days I take it (which I think of as a positive, since normally the first few days of a drug tends give one side-effects, before the AD benefit is felt). Eventually a mild mood-elevation kicks in, along with a modest reduction in anxiety, a modest lowering of negative affect (capacity to feel horrible, etc) and possibly a mild increase in concentration. That's my experience. It takes me two or three weeks to reach full effect with Tianeptine, but I'm a fast responder.Tianeptine is often remarked on as being very low in side-effects. However, some people on this board report anxiety, and others report difficulty sleeping. For others it's good for anxiety and has no effect on sleep (it doesn't damage my sleep, and I'm an insomniac with a high susceptibility to drug-induced sleep difficulty). I agree with others that I wouldn't expect it to do the job on its own (but then...what does?), but for many it can be very helpful. I probably would not be functional (these last...four years or so) without it.
Best of luck!
> What should I expect? With permission from my doctor I ordered it and finally arrived.
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> I have severe treatment res dep + social anxiety/phobia. Lack of emotions, low drive/motivation/enjoyment and very cloudy cognitive function.
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> I am going to stop the Parnate that I have been taking at various doses pretty soon as it has proven to not be good enough. It helps but not to the degree I would like regardless of dosage plus it has caused me to suffer what I feared to be perminent nerve damage or whatnot which has since been very much reduced in my left hand thanks to Meloxicam and lowering my dose of Parnate.
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> How quickly can I expect this medication to work? Does it have dopamine function aside from it's SSRE effect? Ritalin worked wonders for me but it's effect has become very tolerant even when starting up again after taking month or longer breaks.
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> Please provide experiences or any input. My life has been on hold for the previous month and a half and I am sick and tired of it. Thank you for reading.
poster:psychobot5000
thread:888165
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090330/msgs/888807.html