Posted by sk85 on November 4, 2011, at 14:07:45
In reply to Re: My experiences with Stablon (Tianeptine) » bleauberry, posted by JohnnyW on October 31, 2011, at 14:24:50
What you experienced is very logical. It happened to me aswell years back when I took tianeptine. Let me explain.
Tianeptine works through removing serotonin from synapses - that is why people feel initally good after just taking it because serotonin is ANXIOGENIC. But over time your neurons realize that serotonin is missing from the synapse and they increase serotonin output. That is when tianeptine starts to increase anxiety. Over time though this increased serotonin activity will desensitize your serotonin receptors and again anxiety will start decreasing.
You just didn't wait long enough till that last phase of neuroadaption would have taken effect. I experienced terrible anxiety about 2-3 weeks into the tianeptine treatment which went away around 5-6 week.
In reality tianeptine isn't that much different from SSRIs in the end-adaptions that it triggers in the brain (you can read that from the studies that have been done). Although its sexual side-effects are more benign as it doesn't probably affect that part of the brain that is responsible for regulating sexual functioning.
Overall in the 3-4 months I took tianeptine I didn't really like it, in the end I gave it up because it was having a negative effect on my cognition and wasn't providing the antidepressant power I needed. Although, again, I might have gave up on it too early. Tianeptine is something that you take for long term investment in your serotonin system. I have heard people reporting it starting working around 4-5 months in for the anxiety. Although that just is too long for its use as an effective anxiolytic.-Ikaros
poster:sk85
thread:990604
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20111027/msgs/1001647.html