Free 'Heroin': Popular U.S. Supplement Causes Addictive and Withdrawal

The drug tianeptine is an antidepressant. But it is sold in the US, especially at gas stations, as a dietary supplement and acts like an opioid. Vice.

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A drug called tianeptine, known colloquially as "gas station heroin", has been banned in several states. It is sold as a dietary supplement, but some users describe it as a highly withdrawal opioid.

Withdrawal is a syndrome of physical and/or mental disorders that develops in drug addicts some time after stopping taking the drug or reducing its dose.

Tianeptine is a tricyclic antidepressant used to treat depression in some countries in Europe, Latin America, and Asia, but is not approved by the FDA for medical use in the United States. This substance is commonly sold in the US as a dietary supplement, a nootropic (cognitive enhancing chemical), under brand names such as ZaZa Red, TD Red, and Tianna. It can be found at gas stations or easily bought online.

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Medical experts say that tianeptine acts like an opioid because it acts on opioid receptors in the brain, which explains why people report severe addiction when they try to stop using it.

“People use it to handle heavier and tougher things. They kind of start their journey and develop an unhealthy relationship with the drug based on its effect. And its effect is similar to opioids,” said Dr. Patrick Marszalek, assistant professor at the West Virginia University School of Medicine.

Very little is known about tianeptine, including how many people use it, although reports from both the FDA and DEA note a spike in poison control calls about the drug until at least 2020. It has been banned in Michigan, Alabama, Minnesota, Tennessee, Georgia, and Indiana. Earlier this year, officials in Mississippi issued a health warning.

Experts said the problems with its use are part of a larger problem where unregulated substances mimic the effects of illicit drugs despite being freely available.

Hunter Barnett, 26, who suffers from a painful esophageal disease and a former opioid addict, is skeptical about the effectiveness of tianeptine. But when he moved from Alabama to Penscacola, Florida in January, he noticed that every time he went to the gas station, people were buying ZaZa Reds.

“I sat and thought that nothing good would come from this shit,” he said.

However, he bought some and eventually switched to a brand called TD Red, which he said was like a mix of Percocets and cocaine.

“They were amazing. It took all the pain away,” Barnett said. But within five days, he said, he began to increase the dose. He started taking three tablets at a time every few hours, now he can take a whole pack of 15 tablets at a time.

“It was definitely one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I wish I never touched them,” he said.

Barnett said that the effect of tianeptine wears off quickly. Sometimes he took them before bed and had to wake up in the middle of the night to take more to avoid withdrawal. He said he started drinking three to six bottles a day, each costing $30.

He said he worked delivering groceries via Instacart every day but was still broke due to how much he was spending on pills.
"I've spent about $50 on them since January," he said.

He said he had just completed a 10-day detox, which was more difficult than when he got off opioids like oxycodone, fentanyl and buprenorphine. He said he experienced nausea, sweating, vomiting, fever, body pain, and incessant chills.

“I can honestly say that withdrawal is the worst experience of my life,” he said.

Kirsten Smith, a researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said a couple of factors contribute to severe withdrawal: the incredibly high doses some people take, and the fact that many of these products contain proprietary blends, so no one really does not know what they contain.

"Tianeptine is part of a larger story about people taking a bunch of crap and not knowing what they're taking," Smith said, adding that she hadn't heard of any research on tianeptine. No one knows what they contain, no one controls it, she said.

Smith was the lead author on the 2012-2020 tianeptine Reddit posts article that was published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse last year. She said that 81% of the reports compared tianeptine to an opioid, 83% mentioned addiction, and more than 70% mentioned withdrawal. subreddit called r/QuittingTianeptine has over 3800 members and people share horror stories about their withdrawal and give each other advice on how to quit drugs.

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One online ad for ZaZa Red boasted that it was "great for pain relief" and "provides a euphoric and uplifting mood boost," but noted, "ZaZa RED works on the same receptors as traditional opiates, so be careful!"

Another manufacturer positioned tianeptine as an alternative to alcohol and weed, stating, "With just one capsule, your stress, your anxiety disappears almost instantly."

In February, the FDA issued a warning that tianeptine is associated with serious harm, overdose, and death. The warning states that tianeptine retailers "make dangerous and unproven claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety, depression, pain, opioid use disorder, and other conditions." It states that people with opioid dependence are particularly at risk when using tianeptine and that some of the side effects include agitation, drowsiness, confusion, sweating, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, slow or stopped breathing, coma, and death. .

Marszalek said he sees the drug falling into the same situation as synthetic cannabinoids. And, as with these substances, he believes that the target users are people who cannot access more traditional drugs, or people who are regularly tested for drugs.

"You think you're doing safe stuff because it's not street drugs, but maybe it's a little closer than you think," he said.

Marszalek said companies can take advantage of the fact that there are very few controls on these substances.

“Can you trust people who just want to make money and do just that? Do they have the same safety practices as pharmaceutical companies or the same degree of oversight by the FDA?” - he said.

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Barnett said he feels very deceived by the marketing around tianeptine and would support a ban, or at least more warnings.

“Be honest about the damn bottle and tell me it’s fucking addictive, you know what I mean? Don't call them dietary supplements because they're not," he said.

He said he plans to return to Alabama, where tianeptine is banned. Despite the difficulty of withdrawing, he said he celebrated his 10-day detox by taking 12 pills. But he doesn't believe a detox will help.

“I just wanted to celebrate a little,” he said. When asked what it was like to take them again, he said: "Great, but not for long."

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