Posted by sukarno on December 3, 2007, at 5:23:38
I've read that tianeptine doesn't produce much in the way of physical dependence when tapering or stopping. There are stories out there of people who abused it, taking up to 240 tablets per day, and then detoxified in an inpatient setting over a period of four days or so and didn't have major problems. I guess what that means is "the patient didn't die!". heh.
I have found tapering to be more difficult the longer I remain on Stablon.
I tried tapering from 12.5mg 4x/day by taking 1/2 tablet less. That seems reasonable. I've tapered faster in the past without major problems.
Well, this time was a total disaster. I started getting a throbbing headache, reduced appetite/mild nausea and anxiety. The worst symptom was what I call "rebound depression". My depression came back so badly. It was just absolutely horrible and I don't wish that on anyone.The reason why I lowered the dose was due to financial concerns as it is expensive (56 cents/tablet). That's the only reason I tried to reduce the dose.
My wife insisted that I go back to the previous dose, so I did and I began to feel better. The headache took a few days to go away.
I never expected any of this to happen so I will have to conclude that while this drug is good for anxiety and depression, it can produce physical dependence similar to that of other antidepressants. SSRI withdrawal seems to be a lot worse though.
The sad thing is I never read anywhere that this drug could produce bad withdrawal symptoms. Probably the medical community thinks symptoms like headache, nausea, anxiety and rebound depression are "mild" and nothing of concern, but I would have to differ with them about their definitions of mild.
I also felt cravings for it too. It's not difficult like quitting smoking, but it's pretty hard, both psychologically and physically.Can anyone else here relate to this? I mean, specifically with tianeptine (Stablon) and withdrawal.
Thanks,
Paul
poster:sukarno
thread:798414
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20070929/msgs/798414.html