Tianeptine abuse: a case report (2014)

I've been using it occasionally for a few months now, to relieve bad moods. I think tianeptine has much, much less abuse potential than other pharmaceutical drugs like amphetamines, ritalin or benzodiazepines. The slight high you get from a therapeutic dose is nothing compared to what you get from a standard dose of ritalin. Tianeptine only affects dopamine pathways indirectly. People redose amphetamines to delay the anxiety-ridden crash, but tianeptine produces no crash. Another factor is that if you take amphetamines one day, you'll have significant difficulty functioning without them the next day, which definitely contributes to perpetuating the cycle of addiction.

There's now evidence that tianeptine is a weak opioid receptor agonist, which probably explains cases like these. I guess it depends on the person. Me, I've tried taking up to 80mg of tianeptine at once, out of curiosity, and I found it really didn't make the experience more enjoyable. I found myself brainfogged, had difficulty concentrating, and I was slightly worried that people could tell I was "high". Not something I want to repeat. I have much more difficulty avoiding caffeine than tianeptine.