OK so ive been taking tieneptine sodium for least 3 yrs now. I actually started on 500 mg of vicodin but it wsnt hlping so my doc upped the dosege to 1000 norco (bottle actually says 10mg but doc said its actually a 1000mg vic) & subsequently got addicted. Anyway i got real tired of 'chasing the vics) aftr a cpl yrs so i was tld of this 'wonder drug' (by my county health dept) called methadone. Well those of u who knw of methadone knw how powerful (& addictive) it is. Well the methadone clinic had to keep upping my dosage (eventually to 160mg) cuz lowr dosage wsnt wrkn. Thn i was tld by my clinic tht i was seriously taking more mg thn ANY1 in state of cali. The average dose is at bout 30-40mg. So as u shld knw the higher the dose (more of the drug) u take the WORSE the withdrawls will b! At 160mg tht wld b AWEFUL. It was.. my insurance got dropped & i cldnt affrd cash price so my clinic made me 'taper off' frm 160mg/day to 50mg/day 1 & to 30mg/day 2 to nothing day 3. It was the WORST withdrawl EVER. FYI, i had already had bad withdrawls from heroin, meth, coke, & alcohol (different times) but i can assure U those withdrawls (evn frm heroin) werent nearly as bad as methadone withdrawls. Thn i got introduced to tieneptine sodium by 'a friend'. WISH i NEVER STARTED tht sh*t. I hv been taking tieneptine sodium now for roughly 3 yrs, started out at bout 3 grams/DAY (which is ALOT) but my tolerence to these things are HIGH. I thn graduated to 5g/DAY in my 2nd year taking it. By the 3rd year i am now at 10g/DAY!! Again, the higher the dosage (more of drug) u take the HARDER /WORSE the withdrawls become. I am TERRIFIED now cuz im bout OUT & cant get more not only cuz i CANT affrd it but its OUT OF STOCK in evry cmpny tht sells it. Therefore im SCREWED! The ER as 'silly' as tht mght sound to some, is my only recourse (as the last time i had withdrawls "only 15 hrs/20hrs without a dose" i truly wanted to KILL myslf. It was by FAR the WORST withdrawl EVERRR!! im writing this to let ppl knw PLEASE DO NOT TAKE tieneptine sodium/acid as it is the WORST thing u can do SERIOUSLY! if ANY1 knws of a way i can hlp allieviate this HORRIBLE withdrawl PLEASE tell me. I tried LOTS of HOT baths (hlps a TINY bit), heard xanex hlps but only acts to tk edge off, dsnt negate the withdrawl symptoms. Also ive heard KRATOM hlps (ive tried it, lots of it, but it didnt seem to hlp ME) or perhaps OTC tramadol as well (whch i will try this time) but whn youve got NO money & NO health insurance youre (IM) kinda stuck... ?????? goodluck to any1 fighting same fight. I feel 4 u, its TOUGH 4 SURE.