Apparently tianeptine withdrawal is quite a nasty one due to seretonin reuptake inhibition
The only reason tianeptine withdrawal is so bad is because of its activity as an opioid. Serotonin plays no part at all.
Tianeptine has no effects on serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, ANYTHING except opioid receptors. If you want a laugh go read Wikipedia and look at the
chart that has binding data for tianeptine at various receptors. I'll reproduce it here in a small font:
Note that out of the many many receptors tested, the
only one tianeptine binds to with any reasonable affinity (smaller is better) is the
mu-opioid receptor. It has a very very weak activity at the delta opioid receptor at doses that would be far beyond therapeutic ones but nothing else. Unlike tramadol it has no activity at the serotonin transporter, norepinephrine transporter, and also lacks activity at any of the serotonin, adrenergic, or dopamine receptors. Same for histamine, sigma, adenosine A1, etc etc.
I guess the same gas stations that sold "Benzo Fury" and "Ivory Wave" and are selling the modern "K2"/"Spice" analogs are selling tianeptine as "Tiannaa" now?
Imagine someone selling hydrocodone or dihydrocodeine pills at a gas station, because that's functionally what is happening here. That will ensure someone will eventually die from unintentional overdose (either from the "one is good so more is better" fallacy, or through combination with alcohol, benzos, and/ or other sedative drugs), irresponsible use (either using it while operating a motor vehicle or heavy machinery), or will turn to criminal activity / other opioids after becoming dependent, and then tianeptine will join the long list of banned substances with all the others.
At least kratom seems to be self-limiting in terms of its harm, you have to consume an awful lot of plant matter every day to maintain a serious habit, and most extracts are not worth the packaging they're sold in.
I'm not a proponent for arbitrarily banning substances but I think people need to be educated if they choose to use this drug. They need to be aware that it's