Key takeaway
Someone is taking pills, powders, or liquids sold for mood, pain, or opioids, and you are not sure whether this is a supplement or an overdose. FDA says tianeptine is not approved for any medical use in the United States. Products have been linked to harm, overdose, and death. Tonight, do not buy another bottle. If breathing slows, call 911.
Last updated: Mon Oct 05 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Someone in the house is taking pills, a liquid, or a powder sold for mood, pain, or opioids, often from a gas station or a website. You are not sure whether this is a bad bottle or an overdose.
If breathing is slow, someone will not wake, or someone is seizing, call 911. For a suspected poisoning that is not that emergency, call poison help at 1-800-222-1222. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Do not buy another bottle
Tianeptine is not approved for any medical use in the United States. It is not a dietary ingredient. FDA calls it an unsafe food additive. Companies have sold it with unproven claims for anxiety, depression, pain, and opioid use disorder. Some other countries have approved it for depression or anxiety and then restricted it or warned about addiction. Foreign approval is not a U.S. approval.
This is not kratom. Kratom treatment claims and what stopping kratom can feel like are a different product. Drugstore medicines with ordinary labels are in over-the-counter misuse.
Annual poison-center cases involving tianeptine exposure rose from 4 in 2013 to about 350 in 2024. That is a national count of reported exposures, not a death total. People with opioid use disorder may be at particular risk. Withdrawal can follow, and the clinical picture can mimic opioid toxicity and opioid withdrawal. The clock for opioids is in opioid withdrawal. Looking like that withdrawal does not make this bottle an approved detox tool. Do not start another unlabeled bottle to taper.
Approved care is a different door
Medications are the standard of care for opioid use disorder. The ones named are methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. What each one is for does not include a tianeptine protocol. Do not stop a prescribed opioid medicine in order to switch to a powder. If you are shaky, vomiting, or panicked after the last dose, the next step is a clinician or an emergency department.
Search FindTreatment.gov for licensed care. Call or text (800) 653-9376 if you want help finding a program and you are not in the middle of an overdose.
Additional Resources
Sources cited on this page:
- FDA Consumer Update: Tianeptine products linked to serious harm, overdoses, death
- NIDA: How can prescription drug addiction be treated? (medications for opioid use disorder)
- SAMHSA FindTreatment.gov
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Common Questions
Is tianeptine the same thing as kratom?
No. Kratom is a plant product. Tianeptine is a different drug. FDA says it is not approved for any use in the United States, even though some other countries have approved it for depression or anxiety and some of those countries have restricted it or warned about addiction. A shared shelf at a gas station is not a shared approval.
Why do the labels mention mood, pain, or opioids?
Companies have sold unlawful products and made unproven claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety, depression, pain, opioid use disorder, and other conditions. Those claims are not an approval. People with opioid use disorder may be at particular risk of misusing it. Approved medicines for opioid use disorder already exist. The medication guide names them.
How common are the poison-center calls?
FDA, citing the National Poison Data System, says annual poison-center cases involving tianeptine exposure rose from 4 in 2013 to about 350 in 2024. That is a national exposure count, not a death total, and it is not a personal risk score. Reports describe harm at amounts far above the daily dose used in countries where a product is approved, including a range of 1.3 to 250 times that amount. The range describes reported misuse. It is not a target.
What does harm look like?
FDA lists agitation, drowsiness, confusion, sweating, a rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, slowed or stopped breathing, coma, and death. Those effects have been reported from tianeptine alone and with other drugs, including antidepressants and antianxiety medicines. The clinical picture of abuse and withdrawal can mimic opioid toxicity and opioid withdrawal. Call 911 for slowed breathing or a person who will not wake. Call poison help at 1-800-222-1222 for a suspected poisoning.
Is a capsule from a supplement aisle legal and safe?
FDA says tianeptine is an unsafe food additive and is not a dietary ingredient. It has sent warning letters to companies selling it as a dietary supplement or an unapproved drug, and it has used import alerts to detain shipments. Availability online, in a pill, a liquid, or a powder, is not evidence of safety. Avoid products that contain it. Report a bad reaction through FDA MedWatch. Do not finish the bottle while you wait.