Talk:Tianeptine

In my subjective experience, tianeptine is definitely a creativity enhancer, at least when it comes to writing which is a skill that I have that augments tenfold after taking it. Should I add Creativity Enhancement to this substance?

@Fitdisk: Ey! I'm Corticosteroid, a scholar (it's not as fancy as it sounds, I promise) on this site. When saying something like, "should (effect) be added," it's usually wise to: give a dose, list the circumstances, tolerance, any other prescription medications, etc, or you can also look on Erowid Experience Vaults as well as other anecdotal reports. If creativity enhancement is in a majority of those and it's often proportional to dose, add it. Higher-ranks might also comment after me, so don't add it just yet. --Corticosteroid (talk) 00:18, 22 May 2018 (UTC)

It so far seems that you're not alone. Out of about 10 people on the EEV taking just tianeptine regularly/not combining it with other things, most have some form of creativity enhancement. I'd still recommend further input.

@Corticosteroid: Hey, sup! Well, I do take quite a crapload of medication, but it might as well be unrelated to the effects of the drug, as I particularly 'feel it' when I take it - it starts at 50mg slightly-moderately and at full blast at 75mg. Takes the edge off social anxiety at the 75mg dose. I take it sporadically, but even if I take it continously I still notice the effects.

I have to mention that I am taking prescription medication for HPPD and major depression and anxiety, so I also take Effexor, Lamictal, and Valium. However, I've felt this creativity effect previous to Effexor and when I was taking another benzo. I've seemed to have developed a tolerance to benzodiazepines either way :( - Fitdisk

@Fitdisk: Hello Fitdisk, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

I get what you mean when you say tianeptine feels like it enhances creativity. Opioids and drugs with opioid activity have long been reported by various users to enable the output of creative and artistic works. Many artists, musicians and writers have attributed creative properties to these drugs.

However, I think it is important to keep in mind how difficult it is to disentangle the enhancement of motivation in those pre-existing with creative dispositions (likely as a byproduct of euphoria and anxyiolysis) versus the enhancement of a separate creative faculty. The basis for the effect only has a solid neurobiological grounding for setotonergic psychedelics and likely relates to their neuroplasticity-promoting properties. Opioids by contrast have a more dopaminergic nature, acting on the brains' motivation and reward pathways, and don't exhibit a clear mechanism by which it can induce fundamentally novel brain activity. I think it's more likely that they relieve the depression and anxiety that inflicts many creative types and therefore clears obstruction to creative productivity.

However, now that I think about it... tianeptine is distinct from other opioids in that it does possess setotonergic activity. So perhaps you're onto something here. I think what needs to happen is more comparison and analysis from those who have subjective experiences of enhanced creativity between tianeptine and more typical opioids. If tianeptine can be convincingly asserted to increase creativity that other opioids do not in the same subject group, it can potentially be added to this article. --Clarity (talk) 21:53, 22 May 2018 (UTC)