Wellness Unmasked: The Hidden Danger of “Gas Station Heroin”: What Parents Need to Know About Tianeptine
4/28/202617 mincomplete
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1:58That's InnerBalance .com. Welcome to Wellness Unmasked.
2:05I'm Dr. Nicole Sapphire and I have a really interesting topic to discuss.
2:09But first, I want to say let's all just stop for a second and take
2:12a breath. Obviously, the weekend was incredibly stressful.
2:16Another assassination attempt on the president's life, and it sounds like the manifesto, he didn't
2:23just necessarily want to get to the president, but maybe other members of the administration.
2:27I had a lot of friends in that room at the White House Correspondents' Dinner
2:31that night. So I'm so grateful that Secret Service and the police were able to
2:37act swiftly and everyone made it out safely and unharmed.
2:43Very scary time we're living in.
2:45Lots of red air going on, and, you know, we all just need to take
2:49a step back, take a big, deep breath.
2:51Now, I probably should talk about something that is a little bit more of a
2:56feel -good conversation, you know, just because of the stressful weekend everyone's had.
3:00But when I was working in the hospital today, I got a text message from
3:05a friend asking me about tyoneptine.
3:09Now, you may not know what that is.
3:11And in fact, when I hear that name, I don't necessarily, it doesn't ring a
3:16bell to me. But it's something important that I think we should talk about because
3:22I want you to know about it.
3:24And especially if you have kids who are adolescents, young adults, you're going to be
3:29glad that you know about it.
3:31So tyoneptine, you may have heard it as referred to, some people call it gas
3:36station heroin. And now while that nickname may sound sensationalized, and, you know, I'm usually
3:42the first person to push back on media fear -mongering, in this case, the concern
3:47is very real. Because this is exactly the kind of story that keeps me up
3:52at night as both a doctor, but also a mother.
3:55And I want to start with, again, something deeply personal.
3:58The reason I'm talking about this today is because a close friend of mine called
4:02me today. A friend's daughter, very close to the family, bright, athletic.
4:07She came in, she came from a great family, no major red flags.
4:10She had been struggling with some anxiety and some stress.
4:14And, you know, as a mother of a 26 -year -old, let me tell you,
4:18every adolescent and college -age kid feels that stress and maybe some low -level anxiety.
4:25So she was introduced to what she was told was a, quote -unquote, natural mood
4:31enhancer that she could buy legally.
4:33No prescription, no doctor, no pharmacist, nothing.
4:38No warning label that truly reflected potential dangers.
4:42She was told it was help her relax, help her focus, help her feel better.
4:48And at first, that's exactly what it did.
4:52But then the doses increased and she started getting sick when she didn't take it.
4:58Then came withdrawal symptoms like vomiting, anxiety, tremors, sweating, difficulty sleeping.
5:05Now? Well, now she's currently sitting in rehab, battling an addiction that she never saw
5:11coming. And neither did her parents.
5:14To say that they're devastated is an understatement.
5:17Now, this story isn't rare.
5:19And that's what makes this conversation so important.
5:22So what exactly is Ty and...
5:24Tyaneptine, well, tyaneptine was first developed decades ago, half a century ago, more than a
5:30half a century ago, in like the 1960s by French researchers.
5:33And it was later approved in countries throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, under brand names
5:39like Stablon and Coaxil. It was originally used as an antidepressant.
5:46And here's where things get a little bit interesting.
5:48For years, scientists believed that tyaneptine worked primarily by increasing serotonin reuptake, which is unusual
5:58because the most popular antidepressants used, like Prozac and Zoloft, work by blocking serotonin reuptake.
6:07So they actually do like the exact opposite thing, but yet they're both being used
6:12for antidepressants. But later, researchers discovered that may not even be its most clinically significant
6:21effect. In fact, tyaneptine also reacts, it also acts on the mu opioid receptor.
6:29Does that sound familiar to you?
6:31Well, it should immediately raise some eyebrows because that's the same receptor involved in many
6:38prescription opioids like OxyContin, Vicodin, and non -prescription opioids like heroin.
6:44Now, to be very clear, tyaneptine is not identical to heroin, but at high doses,
6:50it can create opioid -like effects.
6:53It's euphoria, you know, that feeling of being high and happy, sedation, dependence, addiction, withdrawal,
7:02and respiratory depression, meaning it makes you stop breathing, which is how people overdose.
7:07So that's where things get dangerous.
7:09In the United States, tyaneptine is not FDA -approved for any medical use.
7:15It's not. Let me repeat that.
7:17Tyaneptine, gas station heroin, whatever you want to call it, it is not an FDA
7:23-approved medication. And yet somehow, it's found its way into convenience stores, gas stations, smoke
7:30shops, and online retailers under fun little names like Zaza Red, Tiana, Pegasus, Neptune's Fix,
7:40TD Red. They sound fun, don't they?
7:42I mean, and you're getting them at the local convenience store.
7:47How dangerous can they be?
7:48I mean, they are being marketed as brain boosters, nootropic, mood enhancers, energy supplements.
7:56And this is where consumers, like you, like me, like anybody, can get fooled.
8:03Because people think, well, if it's sold at a gas station, it can't be that
8:07dangerous. Wrong. Absolutely wrong. That assumption has gotten a lot of people hurt.
8:12Just think about cigarettes. You never needed a prescription for them, yet it's obvious.
8:18And there is a plethora of data showing it increases the risk of cancer, lung
8:23disease, and other cardiovascular disease, and a whole bunch of things.
8:27So just because it's available at the convenience store doesn't mean that it isn't harmful.
8:32And because it's so harmful, in January 2024, the FDA actually issued a major warning
8:40telling consumers not to buy or use any tyineptine products because of severe health risks,
8:46including seizures, loss of consciousness, overdose, and death.
8:51Then things escalated even further.
8:53In May 2025, about a year ago, my friend, FDA Commissioner Marty McCary issued another
9:01warning, specifically calling tyineptine a dangerous and growing threat, particularly for young people.
9:08The FDA said poison center calls involving tyineptine, and according to recent federal data, poison
9:17center cases increased from just four cases, four, throughout the entire country, for all of
9:232013, to roughly 350 cases in 2024.
9:28Now, that's a staggering increase, and remember, that's only reported cases.
9:33We know more often than not that a lot of people do not actually report
9:39cases, especially if it's a quote -unquote mild overdose or they recover within 24 hours.
9:46So I think a lot more people are being poisoned by some of these medications.
9:53Now, you may have heard of the Neptune's Fix outbreak.
9:57Maybe you did, maybe you didn't.
9:59The CDC published a report after multiple people became critically ill after consuming what is
10:06called Neptune's Fix products containing tyineptine.
10:10Patients developed seizures, low blood pressure, rapid heart rates, altered mental status, and many required
10:16ICU care. Investigators later found that some products contain not just tyineptine, but also synthetic
10:23cannabinoids and other concerning substances.
10:27That's the other issue with this unregulated marketplace.
10:31You may think you know what you're buying, but often you don't.
10:34So let's zoom out for a second.
10:36Why are people turning to this?
10:38Why is this even an issue?
10:40Because we have a country filled with people struggling.
10:43I say this every single week.
10:44Anxiety, depression, chronic pain, burnout, loneliness, opioid withdrawal.
10:51People are dying. desperate to feel better.
10:53And when traditional health care feels inaccessible, or people don't want the stigma of asking
10:59for help, they turn to shortcuts.
11:01That's where dangerous products thrive.
11:03This isn't just a tie -in -emptine story.
11:06This is a bigger story about regulatory loopholes, the supplement gray market, and a mental
11:12health crisis colliding in real time.
11:15Now, some states have already started to step in, like Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and
11:22Alabama. They have all begun restricting or even banning tie -in -emptine products.
11:27Some places are requiring warnings to be placed on them.
11:31There's even bipartisan federal legislation being discussed to classify it as a controlled substance.
11:38Frankly, it's overdue. But I also want to be responsible here, because this is not
11:42about shaming addiction. Addiction can happen to absolutely anyone.
11:47It can happen to the honor student, the athlete, the executive, the mom just trying
11:52to hold everything together, the teenager battling silent anxiety.
11:57And often it starts with someone simply trying to feel better, to feel normal.
12:02That's why compassion matters and treatment matters even more, because access to legitimate mental health
12:08care is very important. If you're listening right now, you know I love to do
12:14my call -fors. If you're using tie -in -emptine, you're considering trying it, you know
12:20someone who tries it, please don't stop abruptly.
12:23Don't just like grab it and then throw it away, especially if you've been using
12:26it for a while, because you could actually have withdrawal symptoms.
12:29And that itself can have you end up in the hospital.
12:33Withdrawal can be severe. So talk to your doctor, talk to an addiction specialist, reach
12:38out to someone. And if you're a parent, please know what your kids are buying
12:42online. Please know what they have stuffed in their jacket pockets or in their backpacks.
12:47Know what supplements they're taking.
12:49They may just say, oh, it's nothing.
12:51It's just, you know, it's like a five -hour energy drink or something that I
12:54grabbed at the grocery store or at the, you know, the gas station, whatever it
12:59is. Pick it up, look at it, make sure you know what your kids are
13:03taking, and understand that legal does not always mean safe.
13:06I keep thinking about my friend's daughter.
13:09She recently told me I thought I was protecting her from dangerous drugs.
13:14She doesn't smoke cigarettes, she doesn't vape, and as far as she knew, she didn't
13:19do any of the quote -unquote dangerous stuff.
13:22She never imagined the dangerous drug would be sold next to the energy drinks and
13:26the nicotine products. That hit me pretty hard because it perfectly sums up the modern
13:32drug crisis. Sometimes the biggest threats aren't hidden in dark alleys.
13:36They're hiding in plain sight, at your local gas station, on your phone.
13:40They're just one click away on some of these online shops.
13:44If we don't educate people now, we're going to keep seeing more family blindsided.
13:49And while I do think that these products should be regulated, should be banned, should
13:53have warnings on them, over -regulation isn't always the answer.
13:58It's education. It's educating the parents, educating the children, and then also getting to the
14:04root cause of what's driving them to seek artificial happiness, artificial euphoria.
14:12Why do they need some external substance to feel better?
14:15These are all things that we need to be talking about, we need to be
14:18focusing on. If we don't educate people right now, we're going to keep seeing more
14:23families blindsided. I'm Dr. Nicole Sapphire, and this is Wellness Enmasse.
14:28Make sure to listen to Wellness Enmasse on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your
14:32podcasts, and I'll talk to you next time.
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15:44Make it visible with Viz.
15:47Viz is a once -daily prescription eyedrop to treat blurry near vision for up to
15:5210 hours. The most common side effects that may be experienced while using Viz include
15:56eye irritation, temporary dim or dark vision, headaches, and eye redness.
16:01Talk to an eye doctor to learn if Viz is right for you.
16:04Learn more at Viz .com.
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16:24Oestra replaces five to six products women typically use to treat symptoms and is third
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