Kristi Terry says her life was shattered when her 19-year-old son, Johnathon, died after taking these pills he bought at a gas station containing Tianeptine.
Some certain drinks or pills in colorful packaging that promise to boost energy and mood can often be found online, near checkout at some convenience stores and gas stations, but what is in them? The FDA issued a warning over what some experts and families call “Gas Station Heroin.”
Morgan Echols says she thought the active ingredient in these bottles, tianeptine, was a safe dietary supplement that might help her with her anxiety.
“I would have never bought this had I known at the time what it was,” Echols says.
She says it only took a couple of pills for her to get hooked.
“It has the potential to destroy anybody,” Echols says.
That is what one mother says happened to her son.
Kristi Terry says her life was shattered when her 19-year-old son, Johnathon, died after taking pills he bought at a gas station.
“It’s horrible. There’s a reason they call it, ‘Gas Station Heroin,’” Terry says.
These drinks and pills have been sold under names like “Neptune’s Fix” and “Tianaa Red.” But the main ingredient, tianeptine, has recently been linked by doctors to serious side effects, including seizures and death.
“This can be very dangerous because you just don’t really know what’s in the bottle,” Dr. Diane Calello tells Inside Edition.
Calello, who runs the New Jersey Poison Center at Rutgers Medical School, says cases of tianeptine poisoning are surging. “It worries me a lot. It’s going up across the nation,” she says.
Experts say the so-called “Gas Station Heroin” works like a powerful opioid and can be very addictive.
Bottles containing tianeptine can cost around $30 and are readily available in some convenience stores.
Echols and Terry say they wanted to see “Gas Station Heroin” taken off the shelves.
“My son was a healthy 19-year-old that had his whole life ahead of him and your supplement killed my son,” Terry says.
Products containing tianeptine have been banned in 12 states and in February the FDA recently issued a warning to consumers advising them against purchasing them.
The makers of Neptune’s Fix and Tianaa Red did not respond to Inside Edition’s requests for comment.
