A popular energy drink that the U.S. federal government has urged to avoid has caused more than a dozen people to become seriously ill, sending them to intensive care.
Neptune’s Fix, a flavored drink marketed as a dietary supplement that helps elevate mood and improve focus, contains tianeptine, also known as “gas station heroin.”
On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that New Jersey’s Poison Information and Education System received 20 calls from health care providers about tianeptine ingestion among 17 patients ages 28 to 69 between June and November 2023.
Among them, 14 people reported drinking Neptune’s Fix and 13 had to be admitted to the intensive care unit for the most intensive care.
Seven people had to be intubated and put on a ventilator to help them breathe.
The patients showed a variety of symptoms, including delirium, irregular heartbeat, low blood pressure, seizures and cardiac arrest.
Neptune’s Fix has been found for sale in gas stations in at least ten US states. Authorities warn that people can easily become addicted to a substance it contains: tianeptine
There were no deaths among patients who reported taking tianeptine.
The Food and Drug Administration announced last month that Neptune’s Fix would issue a voluntary recall of its products after the agency also issued a warning in January for consumers not to purchase or use the products because of their use of tianeptine, which has been linked to has brought addiction and fatal overdoses.
The FDA warning read: “The FDA continues to receive reports of serious adverse events after using Neptune’s Fix products, including seizures, loss of consciousness and death.
“These products can also interact in life-threatening ways with other medications a consumer is taking. The agency is actively investigating reports of adverse events in collaboration with local and state health departments.”
Tianeptine is a medication used to treat depression, but it is not approved by the FDA in the United States.
The federal agency has issued warnings about the substance, saying it can cause an intense high, similar to an opioid. It also said the drug could contain other harmful ingredients that have gone undetected or undeclared.
Eight states have already banned it, while Florida this year named it a Schedule 1 substance, putting it in the same class as heroin and LSD.
Neptune’s Fix is commonly sold at gas stations, but is also offered for sale in delis, vape shops, tobacconists, convenience stores, and online.
FDA officials say tianeptine can produce a high similar to some opioids, but warned that many patients quickly become addicted because they can quickly build up a tolerance to the substance.
Health officials also warn that people who consume Neptune’s Fix may experience confusion, sweating, rapid heart rate, blood pressure spikes, nausea, vomiting and agitation.
Some may also experience a marked slowing of breathing and, in rare cases, a total shutdown of the respiratory system, which can lead to coma or death.
At least four deaths have been reported among people taking the ‘supplement’ since it appeared in the US in the mid-2010s.
And the number of tianeptine poisonings has increased dramatically over the past two decades, from reports of just eleven poisonings between 2000 and 2013 to 151 in 2020.
The CDC tested six samples of Neptune’s Fix from two cases reported to the agency. They discovered that they contained tianeptine and kavain – a substance used as an anti-anxiety drug, an anti-epileptic, anti-depressant and anti-psychotic. It also has calming properties.
A report from the CDC said the latest cases mark an increase in the number of reported exposures to tianeptine compared to the average of two or fewer cases per year at the state’s poison control center.
The CDC said, “It is important for citizens and health care professionals to be aware that tianeptine is an unregulated drug sold under various product names… that may cause adverse effects and dependence.”