Kratom withdrawal was one of the worst experiences I've ever had. I know nobody here wants to hear this, but it took me damn near a year to fully recover from it - it was by far worse than alcohol wd's. It's just so easy to get and the fresh whole leaf tea is soooo good.
How long did you use for, what was your frequency of use and how much was a typical dosage?
Personally, I've been using kratom habitually for the past year, and as of the past ~six months it's been nearly every other day. I normally dose up on 10g downed in one gulp w/ orange juice. I also always take 400mg cimetidine before hand to potentiate the effects. As of the past month or so, I've been redosing later in the day on another 10g to bring back the effects. Needless to say, I am addicted and and getting more addicted every week.
Why did I get addicted? I got addicted because I finally found an effective kratom dosage that gives me plenty of euphoria and anxiety relief, while still giving stimulation and not 'fucking me up' too much. I find I can go to work, function and do just about anything on a 10g dose, my mind will be clear, calm, collected, happy, content, comfortable, empathetic and positive. I will have energy and motivation to do the tasks that normally take extra motivation like tedious tasks at work or cleaning the house. I feel it helps me tolerate the stresses that my life introduces, and helps me deal with them in a calm, collected way, and basically just allows my personality to be everything I want to be. Even once the high wears off, I remain happy, glowing and positive for the remainder of the day.
The withdrawal? I gone several days here and there without it, and admittedly, it sucks. I must say though, aside from some minor fatigue, irritability and maybe a little anxiety, I have not noticed any major physical withdrawal effects from stopping usage. Don't get me wrong, I crave it like a mofo when I can't have it, but it feels like that's where it stops. If I get my mind off it, stay busy, I'm just fine, no withdrawal, I could care less about kratom at that point. However, sitting around, bored, staring at an empty kratom jar will drive me bonkers. Most withdrawal effects from kratom seem to be completely psychological. I crave kratom big time simply because it works so well. I don't feel like I need it to function. The problem is it's really easy to get used to the way one functions while on kratom, and then normal sober functioning doesn't quite cut it anymore. That's the psychological withdrawal.
I like to call it "kissing the sun".
Burn your lips with the taste of the sun and this great mother Earth will no longer be fun.
Having said all that, this is BS!! How is it a growing problem?? I have not met a single other person who uses kratom or has even heard of it. It's a grown-up drug for sure. This is not something little kiddies can get "mad fucked up on yo". It's totally cool to sell DXM, pseudoephedrine, caffeine and diphenhydramine over the counter, as well as propylhexedrine, and even l-methamphetamine, but here along comes another natural and safe source of remedy with an extremely low potential for abuse and LET'S BAN IT!!!! Mother nature can't write a check to the pharm companies so it needs to get the ban stick.