I agree he should not use bupe for kratom withdrawal, but considering he has some and is considering it, I thought I'd suggest the safest way to do so. Bupe is only appropriate as a maintenance opiate if you plan to stay on opiates and want to escape a life of IVing heroin or similar. Maintenance can be really good for some people, a legally obtained, long-lasting opiate that fills that craving and lets you function in life. But bupe is a BITCH to get off, the acute withdrawal lasts a long time and it takes a long time after that to feel right again. If you get addicted to bupe you will wish to god you had just spent a few days kicking kratom instead.
I understand trying to escape kratom withdrawals... contrary to what some people think, they fucking suck when you're doing a lot of kratom every day for a good period of time. I was heavily addicted to kratom for 6 years (it was what led to stronger opiates for me, it was my first opiate, back in 2002 before anyone knew what it was around here). I've been addicted to kratom, heroin, oxy, poppy tea (oral opium) and buprenorphine, and kratom had the worst RLS of them all, everything else was easier but the RLS was unlike anything else. And the RLS is the worst part of opiate withdrawal for me. But kratom's withdrawal is short and you seem to recover back to feeling normal quicker, with less of a period of PAWS, than full agonists and bupe. You really should taper as much as possible jump off and just suffer for a few days. Like 4-5 tops and you'll be mostly done.
But kratom IS an opioid, as it agonizes the opiate receptors, regardless of the fact that it has other modes of action. it is by definition an opioid, and is cross-tolerant with opiates, and its effects will alleviate opioid withdrawal (and other opioids will alleviate its withdrawal).
I'm not trying to demonize it by and means, but I way too many people in the recovery industry and the kratom market trying to push it as some miracle non-opioid cure to opioid addiction. It is not, it is substituting one substance with opioid receptor agonism for another. People not understanding this and thinking it's harmless leads to people getting addicted to it. So I think it needs to be said.
Do you have access to gabapentin? gabapentin does wonders for helping with light opiate withdrawal. If you use it for a few days and then stop, you can bypass much of the acute withdrawal. Of course, it is also addictive, but at least it affects a totally different system.
