In theory, could one quit kratom with the use of something weaker like codeine? Or would it just increase your opiate tolerance in general and promote a worse withdrawal? I'm talking about for like less than a week.
I've cut back a lot actually recently. I'm surprised that I was able to taper with minimum misery. I don't even know if I felt any withdrawal which was nice. To be honest, kratom's effects are barely there at this point in time. After approximately a year and a half of daily use, the euphoria is present but I want to say 20% of what it used to be (really) without exaggerating. Even if I took a large dose--say about 8-12 grams in one sitting--I'd only be uncomfortably dizzy and spaced out mentally. I remember so vividly in the beginning the good mood boost hit pretty strongly. I know I'm under the influence of a good buzz because I'm normally introverted and I become very social. Nowadays, it only makes me not sick. I don't see any point in continuing my use because somehow it turned into 70% side effects with my brain being resistant to the positive qualities of the substance. It's like.. when you're forced to consume something to avoid sickness you stop realizing how kratom has some sort of brain fog. Any other opie has some sort of minimum brain fog but for some reason with kratom there's definitely more of a spaced out factor.
Does kratom steal the natural enjoyment out of life? In my opinion it doesn't really unless you're a high dose kind of guy. It altered my libido just a little bit, which in a way was kind of nice because being a younger male is torturous with how distracting your sex drive can be. But the thing I realized the most from cutting back greatly this week is how mentally sharper I feel. It's hard to describe what brain fog really means by putting the concept into words. Some people claim that kratom caused them major episodes of long-lasting depression (while using). This shocked me, because it's a pretty soft narcotic if you can even call kratom a narcotic, and I found it to have more anti-depressant properties than real opiates. The euphoria I used to be able to summon was very consistent throughout my kratom use until really last summer. So for approximately 5-6 months now I was forced to take it out of being held hostage by the withdrawal. I know that once I take the final plunge I'm going to be be in some temporary agony. But for the past 5-6 months I barely recall ever getting a good high even once or twice. Just general dizziness. If I found dizziness to be recreational than I've found the perfect drug.. but euphoria is far better lol.
Moral of the story is that kratom sucks. It was a temporary tool to kick real opiates and for that I am grateful and found kratom to be a viable way to do as such. I think anyone using kratom on the regular should count their blessings while it still feels good. That euphoria shouldn't be taken for granted because it may never come back unless you quit for quite some time before returning. I did find it to be a fantastic pain-killer... among the best. Many people find it to be too soft of a narcotic for that purpose, but maybe because my body had become dependent on all the alkaloids in the plant, it really did ease any back pain or arm pain I sometimes had from working out. At the end of the day I'm not too salty about my breakup with kratom. Worried about the final jump though!