Misc I ordered micronized Kava powder, what should I expect?

[BourbonMac]

I've seen 10,000 different things about this stuff. "It's very subtle" "it'll get you krunk" "it feels incredible" etc etc.
I ordered "Loa Waka" I believe? Apparently it's a strong strain or something.
I've read about "reverse tolerance" and how it won't work until you take it for awhile, but just as many people seem to say that's a myth and that they've felt it their first times. That it's promulgated by kava bars who just want people to keep coming back for more.

There are also people who say only the traditional kava is good, while others say micronized is just as good or better. I've never seen so many conflicting experiences/ideas about any substance other than kava. I never had real kava, just the root, and whatever the brand Gaia Herbs was, it was like liquid in capsules that I bought from a vitamin store. I could never tell if it did much, but I know it worked a little bit.

I ordered I believe 2oz, I don't know how much in grams is a good dose, everyone just refers to tablespoons, legit haven't come across any posts that refer to grams and I can't figure out why that is, whether it's here or on Reddit.

 

[negrogesic]

Personally not a big fan, has a dirty, fuzzy alcohol-like buzz to it.

I found best results with the dehydrated tea, sold as an instant drink mix. Essentially they make tea, and dehydrate it. Way stronger than the micronized stuff, require only a few grams per dose, no straining involved. Still was never a fan though, never found the effect to be that enjoyable (then again, was never impressed with alcohol either).

 

[plumbus-nine]

I am one of these who don't respond well to Kava, tried a few strains and none of them was particularly enjoyable. Unfortunately, because it sounds like a decent alternative for alcohol but I guess one needs extracts to reach these levels, given the horrible taste Kava root usually has.

One tablespoon usually equals to around 5 grams. Did at least 20g and got little in terms of effects but I'm sure @AutoTripper can help you more!

 

[G_Chem]

Calling @AutoTripper

I have always liked it. And in fact I’ve kinda missed it, think I might have some tonight. I have tried many different formulations. The only two I’ve liked have been tincture (strong but not best quality of effects) and these candies which I really like.

-GC

 

[G_Chem]

Just ate one of these candies, they were 5yrs old but blister packaged which seemed to do well to retain potency.

My mouth goes completely numb as I suck on these. Then a warmth creeps over my scalp, a slight euphoria and relaxation takes hold. Light becomes somewhat bright and abrasive, talk becomes labored and unwanted. Perfect for chilling and just being.

-GC

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I've tried kava in various forms. It's OK... the problem for me is I cannot seem to separate the side effects from the positive effects.

I bought some fancy expensive micronized kava last month. The buzz is actually quite strong and noticeable from 5g. The initial high is almost narcotic like, but fades quickly.

The problem is it always gives me a mild stomach and head ache for 8+ hours after I take it.... the buzz is actually decent but the stomach and headache it gives me always overrides the high.

If not for the side effects I'd probably be a kava fiend... but there's a reason I don't buy it. It's mainly always the headache that kills it for me.

I assume it may be genetic, some people seem to love the stuff. I assume they don't experience the headache like I do.

 

[negrogesic]

The problem is it always gives me a mild stomach and head ache for 8+ hours after I take it.... the buzz is actually decent but the stomach and headache it gives me always overrides the high.

If not for the side effects I'd probably be a kava fiend... but there's a reason I don't buy it. It's mainly always the headache that kills it for me.

I assume it may be genetic, some people seem to love the stuff. I assume they don't experience the headache like I do.

Yeah same exact experience for me, I experience a disproportionate amount of side-effects relative to the buzz it provides. Almost like an allergic reaction in some ways. Not a fan of the skin sensations/heat either, and yeah it isn't easy on the stomach either.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

There's an extract that I enjoy but it's prohibitively expensive. I've tried other extracts and they didn't work.

The numbing effect doesn't seem to correlate to positive effects for me. This micronized kava I have now is VERY strong, but has very little oral numbing.

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Yeah same exact experience for me, I experience a disproportionate amount of side-effects relative to the buzz it provides. Almost like an allergic reaction in some ways. Not a fan of the skin sensations/heat either, and yeah it isn't easy on the stomach either.

Yeah, it almost makes me hungover after about 90 min post ingestion. I can feel the buzz but it's just not worth it.

 

[BourbonMac]

Ginger root capsules would probably help with some stomach upset. I never got an upset stomach from kratom so maybe I wouldn't for this?
I realized phenibut was genuinely not for me the other night. It was a cool thing to try and add to my list of drugs I've taken but it just felt so dirty. None of the side effects or long onset are worth the feeling which is incredible if done right, but THC will always win.

Phen was giving me a pretty upset stomach every other time I took it, ginger root helped sometimes but not usually. I'd end up having to eat but then if you eat you can kill the high some. Just all around not a good drug for me personally. I didn't want to be tempted to try any more of it, so I just threw it all away earlier. Sometimes that's just the best move.

Real kava is something I've never tried, and I just kind of impulse bought it last night. I've heard it behaves kind of like a benzo and has helped people get off of them, and I also read kava has basically no withdrawal aside from cravings and such. I look forward to trying it, should get here sometime this week. Wonder how it stacks with kratom.

 

[xtcgrrrl]

When I was in Hawaii, my best friend and I had these kava tinctures that were pretty potent. It’s basically an herbal benzo kinda feeling. I’m really more into kratom, because pain relief is what I need, but my bestie was looking for anxiety relief. And it sure worked for that purpose! I saw a noticeable difference in her; normally she needs to keep herself busy and is always rushing around planning and fretting and making sure we are early to stuff (my ADHD-related disorganization and lack of promptness has always made her crazy!) but after taking the kava shots, she was able to be chill and not worry so much. She loved the effect so much that she bought powdered kava there and learned to make tea from it! Hopefully this is going to be a good supplement for her. But I HAVE heard it can be hard on the liver, so it’s not for every day.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

. The initial high is almost narcotic like, but fades quickly.

Kava is a nice high. Nothing to write home about, but it's a nice alternative to alcohol for me. For my body, it gives less of a hangover than booze. You do have to get good product as there is a lot of bunk. You seem to have a good product, OP.

It does fade kinda quickly. Importantly for me, it's pretty expensive.

So I've not done it a whole lot. My son, who is extensively drug tested for his job, does like it when I treat him to a Kava drink I get at a local shop. He says it "relaxes him" and that's what I've found too. Nothing super strong. Certainly pleasant. Two of them are nice.
10$ a pop, so it's a treat.

All the "research" I've done seem to point to it being somewhat expensive anywhere. Any input on that in the thread is welcome.

I do get some inexpensive stuff on Amazon which I toss and wash for a milder buzz. A heaping tablespoon works for that. Tossing and washing is supposed to increase negative side effects, so I don't go too high.

I'm Mr. Synergy at times. a bit of Kava added to a Gabapentin and Lyrica combo (100mg and 75mg) is nice.
Throw in a little bit of Phenibut for bouquet.
A few shots of Bourbon always on a sedative night.

But, I'm weird. I did the same thing when I was a productive drone on nootropics. A bit of Piracetam, some Choline, low dose Hydergine was common. Low doses of a few things to maximize synergy and minimize side effects.

I've rambled enough, sorry.

Kava is a nice high, but pricy.

 

[BourbonMac]

So it should've arrived today, but it was returned to the post office because "no such number" or it doesn't recognize my address. ITS ON THE INVOICE WTF??? They fucked up big time, not me, it's right there clear as day. What should I do in this case? I mean, I guess I can just give them the tracking number and that should be enough, right? But then how do they know I'm the actual person it's addressed to? I guess I'd just have to show I.D at the post office, but I'd rather it just be me being able to call them and clear it up so it will get to my house. I've never had this happen before. So I e-mailed them telling them how retarded they are because I've ordered hundreds of things online and never had this issue.

 

[brokedownpalace10]

So it should've arrived today, but it was returned to the post office because "no such number" or it doesn't recognize my address. ITS ON THE INVOICE WTF??? They fucked up big time, not me, it's right there clear as day. What should I do in this case? I mean, I guess I can just give them the tracking number and that should be enough, right? But then how do they know I'm the actual person it's addressed to? I guess I'd just have to show I.D at the post office, but I'd rather it just be me being able to call them and clear it up so it will get to my house. I've never had this happen before. So I e-mailed them telling them how retarded they are because I've ordered hundreds of things online and never had this issue.

I don't think Kava is going to be anything watched or anything anytime soon, if that's what you are worried about. There are Kava bars. Act trendy and hipsterlike.

 

[plumbus-nine]

So it should've arrived today, but it was returned to the post office because "no such number" or it doesn't recognize my address. ITS ON THE INVOICE WTF??? They fucked up big time, not me, it's right there clear as day. What should I do in this case? I mean, I guess I can just give them the tracking number and that should be enough, right? But then how do they know I'm the actual person it's addressed to? I guess I'd just have to show I.D at the post office, but I'd rather it just be me being able to call them and clear it up so it will get to my house. I've never had this happen before. So I e-mailed them telling them how retarded they are because I've ordered hundreds of things online and never had this issue.

They should be able to tell you where your parcel is located (in which succursal etc) by looking it up in their tracking system and then hand it to you upon showing your credentials. But unfortunately are these couriers known for bad service, here where I live they don't even leave a fucking note if they failed to deliver something because nobody was at home (during random hours of the day, one would have to stay at home all times) and it's Russian roulette whether something gets lost into send-back nirvana. Specially happens with Chinese stuff ordered from AliBaba etc. but I also missed a research chemical delivery which sucks, many of these shady companies don't refund or pretend not having gotten the shipping back but I hope that your Kava company is more reliable.

I don't think Kava is going to be anything watched or anything anytime soon, if that's what you are worried about. There are Kava bars. Act trendy and hipsterlike.

Yeah, my Kava was declared as food and passed borders flawlessly. Wish RCs were as legal.

 

[BourbonMac]

Yeah I wasn't worried about them thinking it was kava or anything, just very annoyed that this happened. I was able to get it from the post office earlier, and it said right on the tag my home address... so someone at USPS fucked up.

Anywho, I imagine this is to be taken on an empty stomach? Seems everyone is different but this appears to be common. A lot of people suggest to eat 30 minutes to an hour after to "boost" the effect or something. I've heard of an experienced the same thing with kratom before but not consistently. It's like if a dose didn't work as well, eating boosts it, and if it does work well, eating either doesn't change anything or blunts the effect.

I do look forward to trying it but I'm not sure if I will tonight or not. What do you guys think of this "reverse tolerance" that people speak of, has it really taken some of you 3-5 times of taking it to feel anything? That just sounds kinda mythos like to me. It's 2oz of micronized which I don't imagine would last all that long, it just says 1 teaspoon per serving, but most people I've read take 2 minimum.

 

[BourbonMac]

So I took it about 15 minutes ago, 6g or something. I see people recommend 10-15g, I think that must be in 2 split drinks staggered or something. No WAY I could've done 10g in this one drink of warm almond milk, which probably should've been hot so it wouldn't have clumped up. It was mostly dissolved but not fully, I just yolo'd it and chugged the clumps down. This is way easier to drink than kratom in general though they aren't exactly comparable. I like the taste of kratom, and LOVE the smell. I don't hate the taste of this micronized kava, but it seems to clump up way easier than kratom.

Desperately tried to chase it with a bit of eggnog which... was spoiled. Luckily it was like a teensy sip, then I had 1 graham cracker, but my tongue went completely numb and I couldn't taste a thing.

Update at 2:15am: subtle calm feeling, I don't think it's placebo as I wasn't really searching for a feeling exactly. Because of a bad headache, I took a caffeine/L-theanine tablet and I've heard kava potentiates caffeine, so I hope I can sleep OK tonight. I should be, I mean I fell asleep on MDMA before, but I'd smoked a ton of weed. I doubled up with more L-theanine to counteract any upper effect off the 100mg caffeine, so 400mg L-theanine.

Next time I'll try 2 cups, maybe warmer milk, I've seen some people dilute water with milk. Anyone know what the optimal way to take micronized is? But yeah, definitely some mood lift. I could see euphoria being possible on a 10-15g dose, the suggested minimum dose was 5g on the bag and I took 6, so basically the smallest dose that probably wouldn't affect most people.

 

[BourbonMac]

I had a prominent afterglow this morning, like my mood felt inappropriately good, I can't really explain it. It actually felt similar to a phenibut "afterglow" (it's more like a sedative hangover with slight euphoria for phenibut which I really disliked). I didn't sleep a ton and yet I felt like I'd slept great.

Given this was basically the lowest possible dose I'm pretty impressed. I've read about cross tolerance between this and Gabapentin but I don't think that's so at least not in my case. I might try 2 scoops later but I'm not sure. I need to figure out a better way to make it not clumpy, maybe just hotter almond milk. Taste is not really an issue.

 

[BourbonMac]

So the 2nd and 3rd time I didn't get much effect (7.5g and then 8.7g). Tonight I took 12g all at once and re-dosed 3g like 50 minutes later. Seems like it's already wearing off, maybe eating afterward really does matter. I can say it sedated me waaaay too much though. It almost felt like phenibut. It seems a smaller amount with some caffeine synergizes extremely well for me (I have 100mg caf/200mg theanine as mentioned). So I may try that tomorrow to try and replicate the first experience.

Overall not exactly euphoric, just very sedating. Maybe once I hit my dab pen I'll have more euphoria than usual. THC tends to bring out the effects of drugs for me, mosly. Psychedelics get boosted like crazy as do benzos, but opioids actually get overpowered, strangely enough. Mostly noticed with kratom, if I'm on any dose of kratom & get really high, the THC is like hey bub, move over, it's my turn lol.

I mean I do feel lower inhibition and all that, maybe a mild euphoria, it's just hard to feel past the sedation. Some people have a bad time with kava and caffeine but given this isn't a lot of caffeine and has L-theanine in it, that's probably perfect for it. Kava inhibits the enzyme for breaking down caffeine therefore potentiating it, but I think they might both potentiate each other, tbh. Or it's just synergy

I think if I didn't take already sedating stuff like lemon balm, passionflower and skullcap that might help, and I take Valium at night as well. Perhaps I should just try kava standalone during the day sometime, maybe with a bit of kratom.