Yes. You're correct backfromthebrink. It's no replacement. Not for dilaudid. Still a difficult time to bear.
However, I see that newt is asking about using kratom to potentially taper back from the regimen he's currently on. And although I am not in the medical field in any way, I am able to speak from personal experience, to this subject. I think that you could use kratom to taper/quit. Although, it's a bit tricky. Still not going to be easy, and the tricky part will be not trading up dependancy. From dilaudid to kratom. But alas, I believe that it is possible. Here's what I would recommend from personal experience.
First, I would start to cut back on my dilaudid intake. Over the period of a month, maybe 6 weeks, try to gradually taper your dilaudid intake. Not easy, particularly if you suffer from pain. Once I had my dilaudid intake down to maybe 16mg per day, enters the kratom (as well as top grade cannabis in my case). I would start with taking the now tapered down morning dose of dilaudid. And then when feeling the need for my mid day dose, I'd take about 8-10 grams of maeng da. Do it again in the late afternoon. Then at bedtime, take the dilaudid. After a few days of this, I would over the next 10 days or so, gradually try to not take any dilaudid, and use the kratom when feeling you are needing the dilaudid. Which you will be feeling. In this way, it would not be as drastically uncomfortable as going cold turkey from the dilaudid, and trying to pick up the slack with kratom. Kratom does work for me, and I actually feel "good/talkative" after a good dose, for the 1st couple hours, then it is just kinda keeping me from hitting the wall. The trick is not to start to become dependant on the kratom. Because after about 2 or 3 weeks of heavy use, you will start to get the chills and not feeling right, unless you take kratom. Not nearly as bad as opioid withdrawal, but uncomfortable nonetheless.
So, I think that it's possible. Albeit, a bit tricky... and it's going to be a bit different for each person. You're going to experience some discomfort quiting dilaudid, no matter what the case is, I think. A very difficult transition. Particularly if you actually suffer chronic pain. That spikes to almost unbearable levels for me. And I will ingest heavy amounts of cannabis edibles, just to get some sleep. It's something that you would have to try to know if it will work for you. Also, I recommend the capsules, because there aren't many things as gnarly tasting as kratom. I hope that this helps you out, and explains a bit of what the potential kratom might have for you.