Well looks like I have to quit the kava for awhile. I'm developing early stage dermopathy. It doesn't look like it, but I've had rashes break out. Last night was the first one I had AFTER drinking it. Medium grind for whatever reason has caused this it would seem. Extract seemed fine while I used it. Micronized is known to cause skin issues and it didn't. Maybe I'll go back to micronized, strained. You get to use far less anyway, but it sucks. Kava was going to be my replacement for Diazepam, it's helped my chronic tinnitus so much, and now I have to back off. I've taken like, 8 different strains at this point. Gradually was becoming itchy by the middle of February but I'd only notice in the mornings after I took kratom. The fact that I use kratom at all could be combining but I've never really had itch or dry skin from kratom. When I was new, I'd get a bit itchy, but it's been years even with higher doses since it's made me itchy.
So I'm gonna take a break for a bit until I no longer feel itchy. Kratom is a good gauge for now because it brings out the itchiness. It started lower belly, then it hit my neck/upper chest/shoulder region hard last night after I took 40g. I'm generally using less kratom, too.
Man, why do all the natural substances have to cause problems? THC is the magnum opus for anxiety and it spikes my tinnitus hard. Kava works like Diazepam and helps with anxiety even better, although THC beats both. Still, a good kava will have a similar euphoria and together, they're mindblowingly good. It makes THC feel more psychedelic in a way. I just wanna get the hell off Diazepam already, it's been over a year on it going gradually from 5, 7.5, 10, and now since like, last June 15mg a night. It's not a huge amount but still. I had my ticket and it's full of allergens. Well, I don't know if it's allergies, i would've had hives much sooner and i never really had hives, just some redness. Sometimes there's nothing there at all, it just itches. But I do see scaly skin on the sides of my legs. I'm taking claratin during the day now, 2 benadryl at night, sometimes even a bit of doxylamine succinate in cough meds. This actually seems to help more, I have a tolerance to benadryl for taking it for my tinnitus every night since like, October.
I've talked to some others about it and they say the stems are likely to cause dermopathy and shit. So why would micronized be more likely to cause issues if there is no root? Either way, guess I gotta wait till I stop feeling itchy on kratom to know if it's improving, then I'll try micronized, strained this time because that shit is constipating as fuck otherwise. The damn vendors say you don't need to strain it, hugest lie ever. "Just add to your favorite drink!" yeah... and it's 10x more clumpy than kratom lol.
As for the liver shit, that's mostly myth. People have used this all their life and develop major dermopathy, but their livers are fine. If it's badly strained, like if you took medium grind raw, you're in trouble. Obviously you wouldn't want to be drinking alcohol on it often or using Tylenol a lot.
