OK update. I definitely felt something on the Maeng Da Kraton, but it wasn't similar to hydrocodone like people say. I felt a slight warmth almost like it had pain killing attributes, but no euphoria and no real buzz. I ended up doing 6 grams then an hour later 3.5 more grams.
I think tomorrow I will try the regular Bali or an Indo. I know it takes time to appreciate Kratom, so I am going to give it a chance. I also noticed that I got pretty tired about 3 hours in to it and ended up taking a nap. I was kind of cranky actually. Lets hope that my next tries are better, I am just concerned as people say the Maeng Da is one of the better ones and I wasn't impressed. I'm sure it will just take time like most opiates do to really understand and appreciate.
I actually dislike Maeng Da to be honest. I occasionally enjoy some of it added to bali for a stimulating twist, but on it's own I don't enjoy it. Indo is fairly useless too, but as mentioned above, everyone is different.
If you want a REAL kratom buzz that will make you forget about your hydros, eat a ~6g dose of bali, and maybe a little booster later on if effects aren't strong enough. Almost any bali will do, but some are better than others. Another thing you can try is using some cimetidine (Tagamet, an OTC antacid) to potentiate the euphoria, it always works for me. I take 400mg of cimetidine about 30-45 minutes before I mix bali powder in with orange juice into a water bottle. Then, instead of sipping, I chug it all at once, usually with a very small amount of food in my stomach (like half a sandwich). That way I feel the full onset of the kratom literally within 15 minutes, in full force, and I actually get a rush out of it! In the morning, when I dose up on bali, there's always a point in time where I'm sitting in my chair, usually about 20 minutes after I finished chugging the bottle, eyes closed, thinking to myself "Wow, I feel fuckin fantastic!!". Then, I go about the rest of my day a dancing, laughing, bubbly dude with beyond the most positive outlook on everything! Maeng Da has never had such an effect on me, only bali.
Try some bali and let us know how it goes for you. You say you take hydros daily, so you probably have a bit of a tolerance to opioids. There is definitely a cross tolerance.
I'm currently trying to take a break from it. I've been a little reckless with it lately, and have been using it daily for a week or so. I need to take a break to allow my tolerance to go down.