Kratom and other herbs
peyote buttons are NOTHING compared to this shit....
They are even sweet....
REALLY?! I've never munched peyote, but dried san pedro is the most disgusting thing to ever have touched my taste buds, much worse than kratom tea. In fact I don't really mind the taste of kratom, though many people say the more you drink it, the worse it gets and I've never drank it frequently.
What follows is a summary of my findings when experimenting with kratom, along with my finding when experimenting with multiherb teas - probably some pretty unique but fairly useless ventures!
Kratom
Kratom is a pretty nice drug, it seems to have something missing as an opiate, don't really know what exactly. I still prefer it to tramadol (by far), codeine and DHC. Nice, relaxing but also stimulating state of being. Good for sex, good for socializing, good for sleep, good for introspection even. I love smoking weed on it, which is strange because I tend to find cannabis detracts from all other opoids (excepting oxycodone somewhat).
I have HPPD most of the time, you know the fuzzing black and white you get on an out of tune TV? Sober I have this weakly across my vision but in prismatic colours with emphasis on purple, white and red. Some drugs enhance this greatly, cannabis being the obvious example. Opiates generally decrease my HPPD, kratom however enhances it somewhat (as does tramadol).
Routes of administration
Smoked
The first time I tried kratom, it came in the form of several pre rolled kratom joints. The first one smoked did next to nothing. Later, I smoked a second with friends whilst high and it was felt mildly, the main affect being a very pleasurable feeling in my back and spine, kind of a strong physical opiate sensation but localized to this area alone. It seems a waste to smoke it, though it's in no way unpleasant.
Gel caps
Next came a pack of 10 gel caps, loaded with kratom. I took the recommended two and felt nothing. On a different day we were having a barbecue outside near a lake, me and my girl both took 4 and felt nothing, until we smoked on a spliff. As soon as the weed hit my lungs, a rush of warm comfort spread throughout my body, for about 5 minutes this was REALLY pleasurable. It quickly faded to very little and then nothing, further smoking didn't bring it back.
Tea
Took a while to get this right, once prep was correct though, this worked wonders. Comes on within 20 minutes, feels like a weak opiate physically (sometimes it can feel like a fairly strong opiate physically, especially with weed and some of the combos below), and something else entirely mentally. Very little of psychological 'warm blanket' effect, more of a mood lift/ relaxed social push, almost a buzz in ways. A good dose of kratom completely nullifies the anxiety smoking weed sometimes gives me, in general weed seems to enhance all the effects of kratom, the combo can produce some nice CEV's and HPPD enhancement - to the point of vivid OEV patterning. Lovely jubbly!
About the time I was experimenting with kratom, I was also testing other legal herbs. I did a fair bit of experimenting with various combo teas, what follows is a quick summary.
Combo Teas!
Kratom + Skullcap
Skullcap is a mildly sedating herb when smoked or consumed orally. It contains alkaloids that are probably positive allosteric modulators of the GABA a receptor. Nice tasting teas, good sleep aid, very cheap - worth a try IMO. Mixed with kratom in a tea, the result is a nice sedating synergy. Skullcap makes kratom stronger and more sedating, without compromising it's social attributes. The tea is also nicer than straight kratom tea. It also added about 30-40 minutes onto the kratom duration and makes for an excellent nights sleep with pleasent dreams.
Kratom + Valerian
Note: add valerian to tea when you would normally finish making straight kratom tea, i.e. don't approach boiling with the valerian present.
This was largely the same as kratom + skullcap (valerian and skullcap have similar pharmacology), it didn't however extend the kratom duration, nor did it enhance dreams beyond what kratom normally does. I find valerian has more or less a ceiling affect, making a tea above a certain strength adds little more, this is less true for skullcap.
Kratom + Skullcap + Valerian
Pretty sedating, excellent for sleep. Skullcap and valerian are definitely additive in terms of their effects. Pretty much the same as Kratom + skullcap, but it seems like more skullcap has been added.
Kratom + Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea)
Blue lotus is IMO a vastly under rated herb. Smoked, it produces a pleasant but very mild relaxation, however tea is where it starts to shine. Strong blue lotus tea is a fairly powerful sedative, for me roughly equivalent to 20 diazepam. I prefer it to benzos any day though, there is a nice placid euphoria to it, it enhances taste and smell and produces some interesting almost opiate nod type CEV's. It's also an EXCELLENT aphrodisiac, in fact sex on blue lotus is second only to sex on amphetamine for me. Wine can also be made from it, but this takes ages, tastes foul and doesn't do anything tea doesn't already do apart from making one gag.
Be careful with the dose of both when making this combo tea, start low. Kratom can be a moderately strong respiratory depressant, as can b-lo. This combo tea tastes nice with generous amounts of honey and lemon thrown in. The result is a very, very relaxing and pretty euphoric state of being. Socializing is great, music is great, reading your favorite book is great, having sex is truly wonderful. The CEV's this combo triggers can be detailed and vibrant fractals, especially when weed is added.
Kratom + Blue Lotus + Skullcap
Repeat and emphasize above warning regarding respiratory depression. Feels the same as Kratom + Blue Lotus, only more sedating to the point where it's easy to drift off to sleep.
Note: I never actually experienced any respiratory depression from any of these teas, however I'm sure the issue could be very real.
Kratom + Damiana
Damiana by itself is a mild but pleasant herb. Smoking a damiana spliff is tasty and relaxing, nothing major but it's nice. Damiana bong hits are very, very smooth and easy (same is true for blue lotus actually). Damiana tea produces a slightly atypical relaxation, like kratom though there is a slight stimulating something going on. Watching a movie is pleasant, comfortable and engaging. I found damiana tea to be a mild aphrodisiac.
Now, the combo. The actual feeling produced by the tea is almost identical to just kratom, however it seems to potentiate it slightly and make it last slightly longer. It can also make sleep surprisingly difficult and enhances the HPPD enhancement kratom gives me. Oh yeah and sex is very nice on it, but no b-lo.
(On an off topic note Blue lotus/Damiana combo tea is a wonderful aphrodisiac, only tried it once though so I can't comment to well on it vs blue lotus alone).
Kratom + Damiana + Skullcap
Feels just like kratom + skullcap. The mild potential insomnia kratom + damiana can give me was nullified.
Kratom + Wild Dagga (Leonotis leonurus)
Wild dagga is a rather odd herb, at least for me. Most of the people I tried it with found it to do nothing or be mildly intoxicating/sedating. For me it produced a very unusual, focused, introspective state of mind with no hint of sedation at all. My normal way of taking it was to smoke it, seeing as tea effects were longer lived and for some reason I was never able to pin down, I didn't really like the feel of dagga dagga beyond a certain point of feeling it, or above a certain dose.
The combo tea produced effects in me similar to kratom tea, but with the social aspect enhance. At times there was a strong desire to converse. I found this enjoyable, where as dagga dagga alone was slightly strange and not very enjoyable. The response among my friends who tried it ranged from 'feels like kratom' to 'feels like kratom but more relaxing'. Also, my gut instinct is that dagga dagga would enhance any weed induced anxieties I would have (when I was experimenting with dagga, I didn't get anxiety/paranoia from cannabis). Would be interested in knowing if this is true now, and if it is, if kratom would nullify such an effect (I think it would).
Kratom + Opium lettuce (Lactuca virosa)
Opium lettuce is another mild GABAergic, it tends to be more sedating than skullcap or valerian, but less good as a sleep aid than either. It's less sedating than blue lotus. Unlike blue lotus and skull cap, it actually works fairly well when smoked - producing a pleasant relaxation (though it burns very fast and much has to be smoked).
In terms of it's strength in me as a sedative, I would say the following
Smoked
Opium lettuce > skullcap > blue lotus > kratom
Tea
Blue lotus > kratom > opium lettuce > skullcap > valerian
Tea as a sleep aid
Blue lotus > kratom > skullcap > valerian > opium lettuce
The combo tea of lettuce and kratom seems to be identical to kratom tea, unless LARGE amounts of the lettuce are used, in which case it adds to the body high a bit.
Kratom + Skullcap (large amount) + Opium lettuce (large amount)
This is a very sedating combination that feels physically a bit more like a stronger opiate, or adding a benzo to the opiate high. Excellent sleep, nice dreams. Basically it's akin to taking a benzo with kratom, only socializing comes easier.
A friend of mine drank a cup of this whilst on ketamine and passed out with a smile on his face, no respiratory depression was noted, but he had a considerable ketamine tolerance and I wouldn't advise anyone to replicate this.