• H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

Kratom Addiction/ Need Help After Withdrawals Are Over

Hey andy, I know exactly what your going through as I was there a few weeks ago.

I know you've heard it before but since your past the physical part, go exercise. It really really helps out a lot. If you can do cardio for 30 mins to an hour all the better. I know it sounds shitty to go exercise but just do it. It will definitely help with the mental fog.

Also, it's been said here and there on the site, but hot-cold showers also really help. Start off with the water warm like you would for a regular shower and then when your done washing up turn off the hot water and turn the cold water up all the way. Hang in there like this for about 5 mins or until the water doesn't feel cold anymore. It gives you a rush of endorphins and a nice buzz for awhile. Definetly good relief.

Hang in there the second week is the worst mentally. If you eat right and exercise, each day will get better. After the second week Ide say you can drink again. I just wouldn't advise it while the paws are just starting in case you switch addictions.
 
Hey guys. Was just thinking about checking back in with y'all not too long ago. I'm doing fine. Better. Back on the kratom but handling it better; no more skipping doses in a hopeless attempt to lower my tolerance. Kind of accepted that when the (lack of) kratom is making me feel like shit, I gotta eat some. On the plus side, I am getting the individual doses down pretty low. Like 4g-ish, usually. Usually twice a day, rarely once or three times in a day on certain occasions. I'm finding it easier to go longer between doses, too. At least sometimes. Sometimes I can push close to 24 hours without feeling too terrible. I do not know if that has something to do with the week off I took from it, or if it's just in my head, or what.

That said I'm still very much intending to get off it in the near future. I actually got some of that loperamide stuff right before I got back into the kratom, to see how it helped. And it helped a ton. Like, amazingly well. I only took it once so I don't know if maybe it was a fluke or based on something else, but I took it after going a while without any kratom, and it helped at least 50% of the physical symptoms, I'd estimate. Which relieved me mentall, as well. Really made me feel pretty decent. It's relative though, of course. I went from feeling super crappy to decent, so it was a big relief, but I dunno how reliable the relief will be. We'll see, I guess.

So I'm optimistic that since I've only been using kratom for 10 months (with some small breaks here and there) and my average daily intake was probably around 8g (never measured it properly but I know it isn't over 10g, just based on how much is in the 5g sample bags I get with my orders), I should have a relatively smooth 'getting clean' process. The loperamide in particular has given my a lot of hope, because it's an easy to acquire, inexpensive, not really addicting treatment. And when I made my first post during my 5th day or whatever of no kratom, I didn't have the loperamide. I don't even really know how/why I didn't learn that it's a great help, why I didn't go and get some before trying to quit. Like I said before, I seemed to have rushed into the whole thing ill-prepared and with poor timing. Like a stubborn cold turkey approach, almost.

I feel more confident just knowing what I'll have in store for me, too. But also, to be fair and honest, I'm still very much not looking forward to those first few days and beyond without the kratom.

Question about loperamide though: some people make it seem like it only helps with the diarrhea. But it's supposed to help with the physical symptoms in general, right? Which the diarrhea is tied into, of course. But I've been hearing mixed things about it. Some people say it doesn't help very much at all, other's say it offers at least moderate relief.

edit: just checked my order history with my kratom source and did a rough calculation to see what my average intake is, and it actually came out to almost exactly 8g per day (give or take a gram, I suppose, due to inconsistent ordering patterns, amounts, etc.). This is based on the my order history since January.
 
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BTW, I haven't read any of this thread after I made that last post before I disappeared for a while, yet. So I'm gonna read it over and respond as necessary. Sorry to leave you guys hanging!
 
^No problem Kozzy. We just wondered how you were doing.

As for me, I've been taking too much kratom, and will be starting my taper tomorrow by trying 3 4g doses, or 2 if I can.
Then I'll have an idea what I'm dealing with. I think my now-dead pods habit was still causing problems up until a couple days ago.
So, then I started feeling better and was like, "wheee now I can feel good if I take more kratom..."
But I don't want this to get going to heavy.
I wonder how it will go since my kratom habit was pretty short,
but it was dovetailed from a taper off of far more potent shit--opium and codeine and other stuff in the pods.

So, am I dealing with just my kratom habit to quit,
or more than that since I had the previous habit?
Will it be as bad as stopping pods?
Probably not?
Might it be worse than stopping kratom without the previous habit?
We shall see.

Here I go. I'll keep you guys updated.

peace,
podsnomo
 
I haven't had a problem with being addicted to kratom. But I have had a problem with it extending my withdrawals. I've been trying to quit poppy pod/seed tea and thought if I jumped onto kratom it would help. Well it's only good to use it very sparingly during withdrawal, so the process can actually complete it self. This time I just tapered and didn't take any kratom and feel like i'm almost through the woods. Kratom is really interesting, when I first discovered the stuff I didn't have a tolerance because I had already quit opiates. So I got buzzed off it a few times and enjoyed the energy boost, made work easy. I did notice the next day I would have a hang over. Probably the reason I never could get hooked on kratom is after a few weeks of taking it I would just get tired of it. The high is good half the time and other times it can be anxiety provoking.

Kratom strikes me as a very valuable tool for combating paws from suboxone or methadone. It's best to use it sparingly so you wont have problems down the road.
 
hello guys, i'm so happy to read all of your posts and see how connected you guys are here in this thread, and in your progress. I'm also trying to ditch kratom after a half-year habit. I also have underlying anxiety/depression and kratom, for a while, seemed like a miracle and took it all away. Eventually, it was causing more pain than it was taking away, making me extremely irritable, tired, depressed, anxious, motivation-less... causing really terrible insomnia and reliance on other substances, as well (like parting into drinking alcohol on a regular basis when the kraton wore off). Eventually kratom would only give me a very slight high for 30 mins - 2 hours, and then would dive straight into extreme irritability, dazed-foggy headedness and ETC. Whereas when I first used it, it would last a good 6 hours and I would have tons of energy to work out hard, socialize, get things done.

I'm on day 4 now and have restarted this about 3 times due to going back to it for one reason or another (mainly being around triggers, needing more energy than withdrawal can give me). Kratom withdrawal for me means deep depression where it's very hard to get out of bed or feel any good things from simple life, sore body parts, 0 energy at all (almost like a long blood sugar crash), sleepiness, and a lot of anxiety (thoughts on repeat, worrying about EVERYTHING and stressing self out). It also feels like I can't feel comfortable, or find a comfort zone at all in anything. I have no urge to use kratom or drink alcohol but I'm excited to re-realize what normal feels like again.

I'm trying my best to eat healthy, and plan to get daily exercise starting with low-stress activities and moving onto harder cardio to keep me feeling energized in the second week.

Also I have so much kratom I don't know what to do with it. I have around 200g of the stuff and that seems to expensive to flush..
 
Welcome, welcome, asiam. As you were, soldier! :)

It sounds like you're doing well man. You got a good plan, and you know how important the exercise will be.
You've made attempts, so you know your triggers. Now you just gotta stick with it til it gets better. And it will.

I'm trying to quit kratom too, so I suppose we're in this together.
I guess you read about loperamide, that helps with the physical WDs.

Best to ya,
and let us know how it goes.

pnm
 
Now, here's somebody I got questions for. I came to kratom after tapering off of a pod habit. You found that it extended your withdrawals? How so?

I had WDs that were moderate-mild for about a month and a half on my taper. Constant WDs that weren't bad enough to keep me at home like when I tried to quit CT.
Now then, I started kratom when I was down to 1g of poppy pods/day. And now I have not kept the kratom in check, and am certainly not using it sparingly, but I want to be totally sober.

My fear is that my WDs will be worse b/c of starting the kratom right at the end before my last pod dose, which was tiny. I have noticed though that my pod WDs seemed to go away after about a week and half of being on the kratom. So maybe they're different enough that one won't effect the other? I'm wondering what your experience was in this regard, and what else you might be able to advise me about?

Thanks man, and keep up that good fight!
pnm

I haven't had a problem with being addicted to kratom. But I have had a problem with it extending my withdrawals. I've been trying to quit poppy pod/seed tea and thought if I jumped onto kratom it would help. Well it's only good to use it very sparingly during withdrawal, so the process can actually complete it self. This time I just tapered and didn't take any kratom and feel like i'm almost through the woods. Kratom is really interesting, when I first discovered the stuff I didn't have a tolerance because I had already quit opiates. So I got buzzed off it a few times and enjoyed the energy boost, made work easy. I did notice the next day I would have a hang over. Probably the reason I never could get hooked on kratom is after a few weeks of taking it I would just get tired of it. The high is good half the time and other times it can be anxiety provoking.

Kratom strikes me as a very valuable tool for combating paws from suboxone or methadone. It's best to use it sparingly so you wont have problems down the road.
 
Heya guys, i ended up doin some kratom yesterday only about 5g in morning to ease the depression a bit, had a few beers last nite too ,ive always been a bit of an alcoholic which is why i loved kratom so much coz it stopped me drinking and stopped alcohol cravings and such, anyway I went for a run earliar which helped, ive been thinking weather its worth just going bk on a low dose kratom daily and tapering off slowly ,Do you think that will ease the depression and make it easier? Ive got a docs appointment on tuesday gonna ask for a full checkup bloodwork done and stuff to check if everything is ok! Heya asiam i know what you mean about the kratom being amazing at first and then turning sour on ya , towards the end i had horrendous brain fog and dizziness on it! Ill keep you updated on my progress anyway , Hope everything is goin good with you guys, much love Andy!
 
Heya guys, i ended up doin some kratom yesterday only about 5g in morning to ease the depression a bit, had a few beers last nite too ,ive always been a bit of an alcoholic which is why i loved kratom so much coz it stopped me drinking and stopped alcohol cravings and such, anyway I went for a run earliar which helped, ive been thinking weather its worth just going bk on a low dose kratom daily and tapering off slowly ,Do you think that will ease the depression and make it easier? Ive got a docs appointment on tuesday gonna ask for a full checkup bloodwork done and stuff to check if everything is ok! Heya asiam i know what you mean about the kratom being amazing at first and then turning sour on ya , towards the end i had horrendous brain fog and dizziness on it! Ill keep you updated on my progress anyway , Hope everything is goin good with you guys, much love Andy!

This is totally up to you. Im just wondering if your going to be able to taper down and quit again with your tolerance so low. In other words, your buzz will be a lot better then they were, possibly making you more psychologically addicted then before. On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is your depression on a daily bases? Maybe you could take like 1/2 a gram every 2 hours to combat depression?
 
Now, here's somebody I got questions for. I came to kratom after tapering off of a pod habit. You found that it extended your withdrawals? How so?

I had WDs that were moderate-mild for about a month and a half on my taper. Constant WDs that weren't bad enough to keep me at home like when I tried to quit CT.
Now then, I started kratom when I was down to 1g of poppy pods/day. And now I have not kept the kratom in check, and am certainly not using it sparingly, but I want to be totally sober.

My fear is that my WDs will be worse b/c of starting the kratom right at the end before my last pod dose, which was tiny. I have noticed though that my pod WDs seemed to go away after about a week and half of being on the kratom. So maybe they're different enough that one won't effect the other? I'm wondering what your experience was in this regard, and what else you might be able to advise me about?

Thanks man, and keep up that good fight!
pnm

If you tapered all the way down to 1 gram you should of quit and road it out. Kratom extends the withdrawal because it's still hitting opiate receptors usually delta and Mu. You did a great job tapering that low, once you get that low in a taper it's more beneficial to start skipping 1 day, then skipping 2 days and dosing before you stop altogether. That makes you come off it that much smoother because you really extended it. Kratom also has a short half life, that's not good at all for tapering.

I'm sure you realize this but it's just kind of like switching addictions. If you did want to use kratom during withdrawal you would only want to do it when the symptoms became to intense. Part of getting back to baseline where you were before you started taking opiates is to not feel 100%, the only way to recover is to stop and accept withdrawal.

At this point you might just want to dedicate a week to feeling out of it and get it over with. Excercise, take vitamins, and eat as much food as you possibly can. Stay busy and you'll be asking your self why you didn't quit sooner. Plus your eyes wont be out of focus, that side effect really turned me off. If you are having a lot of trouble you could always taper with the pods again and when you stop dont take anything accept maybe lopermide. If you dont want to go that route then just do a fast taper from the kratom and quit.
 
I responded to you earlier, but wanted to also say, flushing that 200g of kratom is a small price to pay for a sober life, esp if you're already over the worst of WD and feeling better.

hello guys, i'm so happy to read all of your posts and see how connected you guys are here in this thread, and in your progress. I'm also trying to ditch kratom after a half-year habit. I also have underlying anxiety/depression and kratom, for a while, seemed like a miracle and took it all away. Eventually, it was causing more pain than it was taking away, making me extremely irritable, tired, depressed, anxious, motivation-less... causing really terrible insomnia and reliance on other substances, as well (like parting into drinking alcohol on a regular basis when the kraton wore off). Eventually kratom would only give me a very slight high for 30 mins - 2 hours, and then would dive straight into extreme irritability, dazed-foggy headedness and ETC. Whereas when I first used it, it would last a good 6 hours and I would have tons of energy to work out hard, socialize, get things done.

I'm on day 4 now and have restarted this about 3 times due to going back to it for one reason or another (mainly being around triggers, needing more energy than withdrawal can give me). Kratom withdrawal for me means deep depression where it's very hard to get out of bed or feel any good things from simple life, sore body parts, 0 energy at all (almost like a long blood sugar crash), sleepiness, and a lot of anxiety (thoughts on repeat, worrying about EVERYTHING and stressing self out). It also feels like I can't feel comfortable, or find a comfort zone at all in anything. I have no urge to use kratom or drink alcohol but I'm excited to re-realize what normal feels like again.

I'm trying my best to eat healthy, and plan to get daily exercise starting with low-stress activities and moving onto harder cardio to keep me feeling energized in the second week.

Also I have so much kratom I don't know what to do with it. I have around 200g of the stuff and that seems to expensive to flush..
 
That's kinda what I figured. I've got a bunch of kratom, so I can taper quickly and keep it around to fend off the worst WDs or to use a couple grams to get through something I gotta be super alert for, like my job (part time brain-trainer). But only if I'm feeling really whacked by the WDs. I used less today, and only twice so far. By this time yesterday I had used 3 times and was about to take #4. SO, I just mowed lawns in 100+degree weather. Endorphins are up there, so I'll try and not dose again today. If I can't sleep I'll do 2-3g of bali at night. My usual dose is 7-9g.

If you tapered all the way down to 1 gram you should of quit and road it out. Kratom extends the withdrawal because it's still hitting opiate receptors usually delta and Mu. You did a great job tapering that low, once you get that low in a taper it's more beneficial to start skipping 1 day, then skipping 2 days and dosing before you stop altogether. That makes you come off it that much smoother because you really extended it. Kratom also has a short half life, that's not good at all for tapering.

I'm sure you realize this but it's just kind of like switching addictions. If you did want to use kratom during withdrawal you would only want to do it when the symptoms became to intense. Part of getting back to baseline where you were before you started taking opiates is to not feel 100%, the only way to recover is to stop and accept withdrawal.

At this point you might just want to dedicate a week to feeling out of it and get it over with. Excercise, take vitamins, and eat as much food as you possibly can. Stay busy and you'll be asking your self why you didn't quit sooner. Plus your eyes wont be out of focus, that side effect really turned me off. If you are having a lot of trouble you could always taper with the pods again and when you stop dont take anything accept maybe lopermide. If you dont want to go that route then just do a fast taper from the kratom and quit.
 
Loperamide, is that a prescription thing? I'm going to have to do some research on that.

I actually had to tell a friend that I needed space because it was such a trigger for me. That was hard.

Hey andy, you're doing great. Getting your exercise and going for a blood checkup, big thumbs up. A blood check up is a great idea. Yes, it's insane how invested I was in kratom when I first discovered it and first tried it. What a miracle! Honestly, if it kept up for me and worked that good all the time, I would probably never get off of it. However, even a week into when I first started using it, I noticed huge hangovers the next day.

Darn, I really don't know if I can bring myself to flush it! Part of me is like, okay, I can keep it for emergency anxiety situations in the far future. I do have anxiety after all. At the same time, I'd rather not rely on anything. So I'll have to think on that. I was thinking about flushing most of it, but keeping a tiny amount, not nearly enough to use continuously.


Today was hard and I was sick of coping with the withdrawals, or sick of coping with reality. I didn't turn to kratom but rather tons of caffeine and an enormous sugar binge. Hmmm... that was the wrong choice, seeing those are two addictions that tie into my kratom addiction, and sugar tends to cost me the next day almost as much as kratom neuro-transmitter wise. You know, sugar has opoid and stimulant properties. I often thing that my kratom addiction was brought on by my sugar addiction. They are so interchangeable for me that I feel I need to quit them both.

Does anybody know the activity between dopamine and kratom? I am beginning to think that I am dopamine deficient, perhaps just from caffeine, SSRIs and sugar addiction. It would make sense that kratom releases a moderate-large amount of dopamine given that it always acted as a motivational pick-me up, VERY strongly for me.

So that's all I gotta say. I am scared that I may use kratom tomorrow just based on feeling extra shitty from not taking the greatest care of my neuro-health today. I have a trip to go on in 3 days and I want to be functional by then, so I don't expect to use kratom tomorrow. I do expect to start a low-sugar and moderate carb type plan tomorrow so that triggers are kept to a minimum...

I don't know how you all keep to taper plans. Wish I could taper, but even a very small amount causes more brainfog than withdrawal.
 
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That's kinda what I figured. I've got a bunch of kratom, so I can taper quickly and keep it around to fend off the worst WDs or to use a couple grams to get through something I gotta be super alert for, like my job (part time brain-trainer). But only if I'm feeling really whacked by the WDs. I used less today, and only twice so far. By this time yesterday I had used 3 times and was about to take #4. SO, I just mowed lawns in 100+degree weather. Endorphins are up there, so I'll try and not dose again today. If I can't sleep I'll do 2-3g of bali at night. My usual dose is 7-9g.

You know what your best bet would be, just drop off the kratom and get some poppy seeds. If there washed or not it doesn't matter, it has a longer half life, taper from that and you'll be good. Today is day 6 for me and I was actually able to sleep in this morning, I wake up a lot during the middle of the night and my legs are a little restless. But it's nothing a little excercise doesn't cure. Just get away from the kratom, it's making things to complicated. Get some natural herbs like valerien, kava, california poppy, or passion flower to help you sleep.
 
You know what your best bet would be, just drop off the kratom and get some poppy seeds. If there washed or not it doesn't matter, it has a longer half life, taper from that and you'll be good. Today is day 6 for me and I was actually able to sleep in this morning, I wake up a lot during the middle of the night and my legs are a little restless. But it's nothing a little excercise doesn't cure. Just get away from the kratom, it's making things to complicated. Get some natural herbs like valerien, kava, california poppy, or passion flower to help you sleep.

Kratom is a natural herb, although i know what you mean. I do have a question about the poppy seeds though, wouldnt that prolong WD? also switching around opiates at a low dose seems like it would be more complicated to get dosing right?
 
from my research on poppyseed tea, it seems unreliable and expensive, no? You need to find the right unwashed seeds or pods, or is it easier than it seems?

day 6 woo hoo. I remember reading somebody saying that the worst anxiety and depression comes after day 5? That seems about right for me. Day 1-4 were more physical but hopeful but day 5 and 6 have been challenging. I am very depressed and it is troubling and a bit worrying. I'm going to let myself have bit of alcohol, caffeine and extra food if that needs be, because the depression aspect of this withdrawal is unexpectedly deep. I might even retract my original plan to just cold-turkey it, and start tapering tonight or tomorrow, can't decide yet though if that's a good idea. I'm sure kratom withdrawal is not as big of a deal for those who did not suffer depression before getting into it, although my depression was never this bad. Hope everybody else is doing pretty good. I'm posting tons because I have had no energy to get off the darn computer lol what do you all do during these withdrawal days?
 
K. I took a teaspoon. And I'm totally glad I did that. I am going to transition. I was craving really weird shit and having really worrying thoughts (self harm/ suicide?) that have been staved away 50% at least from the small amount of kratom I took. Important to note, I have not had such thoughts before. Never heard of the kratom depression being so severe. So the deep depression withdrawal, isn't worth it.... Going off of kratom? Taper, ya'll, TAPER... Still having weird thoughts because of such low dose and I'm guessing just the long term effects. Still waiting on any dopamine info in relation to kratom, if you have any knowledge or even suspicion of this, my full attention to thee!
 
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