Is it me, or is Kratom much poorer than it used to be?

[Bleaney]

I see quite a lot of people online mentioning that a lot of the easily available kratom these days, doesn't have anything like the effects that the stuff from the 2010s did.

I'm wondering how widespread this finding is, in whatever parts of the world it's used in.

The stuff I used to legally import via mail order from the NL to the UK in the early to mid 2010s was amazing. It provided an intense euphoria, fantastic musical appreciation and sociability boost, an all round intense mood uplift. An amazing happy tranquillity from the red strains, or huge energy boost from the whites or greens. No sleep the night before due to a stim all-nighter? No problem - Kratom could deal with that and put you back on top of the world! The only downside of all that was that because that kratom was so good it was addictive as hell!

I went through several cycles of using continually for 3 amazing months due to being unable to stop as it was so good. After that length of time it no longer had any good effects, so it was time to quit, which was hard. Low mood and low energy was the result of the w/ds.

By comparison the stuff I can get today just does not compare. It has helped me with my ADHD symptoms until I was able to get assessed and medicated, and gives a moderate energy increase, especially if combined with strong black tea. But there has been none of the other good effects I used to get. No euphoria, no uplift in musical appreciation or sociability. No fantastic euphoric tranquillity. Not even any noticeable difference between the strains or even between the different colours.

It's just so very lame in comparison. I'd say that current supplies are very comparable to coffee in that all it does is give a moderate mental and physical stimulation. But I find it preferable to coffee, as for me the mental stimulation is both more effective and less stressy than coffee.

Maybe the good stuff has been massively clamped down on, and no one cares about the shite that's available today?

Even the inferior quality kratom that you could get from the high street head shops in the 2010s was way better than the stuff you can get today.

Can't be sure if it's the kratom that's changed or if it's my brain chemistry, but with so many people seeming to be saying the same thing, I think it must be the kratom.

I am glad that I got to try the real fire stuff that was around in the 2010s. It would be so good to be able to get that again.

I have tried several EU and UK sources over the last few years and they have all been the same.

Are people still able to get the fantastic kratom in the USA, where I gather Kratom is still legal in many states, and in other places around the world, including it's countries of origin?

I have sent a sample off to be tested and it did come back as mytragaine speciosa so it is nominally what it's supposed to be, but for some reason it lacks all the really good effects. Does anyone know why this might be, or could it just be that my (and all the other people saying the same thing) brain chemistry has somehow become less reactive to the good effects of kratom in some way?

 

[negrogesic]

Seems the same to me, perhaps better. The extracts in particular have improved in terms of consistency.

In particular, I remember the expensive "FST extract tinctures" they used to sell over a decade ago were pretty lame compared to the stuff they sell now rather inexpensively.

 

[ItsclearlyFake]

yeah, here In Europe does seem like the potency of 5-6 years ago is difficult to find it nowadays

 

[xaddictx]

I usually get my kratom from a reputable online vender and it's excellent every time. Head shop kratom is lower grade.

 

[BourbonMac]

Opposite for me, it's like it's getting stronger. Some vendors do have shady stuff, and if it's brown flush it down. Sun dried kratom loses a ton of alkaloids, the key is not to sun dry it until it looks like dirt. I think some conversion happens with sun dried but the point is the greener the kratom the better it's going to be. One such vendor I went through was great for years but their quality fell off, haven't ordered from them in like 2 years. There was good stuff, specific "strains" I'd go for that would be good, but I don't know, even this "super green" I had once, which while sounds potent, tasted like literal vomit and no matter how high I dosed it, I got zero effects.

Not all headshop kratom is bad either, there's a specific brand I get that is easily on par with some of the best vendors I've gone through, it's been good every time. Pricier, $90 for around 600g, but it's whatever. I've seen OPMS gold capsules there too, but I don't know if I'd ever wanna try one. I had a liquid extract a long time ago and it fucked me up so hard, felt like the first time I ever took a high dose of kratom and then my tolerance went through the roof to the point where the extract did nothing next night.