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successful recovery?

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bob cobb

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Joined
Feb 10, 2010
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I included the question mark because some people might question me being in recovery since I use Kratom as a maintence drug. Clearly Kratom doesnt effect the "pleasurable" opiate receptors like your traditional opiates/opioids. With this being said Kratom predominately effects the delta receptor which creates more of a stable anti depressant effect while in high doses creates uncomfortable side effects. Also to note it has a very low/none incident rate of respiratory depression.

With all that being said I've been clean from traditional opiates and stimulants for 10 months now. I started forging prescriptions at the height of my problem (to give some depth to the severity).

Anyways, I've used Kratom to help keep me stable/clean and it has been a wonderful tool. Kratom does not make me want to compulsively re-dose like other opiates/stims.

Now, my main therapist considers this to be fine- using Kratom as a maintence drug whilst at the same time in recovery. On the other side the people in my 12 step program consider this to be "cheating", typical for hardcore 12 step people to think this, yes?

I am curious to what your view/option is on this matter. Please give me some additional perspective. thanks!
 
This is--to my thinking--a very personal issue... only you can decide if the kratom is "okay" for you and your recovery. The only general thing I can say is that the response you've found in 12 step circles is very common. The abstinence-only dogma still holds sway in most AA/NA groups.
 
I had to fire an AA/NA sponsor who kept telling me to be sober, I had to quit taking all my psych medications. When I'm around hardcore 12 step people I never mention that I still take a very occasional Ativan for panic attacks (I never abused benzos by themselves - always used them to potentiate alcohol or other drugs). Ativan doesn't cause me to be an irresponsible fuckup that misses work and leaves me unable to live up to my obligations. This is just my opinion, but if you can say that about Kratom, then fuck the naysayers.
 
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simco said:
This is--to my thinking--a very personal issue... only you can decide if the kratom is "okay" for you and your recovery. The only general thing I can say is that the response you've found in 12 step circles is very common. The abstinence-only dogma still holds sway in most AA/NA groups.
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yes i agree. are the one who posted about being in recovery and one of your peers getting yelled at for starting methadone?
 
aihfl said:
I had to fire an AA/NA sponsor who kept telling me to be sober, I had to quit taking all my psych medications. When I'm around hardcore 12 step people I never mention that I still take a very occasional Ativan for panic attacks (I never abused benzos by themselves - always used them to potentiate alcohol or other drugs). Ativan doesn't cause me to be an irresponsible fuckup that misses work and leaves me unable to live up to my obligations. This is just my opinion, but if you can say that about Kratom, then fuck the naysayers.
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I agree. sometimes certain medicines or "controlled drugs" need to be used to remain sober. One guy at a meeting mentioned getting rx adderall and he almost got kicked out.
 
bob cobb said:
...are the one who posted about being in recovery and one of your peers getting yelled at for starting methadone?
Click to expand...

yep. that's me.

fwiw, in general, the folks at NA (or whatever group) don't need to know everything about your situation; I know plenty of folks on maintenance meds who go to meetings and simply keep quiet about that. however, as @aihfl rightly points out, if you get into a relationship with a sponsor, you may want to be more open (or you may not if you sponsor is a tool ;)).
 
I think if you need to use something such as methadone or kratom for the initial period to stay sober its not a bad thing. In my opinion the over all goal should be extended time with nothing that has any activity on opioid receptors. Whether or not we make the goal is irrelevant but you should always seek to improve your situation so if you can get off your DOC with kratom surely you can get off kratom as well.

I've used both suboxone and methadone to get off heroin and then eventually got off both of those (suboxone first then methadone after my relapse) I also stopped smoking tobacco, drinking, doing cocaine... the list goes on. I smoke weed daily but even strive to do that less as a day without anything (including caffeine) seems like a good lifes goal lol
 
I would rather be on kratom fully than ops anyday! You can do a slow taper when your ready of course the longer your on kratom the tougher the kratom withdrawals will be but from all my research ive done its easier to withdrawal on kratom than ops. Not including extracts though, still no kratom and no ops would be golden but trust me getting your ops dose down low enough to take kratom is an accomplishment.
 
This thread is AMAZING! I feel so honored Nd grateful to be part of a community with such intelligent, wise both former and current substance users.

A sincere thank you to all of you who are working on bettering yourself and improving your health, and generally finding your way along the path of this crazy thing we call recovery.
 
Hi! Popping in to hopefully offer some insight as I used kratom to get off methadone, and am 21 days clean from 2 years of moderate daily kratom use.
I believe if kratom is aiding in keeping you away from traditional opiates/stimulants, then that is a good thing for you during your recovery. It is a useful tool, but does have its own set of drawbacks to be aware of. (Potential for abuse/withdrawal)
It was very helpful for me, I just reached a point where I needed to get off it, for a variety of reasons. Compared to the other options, kratom is by far, in my opinion, a good one. There are few (known) negative side effects. (As far as I know from the research I've done)
Are you planning to eventually stop the kratom as well?
 
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IMO the only question that matters is has your life improved since you started making changes? If the answer is yes then screw what other people think.
 
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