Kratom withdrawal

[graysin]

Hey, thanks! I'd never heard of any of those compounds/chemicals? How come people don't do this with other opioid issues?

 

[Blue_Phlame]

So I would like to hear how others have dealt with coming off Kratom. I have been taking it orally, usually around 60g a day, for the last 5 months. I became such a slave to the stuff, I would start to feel bad within 5 hours if I didn't take it. Sweaty, dialated pupils, muscle aches, and I would wake up in withdrawal in the middle of each night and need to take more if I wanted to go back to sleep. So the time has come where I want to stop, totally. I don't take any other narcotics or drink, nor can I use drugs to withdrawal. I somewhat tapered the best I could and then stopped completely about 24 hours ago. I got some immodioum, some St. John's wart, and some other mood supporting supplements. I managed to sleep last night but had vivid dreams, was a little restless, and this morning I feel ok but very tired and weak. Is this going to get worse or have I expected it to be more intense than it really will be? How long till full withdrawals kick in, if at all? Any experience with doing this would be much apprciatated. Thanks!

All the literature I read around kratom is to start small. I could not imagine doing more than a teaspoon of the stuff for more than 2 or 3 times per week. Practice tapering and aim for no more than once a week to avoid dependence.

Heed the warnings, respect the plant leaf, avoid excess, and live life in balance. Can't spend your whole life dependent on a substance because it becomes a crutch.
It's the lack of knowledge of addiction, lack of self-restrain and abuse of (any) substances that leads to the scheduling we're seeing right now. I feel bad for people who cannot control themselves and ruin good things for the rest of the community. But it cannot be helped... it will always be a problem with anything that people find pleasure in.

Two words: Moderation & balance.

Practice those, and the quality of your life will improve.

As for the withdrawal symptoms, consider your own body and its desire for equilibrium. Shocking the body into withdrawal isn't a good feeling, so you need to do this gradually. This substance was popularized as a maintainence herb for opiate withdrawals. Start tapering your doses by half, and keep a healthy diet with pleanty of nutritious foods and fluids. Try to go as long as you can without drugs before re-dosing. You want to stop your dependence, so you'll have to distance yourself from the substance that put you into this state. Don't back track, if you haven't taken it for 2 days, don't go back down to 1 day, go to 3. If you haven't taken it for 12 hours, don't go to 6, bite the bullet and go to the next day. Your body will make you feel bad, but consider it as your body fighting to bring itself back to equilibrium. It'll take a while for your body to return to equilibrium, but if you shoot for a healthy lifestyle, and try to make it a reality bit by bit, step by step, you can overcome the physiological dependence within a few weeks, then work on the psychological dependence. But both go hand in hand. Keep a strong determination for fighting your urges and replace them with productive activities (exercise? conversations?) Something that'll stimulate your mind and distract you from your vice.

 

[CfZrx]

It's the lack of knowledge of addiction, lack of self-restrain and abuse of (any) substances that leads to the scheduling we're seeing right now.

Two words: Moderation & balance.

Practice those, and the quality of your life will improve.

Nice! This post is a similar idea to a thread I just made about how the kratom ban has made me think about "spiritual" concepts like non-attachment.

 

[CfZrx]

TAPER YOUR DOSE. things will be rough, but OK.

I have noticed that tapering from about 6 tsp/day to 3tsp is very easy. I am not worried about the remaining taper

 

[CfZrx]

I'm in day four of withdrawal from a 40g a day Kratom habit. I tried kicking the habit about 8 months ago when I was taking half the amount and I was completely normal by day 2. It was so easy, I wasn't scared to jump right back in. That was a pretty big mistake as I'm still feeling shitty on day 4...but let me say this: 2 years ago I CT from 110 mg of methadone a day. It took me 3 months to feel as good as I do on day four of Kratom withdrawal. Please, please, please don't trade Kratom withdrawal for methadone! It's so not worth it.

Honestly, I think the memory of those 3 months are the only thing keeping me in perspective right now. I don't feel good, but I don't feel like i got a horrible sunburn, stabbed needles in my joints, dipped myself in vomit and ants, slid on a polyester body suit and then set the whole thing on fire. That's not to say Kratom isn't a harsh addiction to kick, it surely is. From what I have experienced, you should be feeling physically close to normal within a week With every day getting better than the last after day 3. I know 3-7 days sounds like an eternity but I promise you can do this.

I haven't taken anything to help relieve the symptoms of Kratom withdrawal besides hot baths (always a relief!), plenty of water and CBD oil to keep the anxiety in check so I can't really recommend any meds to help, but I truly hope you're doing well at this point! I just needed to warn against methadone and subs...the half life of those drugs are 3 days.Keep going, you're doing awesome!

I will add more this post later, gotta run my neck is hurting! But this post looks good, c u later. ------ok, I read this one. Lol methadone WD sounds like hell! Is kratom WD really that bad if you slowly taper to a 1/4 tsp once daily, and then jumping?

 

[Sobrietysucks]

So I would like to hear how others have dealt with coming off Kratom. I have been taking it orally, usually around 60g a day, for the last 5 months. I became such a slave to the stuff, I would start to feel bad within 5 hours if I didn't take it. Sweaty, dialated pupils, muscle aches, and I would wake up in withdrawal in the middle of each night and need to take more if I wanted to go back to sleep. So the time has come where I want to stop, totally. I don't take any other narcotics or drink, nor can I use drugs to withdrawal. I somewhat tapered the best I could and then stopped completely about 24 hours ago. I got some immodioum, some St. John's wart, and some other mood supporting supplements. I managed to sleep last night but had vivid dreams, was a little restless, and this morning I feel ok but very tired and weak. Is this going to get worse or have I expected it to be more intense than it really will be? How long till full withdrawals kick in, if at all? Any experience with doing this would be much apprciatated. Thanks!

60g holy shit dude. ..60g, that's like 6-8+ tablespoons dude... Do you toss and wash all that powder?

 

[camjua]

I'm going through this as well. I'd like to state my theory on kratom..

I used kratom off and on for years but last time I relapsed on heroin i went through a 3 week binge on heroin and when I stopped using I became super dope sick. I used kratom to practically destroy any withdrawal effects from heroin and it worked really well. Problem was I began using kratom daily and now take around 24-32 capsules a day. If I miss a dose.. I begin sweating profusely, feel very anxious and on edge, have vivid nightmares every night, etc. The thing is, I used opiates to cope with my anxiety and depression.. I used to be a meth addict for this reason also and meth only made me permanently more depressed and more anxious... plus psychotic... so opiates came next as my way to cope.

The thing is, whenever you use opiates or kratom to relieve your mental health issues, you become so used to feeling "good" or "numb" that once you quit, your problems come flying back... and worse, now you have dopamine deficiencies and angry receptors begging for more opiates. At this point you're so not used to handling these symptoms that they feel way worse than they actually are. I'm currently trying to ween off kratom, but I still think it's a wonderful herb... I hate how many feel the desire to blame the kratom for their withdrawals...and even worse blame kratom saying it's an awful drug that should be banned. I knew taking it daily would lessen my ability to handle my problems and would only make me physically dependent... problem was, I was willing to take that risk to avoid the terrible withdrawals from heroin which are far worse. I also knew it was a much safer alternative than sticking needles in my arm or smoking so much shit off tinfoil I'd have a permament sore throat and cough. Kratom saved my life no doubt, but it's time for me to make a choice. Either stay on kratom where it will be banned most likely soon... and its expensive... plus dealing with withdrawal symptoms all day every day whenever my last dose begins to wear off, or ween down and quit. I'm choosing to ween down but it's not easy. I feel bad, I want to take extra to feel "good again" but it will only prolong my withdrawals.

Anyone who is trying to quit kratom, my best advice is kava, Valerian, passion flower, skullcap and lemon balm... for the anxiety... ibuprofen/ naproxen and acetaminophen for pain, if you can get gabapentin for pain and anxiety too it helps but be careful to not use it too much as it has a nasty withdrawal syndrome itself, dxm to lesson withdrawal symptoms overall, quinine for leg cramps and exercise, multivitamins and caffeine for energy. Be careful with caffeine though as it can worsen anxiety. Combinations of these weaker drugs help ease the pain of withdrawal... weening is important too as cold turkey may result in a quicker detox but it is also very intense if you're the type of person who gets nasty withdrawals from kratom.

I've kicked heroin, suboxone, oxycodone, methamphetamine, clonazepam and gabapentin in the past. All of their withdrawals were agonizing to say the very least... kratom isn't as bad but it's still pretty shitty. A little weed can also help with mood. Only a little though. Like one small hit of indica weed with high cbd content can help with the depression. My heart is out to you all who are struggling to get clean from any drug... just remember... don't blame kratom... we abused it... and we are now paying the Piper. It's like saying we should ban alcohol because people do dumb shit while drunk.. kratom is a wonderful herb that saved a few people's lives I know including mine... it got us off of deadly painkillers and got me off heroin. I couldn't be more grateful. However, it's become it's own addiction for me.. and that's why I'm weening now. I just wish I had a better method to stopping the sweats. I sweat like crazy at work... and it makes me look like I'm on drugs lol.

 

[mike.vick]

Weed helps a lot... I HATE the wacky-brain that DXM gives you- no doubt it is bad for you... Kratom really is a life-saver tho, because, it is very less rewarding having to cap 35 pills per day to just not withdrawal than it is to push down a credit card on some dope rocks and sniff it up for ~immediate relief and pleasure.

 

[camjua]

Truth! Except weed in higher doses makes me very anxious/paranoid and makes me literally question everything in my life xD

 

[mike.vick]

^^^ haah, yeah I definitely get that, but there is a sweet, serene spot with certain strains/ doses.

 

[johnl2]

I can't even imagine a 60g day withdrawal. I must be extra sensitive to Kratom because it makes me high unlike any drug I've tried. I am having very slight WDs JUST from 10g a day for 5 DAYS. 5 days lol. A lot of it is mental but I have been having some physical symptoms. Granted it's very minor, they are still there from just five days. For your situation you should probably start tapering. Lower the dose as much as you can handle every time and try to take it less frequently. Like if you dose 3 times a day, try to dose just 2x a day for a week or two, with lower doses.

Keep lowering as much as you can handle and then make the dive cold turkey when you feel it's time

I know this is an old thread, but the problem with tapering is that you CAN'T! Any addict worth his salts cannot taper off of a drug that does not make you at least a little euphoric. Kratom does NOTHING below the dosage you're on. So it's really a tough one. I've tapered from sub successfully. I could do that b/c it does something for you even at low doses. Kratom on the other hand, with it's short half-life, you can only go up! I say cold turkey OR use sub to come off. All u need is one dose, 1mg and you should be good.

 

[ryand123]

I?ve tapered from Kratom a number of times, but IMO it?s not a drug you really need to taper from. It?s like a codiene habit at worst (speaking from experience with ground leaf powder only, no extracts). You will feel a little under the weather and have some aches and pains and insomnia, but that happens to every opioid addict who?s jumping off their drug completely. If you can make it down to 2 tablespoons of dried leaf per day you should be able to jump off the Kratom with only minor issues. And yeah John this thread is old, just realized this after typing my post.

 

[Tombs]

I have the opposite effect. Dxm or dph for that matter, will exacerbate my wd symptoms, especially rls!

Could be wrong but can't DXM cause a false opiate positive on a drug test?

Take this next block of text at face value. I was in the middle/at the end of my withdrawals from percocet. Tried kratom and it helped a ton.

.... then I found a full bottle of Lean in my medicine cabinet... Promethazine + Codeine.

I drank the whole fuckin bottle (idiot!) and it would appear I got rewarded for it. I woke up yesterday morning with no withdrawal symptoms at all. This morning the same. How is this possible?

 

[likeakite]

I can't even imagine a 60g day withdrawal. I must be extra sensitive to Kratom because it makes me high unlike any drug I've tried. I am having very slight WDs JUST from 10g a day for 5 DAYS. 5 days lol. A lot of it is mental but I have been having some physical symptoms. Granted it's very minor, they are still there from just five days. For your situation you should probably start tapering. Lower the dose as much as you can handle every time and try to take it less frequently. Like if you dose 3 times a day, try to dose just 2x a day for a week or two, with lower doses.

Keep lowering as much as you can handle and then make the dive cold turkey when you feel it's time

No way are you having kratom withdrawal after only taking it 5 days. Its stuff like that that messes people up. It takes a minimum 3 months daily use.

 

[ItsclearlyFake]

No way are you having kratom withdrawal after only taking it 5 days. Its stuff like that that messes people up. It takes a minimum 3 months daily use.

if he has previous opiate use with other substances I don't see it that weird