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Kratom has been used medicinally for a variety of conditions over the past several thousand years; some of these include pain, depression, anxiety and even to provide relief for opiate withdrawal. However, a small minority of daily users have noticed a form of withdrawal syndrome upon cessation.
While kratom withdrawal has often been compared to caffeine withdrawal in intensity, even abruptly ceasing caffeine intake can be less than fun to deal with. Because of this potential, it is good to abstain from intake, or at least limit intake, in order to ensure that no form of physical dependence occurs.
Kratom Withdrawal Symptoms
The kratom withdrawal syndrome by those who report the condition are fairly standardized and symptoms seem to be similar to a extremely mild form of opiate withdrawal.
Severity
Overall, the severity of kratom withdrawal throughout the world has been very mild. However, there have been reports of more painful kratom withdrawal symptoms by those in southern Thailand and the Sunda Islands who have consumed extremely high doses daily for many years. Because of this, kratom withdrawal and caffeine withdrawal fit a very similar curve; the reports of overall psychological unease is about even, with most cases being very mild and a very few select cases being more uncomfortable.
Another similarity is found between caffeine and kratom withdrawal duration, typically lasting from 3 to 4 days with a gradual improvement of symptoms after the second day. By the end of week 1, symptoms are typically fully gone. However, it should be noted that those who use kratom extracts regularly will experience kratom withdrawal symptoms at a much greater scale than those who use plain leaf.
Symptoms
There are a few symptoms of withdrawal that have been reported from immediate cessation after heavy long term kratom use, these symptoms include:
Sweating
Mild Nausea
Restlessness
Difficulty Sleeping
Yawning
Runny Nose
While the individual symptoms may vary between each individual, these seem to be the most prevalent. Most of these Kratom withdrawal symptoms fully or near-fully cease within three to four days.
How to Avoid Physical Dependence
The best way to avoid it is to limit and schedule intake & to not increase your dosage as time goes by. Taking the same dosage is very important whenever you don't want to develop a Tolerance or a Physical Dependence to Kratom.
This regulation of use can be done in a variety of ways, one of the most common is to limit intake days (e.g. one day of use and two days of non-use) in order to ensure the brain doesn’t adapt. Others will limit their kratom usage to once per day, which can occasionally work, however, it is less reliable than staggering days of use.
The amount of time that it takes to develop a kratom tolerance and physical dependence to kratom varies from individual to individual; however, most have reported that one to two months of daily use can be enough to trigger a mild withdrawal syndrome — the severity of which will depend on both kratom dosage and length of use.
How Dependence Works
Kratom has a variety of different alkaloids that are responsible for its medicinal properties. However, over time the brain can get used to these alkaloids as a function of homeostasis. Taken for a long enough period of time, the brain compensates by creating more receptor sites for these alkaloids, known as upregulation, diminishing their effectiveness overall.
Upon cessation, these alkaloids are no longer present, which when combined with the increased level of receptor sites causes withdrawal symptoms. At this point the brain compensates by removing these unnecessary receptor sites, downregulation. Once this process is finished, the WD’s have ceased. By understanding this mechanism, it is easier to understand how to prevent it: by ensuring brain-levels of these alkaloids aren’t in the brain at high enough concentrations for long enough periods of time to cause upregulation. Some even put stem and vein kratom to use for this purpose.
While kratom withdrawal is rarely severe, it is still not worth encountering. Ideally, the best way to do this is to take it as least often as you can get by with. Regulation and staggering of dosage is the second best option.
Life Is Like Teaching Sanskrit To A Pony.
Intelligence is like a river. The deeper it is... the less noise it makes.
Thanks for the Clarification on this bomalley. This is really helpful & needed to be brought to Light. Kratom rarely causes Addiction like true Opiates will. A person is not going to go out & steal to get their Kratom because Kratom is just not a real drug like an Opioid is. Just like if somebody where dependent on several cups of coffee each day. If they didn't have their Coffee that day then they would just be Irritable & have a Withdrawal Headache but they wouldn't be in bed shaking & going crazy wanting their Caffeine. That's how Kratom is.
Nobody is going to go out there & steal to get Kratom like they would with Pills or Street Drugs. Just some thoughts. The Absolute worst that Kratom can do is cause some Constipation, dizziness, nausea or headache & that's only if you take a ton of it. It's impossible to overdose from Kratom because you would just get sick & vomit it all out. So it has it's own built in safety measure if you think about it.
Life Is Like Teaching Sanskrit To A Pony.
Intelligence is like a river. The deeper it is... the less noise it makes.
I know I am Dependent on the Alkaloids but I take it like every 3 hours of every day. I keep my Doses as small as I Possibly can. I never take over 4 grams at a time. My usual dose is around 2.5 grams & sometimes I can get results with just 2 grams with some potent MD Strains. I've heard that the absolute lowest dose you could ever get Benefits from Kratom would be .8 of a Gram or 800 MG.
I just wish that they would take a year or so & do Trials & more Studies on Kratom before making an all-out Ban on it for good. 😕 The thing is they just want the money. The world runs off of Green$$.
Life Is Like Teaching Sanskrit To A Pony.
Intelligence is like a river. The deeper it is... the less noise it makes.
Hi Vanessa and welcome to the forum!
I have had to stop using kratom recently and sympathize with the incredible lethargy that takes ages to fade.
I’m using a single-alkaloid product (and therefore dependent still) along with the herb rhodiola for energy.
Like you, I had the heart pounding, restless legs at night and I also HEAT UP and sweat a lot in late parts of my usual resting. While that may be hot flashes, it’s always worse on nights when I used more kratom the day before.
There are varying methods for using kratom, but the dependence is a natural part of the process. How bothersome and how dramatic it is can be very different and it’s a personal decision and a variable personal challenge level for each of us…
Hope this helps without just being discouraging!
Have a wee bit better day!
@accardi
Hirsuta (cousin to kratom) can be very helpful for energy boosting effects . I believe the main alkaloid responsible for this is Mitraphyline, which is also found in kratom, but in lower amounts . Hirsuta is absent of mitragynine and 7-oh mitragynine…. The main alkaloids in kratom . So if you are wanting a boost of energy while abstaining from kratom, this would be a good choice in my opinion.
Personaly , I’ve become physically dependent on the benefits gained from consuming kratom. I stopped/ dropped my meds and made a clean swap for kratom. This doesn’t worry me . But I completely understand not wanting to depend on “anything “ exogenous.
If it weren’t for kratom, I’d be taking meds everyday for probably the rest of my life . So I’m cool with taking krstom in place of the meds.
Aside from Hirsuta , akuamma, the seed from a African fruit , has similar effects as kratom , but more on the relaxing end of the spectrum . Also , not as strong as kratom …. And VERY BITTER !! It reacts to some of the same receptors as kratom , but in a diff fashion . When needing to help with pain , during your monthly cycle , maybe combining the Akuamma with Hirsuta would be a good combination. Energy from Hirsuta and pain relief from Akuamma.
Hirsuta is very much like a white variety of kratom . If I’m wanting an extra level of motivational rocket fuel, I’ll add Hirsuta to my reg kratom dose.
Conversley , Javanica (another cousin to kratom) acts more like a red variety of kratom. Also absent of kratom’s main alkaloids mitragynine and 7-ohm.
Better suited for evenings or when needing to tone down the nervous system.
Other herbs to look into is corydalis, Chuchuhuasi and ….. carvilea sinensis.
Worth looking into for sure ! INSENSE/ GOLDLEAF carries these herbs in their store / website . Chuchuhuasi has more of a energetic feel to it , while the other 2 herbs might be better suited for the evening time.
I agree with Laurie, dependence is a natural part of the process , but can be mitigated my taking breaks and taking less frequently . Also like Laurie mentioned , the method of consumption plays a big role as well.
Folks who drink krstom tea for example , may have a easier time navigating tolerance and dependence versus the powder form that many believe to be more stronger and therefore could be trickier for some folks to regulate in a sustainable regimen.
Then comes extracts . Some are full spectrum( containing all the alkaloids found in leaf ) while others are refined into pure or almost pure mitragynine. Folks who take this on a reg basis can develop a bad habit and create a hefty tolerance . Ultimately sticking with plain leaf is the way to go , taking extracts occasionally when the situation calls for it .
Please let us know how it goes , check in anytime , we are here to help and learn with everyone 🙏👊
Life is better with Kratom
😎🍃kratom saves lives 🍃😎
Otie's Botanicals now sells Hirsuta.
I bet Otie’s has some good Hirsuta , as well as Fused Flora , I’ve only tried premium Hirsuta from Benni Botanical. I recently ordered a few hundred gms to restock my supplies . When your feeling low energy , but want to refrain from taking more kratom, Hirsuta all the way!!
@accardi You are most welcome 🙏
Good job on your 5 day t-break . Super good form! Now , at 1/2 tsp, that’s totally a respectful amount!! . You must feel very good about this ? You should ! Please check back to let us know if/ when you’ve tried Hirsuta and what your thoughts are . Just this morning my dose consisted of 1/3 of Hirsuta, added some good rocket fuel to help me this morning , benefits were strong right upto the 5 hr mark .
I haven’t tried much s&v, but that combined with Hirsuta , substituted for one ( or more , or in combination to) your kratom servings you’ll keep your tolerance low while still having the motivational energy to get stuff done.
Really stoked for you , you listened to your body and knew what needed to be done 👍🍂
Life is better with Kratom
😎🍃kratom saves lives 🍃😎
@vanessa! @accardi?!
Isn’t Brandon AWESOME?!
I’m so sorry to be so late in replying but knowing Brandon would be there for while I also take a titration/break. He’s the main dude on ILK and I’m just getting myself into other stuff, often advocacy in the other rooms.
My discomfort symptoms as you had are the same and I have only lasted 7 days kratom free. But I only using a couple of grams most days.
After the first 5 days off, I finally had shaken free of that lethargy period (it’s temporary but feels like permanent brain damage at times. Anxiety is increased - hence the panic about quitting all the way.
I’m injured now, so I will be starting over (from a much lower use routine) once I get a plan for fixing my wrist
How are you doing, @accardi ? @Vanessa?!
Happy New Year
This post was modified 4 months ago by Laurie
Have a wee bit better day!
Oh and @accardi Vanessa,
I’m getting some prototype mitragynine with basically nominal other alkaloids typically found in the leaf. It’s an extraction process that does NOT equal to anything else called “extract”.
It helps with the psychological problems but I’m still doing some health issues that may need another full quit. Hopefully not. My labs this week look much better, so I’m glad of that and anxious to get my wrist fixed up soon. I’m using some NSAIDS and akuamma, but actually some old ultram caps are very helpful, surprisingly.
Of course I am nowhere near kratom virgin status and have no “high” from any of these products BUT I have more productivity!
I don’t think I would choose mitragynine alone if I could tolerate the 7-oh and etc alkaloids.
Also, when I use Hirsuta, I found it to be surprisingly powerful and taking a “normal” T and w serving was WAY TOO MUCH. Lots of areas on the web say to USE MORE THAN DOUBLE a regular kratom serving and this was NOT HELPFUL.
I was trying Hirsuta, Javanica and stem n vein for a titration plan but found it best to JUST DON’T TAKE ANY of them unless I’m just curious (which I tried them all and from varied sources because I’m way too curious about ANY kratom I have not tried yet, lol)!
All have their benefits. But a full spectrum kratom is the best and taking breaks helps.
Also, people who are symptomatic with covid say that kratom does not relieve symptoms at all and quitting kratom is a natural default while too sick/possibly just a carrier of virus/ to go out.
COVID helps kratom users get a good reset! A few folks have not returned to kratom use as they no longer get any benefits (also from a covid inspired kratom break).
I’m very grateful to have not (yet?!) been infected. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Since it’s predicted that we will ALL get it, no matter how many antioxidants/antivirals/animal drugs you take after seeing Trump recommend that fish tank cleaner as a good medicine for treating covid.
People who took that advice died, so I assume Trump recommended it for OTHER PEOPLE besides himself and his friends and loved ones and certainly not the elite politicians and crooks he mingled among.
Have a wee bit better day!
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