A friend recommended I try it for anxiety and fibro pain. I acquired some, and it works a treat!

It is as addictive as caffeine, and contains both agonists and antagonists, so attempting to OD on it doesn't work, it counters its own effects in larger quantities and works best in smaller amounts. It DOES work on some opioid receptors, but in natural leaf form is beneficial, like coca leaf vs. cocaine, but concentrates or extracts can have more consequences(like cocaine does).

It is outlawed in some areas, but still legal in the states.

I was able to stop prescription pain killers and cut way down on OTC pills like ibuprofen and tylenol, just by drinking tea! I'd like to save my liver and not go through withdrawals from heavy drugs.

The doc isn't very helpful, just gives me more drugs and sends me to either a chiropractor or pt. It's like having a bad headache every day, but it's not always just my head that hurts, the rest of my body is in on it.

just reading up on it now looks exciting! i may pick some up when i pick up a pound of mate at the tea store.
How strong are its stimulant/depression effects? On wikipedia it says it can be smoked, anyone tried that?

I doubt you'll find it in a tea store. It is generally preferred in a fine, powder grind, so smoking it would be difficult, but you can buy crushed leaves instead of powdered.

I can feel the hot tea's effects within minutes. But full effect takes a while.

By the way, it is a very subtle thing if you are after recreation. It really truly works on pain though.

I find it as peppy as coffee, with no jitters, the pain relief is real and orders of magnitude better than anything OTC. If you are accustomed to the high of opiates, this is as effective for pain, but without the loopiness. By the time you consume enough for "recreational purposes" you will have serious nausea and vomiting.

I don't find any sedation, if that is what you meant by "depression effects".

Conservative amounts up to pain relief, is how I take it, and what I needed.
The anxiety relief is not a sure thing for me, but it's made a big dent. I have not had any doc provided anti anxiety meds, so I don't know how it compares.

My kratom tree is 12 feet tall now. But I'm waiting for the tree to be more mature (to develop full potency) before I sample the tea.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 09:47AM by WinksWinks.

Awesome. How did you get a kratom tree started? Please do tell and give advice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 11:00AM by derrida.

I bought a rooted cutting from an online friend. I ;ive in Hawaii, so the weather is usually good for kratom. Only problem I have is, kratom really likes water, and the ground here is rock and cinders, so I have to make sure I water when it doesn't rain.

I like the Bali and Thai varieties. The Ma Naeng variety is too potent--too much like an opiate, very giddy feeling, euphoric, but the after effects are scary. Lots of twitching. I might take a quarter gram if I was depressed and see how I rolled with it. A quarter gram is very small when working with Kratom. A "standard" dose of Bali would be about four to five grams. I rarely go over three grams in a day and I always limit use to just one or two days before taking a break of a few days, sometimes much longer.

The Thai and Bali varieties are milder in creating euphoria but also much less twitchy. The Bali is mellower than the Thai, a little like the difference between Indica and Sativa, one being more sedating and the other being more of a wired effect (as always ymmv).

There are good sources online, but test for potency of a source before you take more than a gram or two in tea.

I like it as a stimulant. It is gentler on the nerves than coffee, but can make your muscles a little twitchy many hours later after taking it. That is one reason I go easy on the stuff, usually limit doses to two cups of tea, one to three grams each.

Another unusual feature of Kratom is the agonist/antagonist way it flips on you: at first and in smaller doses it is a stimulant. Then after a couple of hours, especially if you do larger doses, it is a sedative.

I would not mix it with much caffeine. Green tea would be as far as I would go (30 mg caffeine). Usually I'll mix it with a tasty herbal tea, apple cinnamon or maybe rooibos, which is just drinking antioxidants with a mild red tannin flavor.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/2011 11:39AM by derrida.