Anyone here experienced Kratom users?

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

Can we get a discussion going on Kratom’s medicinal value?

I’ve been seeing a lot of demonizing on how kratom is addictive but let me give my own anecdotal experience with the plant:

I’ve been using Kratom more or less regularly, off and on, with some extended breaks for a little over a year now. To he honest this is the first thing that really opened up a doorway to healing my lower back pain and increasing my body awareness in general. Due to heavy weightlifting with subpar technique in the past, I really messed up my lower spinal vertebrae. Kratom was the first thing that gave me such an immediate temporary relief, I built up my lower back health/strength by doing gradual exercise progressions and perfecting my lifting technique over time. Now im feeling stronger and healthier than ever, and I don’t know if I would have accomplished that without Kratom giving me an initial boost. 

Also using Kratom for studying/doing homework for college just put me in the zone, as opposed to caffeine just making me more alert, kratom seemed to make me care about my schoolwork more relating to my life purpose and my led me to getting straight A’s my last 2 semesters (this is not all on kratom, but it did help me here)

As for the downsides, I have felt some withdrawals in my early use, but nowadays when i go out of town/travel I go cold turkey for 1-2 weeks and dont have any withdrawals. In fact, I’ve felt caffeine negatively affecting my body more recently than Kratom. However, in a mushroom trip I had over a year ago, I had a profound insight along the lines of “why even do kratom or any other substance? The best feeling is just your natural state” which turned me off of it for a while but I returned to doing it and feel like I integrated it better in my life. Have had mushroom trips since then and never experienced that thought again.

As for spirituality, I feel that Kratom does ease my mind and help me relax into meditation very powerfully. I use it few and far between meditation sessions though.

Overall nowadays Im just trying to stay conscious of any addictive tendencies and use it as a valuable tool, while using minimal effective dosages and minimizing frequency of usage. I realize though that self-deception is tricky.

Feel free to share your thoughts/experiences/opinions on Kratom

[Meditationdude]

@TrynaBeTurquoise kratom is highly addictive, especially if you have a history with opiates. I would stay clear of it if you’re relying on it for mood enhancement or get things done. 

Kratom gets you high, just like popping opiates. I could barely tell a difference between kratom and low dose Vicodin. 

Edited September 10, 2019 by Meditationdude
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[TrynaBeTurquoise]

7 hours ago, Meditationdude said:

@TrynaBeTurquoise kratom is highly addictive, especially if you have a history with opiates. I would stay clear of it if you’re relying on it for mood enhancement or get things done. 

Kratom gets you high, just like popping opiates. I could barely tell a difference between kratom and low dose Vicodin. 

I think it can be more addictive to some people than others. But, the plant has an intelligence that kind of puts a cap on how high you can get from it, like when you reach a certain dose it gives you an uncomfortable nauseous feeling. Definitely addictive at the point of wanting to change mood or get things done, but can be used responsibly as a tool just like all things. 

[Chakra Lion]

Swim and Kratom have been seasonal friends for 5 years. At the right dose it is very energetic and can keep you at a mild opiate/coke high for several hours. If Swim takes too much and isn’t actively moving, it can become a rather heavy sedative which makes one want to lay down and close ones eyes. Therefore it’s important to weigh and limit doses per day. Taking a red/green strain in the morning or a green/red strain at in the evening will keep tolerance down. 
Swim has not experienced any Addictive Symptoms from Kratom, except for the desire to ingest when trying to get work done on certain days. 

Cannabis is a much harder challenge to break free from, but to each their own.

[The0Self]

12 minutes ago, Keyhole said:

Does it mess with heart rhythm? 

It does have a high propensity for exacerbating arrhythmia. More than almost any commonly used substance, in fact. If you have a tendency toward PVC's, kratom can cause you to throw a whole bunch of them. I have a ton of experience with kratom, being a former opioid addict.

Unlike traditional opioids, kratom's principle alkaloid, mitragynine, bypasses beta-arrestin and uses G protein instead -- this gives it great properties such as an upper ceiling for respiratory depression, and crucially for our purposes, slower tolerance buildup. Kratom is simply an opioid with the added capability of slower tolerance buildup, so if you consider yourself as having no business using painkillers (to get high, treat pain, or for whatever purpose), consider that kratom is not much different -- it just takes a lot longer to become dependent and/or addicted. If you use it medicinally, keep daily doses under 8g... 2-3g, 1-3x/d, but since even that is not permanently sustainable (you will become dependent eventually, even if it takes a year), why start? It can be used recreationally at a dose of 3-10g but doing this more than once every 14 days would be highly, highly risky.