Newbie: need help with pain relief and strain/color advice

[kpoplover]

Hey all-

I was introduced to kratom last month from my roommate after I was complaining about my usual battle with terrible pain (daily tension headaches rooted in my neck & shoulders). He told me to go with green & white strains, which I did, and with really good effect. In the past, I'd been taking hydrocodone (10mg, but sometimes 20) - being careful not to do it more than two days in a row, to avoid any possible dependencies. But taking kratom instead felt about the same (which is good!), so I've been cutting back on the pills.

Fast forward to last week, when I had a botched kidney surgery trying to help with a massive kidney stone. Oof, now I know what REAL PAIN is.

In addition to the weak pills prescribed by the hospital AND a heaping tablespoon of kratom twice a day, I'm still feeling - at best - as low as a 5 on a 1-10 scale. Waking up everyday, I literally cry out in pain trying to get out of bed. So here's where I ask for advice:

1) Which strains are best for me? Green & white aren't really cutting it anymore. I've heard reds, but which one(s)?

2) How much & how often should I be taking kratom? Is twice a day enough? How much is too much?

3) My preferred mode of ingesting is putting the powder into a half-full 16oz bottle of Snapple so I can shake it up really well. Is that a good way to do it, or am I diminishing its effectiveness that way?

Any/all advice would be incredibly helpful. I really can't do this anymore and doctors don't seem to want to help me anymore either (even after an ER visit on Friday)... Thanks!

Chris

[ybanurse247]

Hi Chris.....sorry about all the pain you're in. I don't suffer from chronic pain but I have had surgical pain for sure and it is not fun. You will get different advice on this subject and that's because Kratom is very individual so most of it is just advice to start out with and you have to just try different colors and vendors. Unfortunately you will have some doses that don't do much for you. My experience is that when you try taking hydrocodone or any opiate along w/ Kratom dose they sort of cancel each other out which may be why you are not getting some of the pain relief you are expecting. Some people will tell you that you can take them but as far apart from each other as possible. Me personally, I'd choose either one or the other. If the pain pills the hospital gave you are weak then just stop those and stick solely with Kratom. You can certainly take your Kratom closer together and more than twice a day but for best results I'd wait a minimum of 3 to 4 hours apart if your pain is severe until you can get it under control. You can't OD on Kratom per se but there is a point where you've reached a "ceiling" effect and it will stop working for you and you will get what we call the wobbles when you've taken too much.

As far as what color to try, sure you can try reds but all Kratom regardless of color will affect your body differently. Some find that greens give better pain relief. Everyone told me whites were good for energy, reds for bed (sleep/euphoria), and greens were somewhere in between both of those. I find some greens to be incredibly energetic and mood boosting and reds as well. I tend to enjoy reds and yellows over green and white but again I'm not using them for chronic pain issues. I'd find a reputable vendor from the top 40 list (use search bar) and buy one of each color, a red, white, and green and try them out starting with small amounts. Also it's a really good idea to get a small gram scale (around $12 on Amazon) and weight/measure each dose and log it somewhere to reference again later and keep track of what time you took last dose.

As a former nurse may I also suggest (if your health history permits) ibuprofen (see directions on bottle) as this is a great OTC medication for swelling/pain and post-surgical pain especially. I really hope you are able to get your pain under control and I hope that Kratom does that for you.

[MycatTimmy]

OP the answer from ybanurse was perfect. The only thing I can add is to be sure to get in on Texas Family Harvest sales when they open to the public. They also have fantastic reds !