Kratom Surprise

[pray4peace4]

I've used kratom for a year & a half, never exceeded 3g per dose, but my average dose was 1.5 to 2g, 2 to 3 times a day. The last 2 weeks every time I dosed, I felt terrible. Terrible headaches, really overwhelming tiredness, heavy sweating, & stomach pain. I'v been using the same kilos for a while. So I thought I'd take a break... I only took low doses so there shouldn't be much wd. To be safe I didn't just stop, I dropped down to 1g per dose. In 8 hours I went into wd, so I dosed again & all was well. Next morning I woke up in wd, took a 1g dose & no relief, so I took another 1g. The wd didn't go away, in fact it intensified. Then I started having panic attacks. Crap! I tried my consistent Red Bali, & it helped slightly, but just once. I stuck with the 1g doses, trying to hold the line, & by Wednesday I felt fantastic. It only lasted one day. I've been on a massive panic attack since Thursday (today is Sunday). I can't walk more than 20 feet at a time. My wife took me to the ER Friday & got out this morning. I decided if I'm going to feel this bad I may as well cold turkey it, so Friday was my last kratom. BTW they won't treat a panic attack in the ER, so they told me, so they didn't give me anything except a whole lot of tests. So I'm taking Benadryl to knock myself out & dull the agony.

I didn't write all this to get sympathy. I know a lot of you keep your doses low so you won't get wd. I wanted to warn you in advance that that may not help you. IF I ever take kratom again it's gonna be once or twice per week. Be forewarned... this is a literal hell for me & it would make me very happy if I keep even one person from having to through it.

[herbalhippie]

Scary as hell. I'm sorry you're going through this.

Did they know you were in w/d and offer you anything like clonidine?

I get worried if my dose starts edging up to a gram. I've been dosing about .8 - .9
four times a day and sometimes a half gram of a red/royal bent blend an hour before bedtime.

Time to drop back down to .75 or less if I can.

[WotAnAtti2d]

That's awesome that they won't treat you but will charge your insurance/you for a whole bunch of tests. They're all just a bunch of useless money grubbers, I swear.

[HappyHulu]

Wow! Sorry to hear you are going through this - hope things get better for you. Thanks for posting, as I too use a low dose, once daily. Just out of curiosity, what strains/colors were you using?

[pray4peace4]

To answer everyone's questions... they wouldn't give me anything. Absolutely nothing. That trip was a total waste of my time. Fortunately I have exceptional insurance & it cost me nothing. It was maddening because I knew 5 or 10 lorazapam would've gotten me through the withdrawals easily. But, no, they refused that. And you know, making someone go through wd will probably insure they don't make the same mistake again.

I would take 1.5g Herbal RVA PMD in the morning & 2g Gaia Red Bali in the late afternoon. That's been my standard for the last 6 months.

The Benadryl was/is quite helpful in an emergency. It knocks me out, but when awake.... it's real bad. So, you live & learn. I can remember when I first started using I decided to only take it once a day for my chronic back pain. But psychology works against you & I had mission creep. It's nobody's fault but my own.

[kratomandmath]

Sorry you're going thru this. Hope everything gets better I'll pray for you.

If you don't mind me asking, what was life like prior to kratom? How were your panic attacks before kratom? Do you have any pre-existing conditions? I'm just curious.

[deuceawesome]

Just to chime in here;

Have you had any anxiety or depression issues in the past? Could be something like that bubbling to the surface and the kratom, acting as a stimulant, could be hurting not helping.

I know at the worst of my anxiety a cup of coffee would send me into a full blown panic attack. Or a drag off of a cigarette. Just about anything that was an "upper"

Have you considered trying a different vendor? If it were me I would maybe consider that.

Benzos work really well for panic, as you know. If you can't get any from the docs, maybe look into Phenibut as it works on the same parts of the brain as benzo's. Just be careful with it, some people go overboard with it.

[herbalhippie]

Other than prescription medication the best thing I know of for anxiety is Royal Bentuangie.

[pray4peace4]

I've never had anxiety nor a panic attack before, so when it first started I didn't know what it was. I thought it was just wd, which it was, but as it increased in intensity I quickly realized that I was feeling really afraid of... nothing & everything. I got really angry that I felt this way when there wasn't anything to be afraid of & that actually helped me feel better. The ER doctors explained that panic attacks are very common in people who use drugs that affect the brain.

Today I feel like I've just come out the other side. I feel like I just got over the flu - tired but way better. It's a good feeling.

Someone asked why I took kratom. I have chronic back pain from 3 herniated & 1 ruptured disk. I was on narcotics for 6 years, they made me feel like crud, & when my doctor wanted me to move up to dilaudid, which I did for 8 weeks, I hated it. I stopped all opiates, but I was rapidly becoming unable to perform my job because of the pain. In the first 3 hours of each day I couldn't walk more than 10 feet at a time. I'm unable to take any other painkillers because I'm on blood thinners.

I read about kratom online, did a lot of research, & decided to give it a try. It worked wonderfully. I knew about the potential for addiction but I thought I was being careful enough to not ever have that problem. I was wrong. I retired last September so I don't have to push myself too far physically anymore.

[BallzDeep9]

Welcome to Retirement! Me too. Congrats. After reading this - I guess my 2 cents would be, don't give up on kratom - Since it did work so good. I also take it for both physical pain, chronic back & leg problems - And also to help with anxiety and depression. Just like anything, there are downsides but after 1+ years I've decided benefits far out-weigh the minor issues of tolerance/ addiction. I'm also a big coffee drinker so the analogy makes sense. The Kratom plant is a relative to coffee... and I take it daily along with, my coffee! - But using kratom effectively is much more complicated. Because it's a more powerful supplement. Just came off a short break - Reduced my dose by over half, using Agmatine - it worked! Seems that's just part of using kratom - dealing with tolerance/ addiction. Managing that.

I really enjoyed ShadeTree411 on r/Kratom and his Tolerance Guide for newer Kratomites. Also agree with his daily approach, limit 1-2 dose per day, 18+ hour clearance time each day. Rotate strains and vendors... Sounds like you might take a step back, and try some new things? Good luck!