Questions about stem & vein

[herbalhippie]

How can you tell if your stem & vein is good. I'm assuming they aren't all the same. And what should
stem & vein look like? Mine looks like regular kratom powder.

I'm doing a stem & vein reset, not exactly a taper. My usual dose of .75-.9 seemed to quit giving
me effects late last week, so yesterday morning I started replacing 1/3 of my dose with stem & vein
and keeping to one strain for the other 2/3, rather than blending.

Should I be feeling any different using stem & vein?

ETA: Not only was I not feeling any usual effects but I was also getting these weird moods. Like a little bit cranky and a little bit depressed. I just felt all out weird. I'm kind of wondering if blending all the time is a good idea after all.

[e_poison]

I think stem and vein looks like regular kratom powder. It does have some different alkaloids not found in the ground up leaf, although these are not as potent. It's mainly to prevent withdrawal so you can reset tolerance, but maybe some bad mood slipped through.

[beathappening]

I'm confused about s&v myself...what exactly is the advantage? If it's for tolerance, couldn't you just take less plain leaf and achieve the same goal?

[herbalhippie]

I think stem and vein looks like regular kratom powder. It does have some different alkaloids not found in the ground up leaf, although these are not as potent. It's mainly to prevent withdrawal so you can reset tolerance, but maybe some bad mood slipped through.

s*** I just edited your post!! hahahahaha

Use QUOTE hippie, not EDIT!! lolol

The bad mood was from my regular doses, I'm actually feeling MUCH better using 2/3 regular leaf and 1/3
stem & vein. I might just keep this up for a while!

[herbalhippie]

I'm confused about s&v myself...what exactly is the advantage? If it's for tolerance, couldn't you just take less plain leaf and achieve the same goal?

It replaces a portion of your regular dose to keep withdrawals at bay is all I know. Other than that, I'm
not exactly sure how it works. All I know is, I'm feeling a lot better on this regimen.

[whiffypants]

All I know is, I'm feeling a lot better on this regimen.

You don't have to say if you don't want to, but I'm wondering what your doses were doing to make you uncomfortable. For myself, I had actually noticed that my doses were creeping up right around the time I broke my foot. (I was actually taking a few days off that week for a t-break, and it ended up being -incredibly- lucky timing for me, since it was several days before I even realized my foot was broken.)

I don't recall that I was getting anything like the wobbles; it was more a case of diminishing returns, plus a growing low-level nausea/malaise thing that developed whenever I dosed, regardless of strain. So I'm interested in what made you move to adding in some stem and vein -- and very glad you're feeling better on it!

[herbalhippie]

All I know is, I'm feeling a lot better on this regimen.

You don't have to say if you don't want to, but I'm wondering what your doses were doing to make you uncomfortable. For myself, I had actually noticed that my doses were creeping up right around the time I broke my foot. (I was actually taking a few days off that week for a t-break, and it ended up being -incredibly- lucky timing for me, since it was several days before I even realized my foot was broken.)

I don't recall that I was getting anything like the wobbles; it was more a case of diminishing returns, plus a growing low-level nausea/malaise thing that developed whenever I dosed, regardless of strain. So I'm interested in what made you move to adding in some stem and vein -- and very glad you're feeling better on it!

My doses weren't creeping up, they just quit being effective and I felt weird all the time. I'm really starting to wonder if blending all the time is such a good idea. I really am feeling much better on 2/3 of a single strain and 1/3 stem & vein.

[e_poison]

I think stem and vein looks like regular kratom powder. It does have some different alkaloids not found in the ground up leaf, although these are not as potent. It's mainly to prevent withdrawal so you can reset tolerance, but maybe some bad mood slipped through.

s*** I just edited your post!! hahahahaha

Use QUOTE hippie, not EDIT!! lolol

The bad mood was from my regular doses, I'm actually feeling MUCH better using 2/3 regular leaf and 1/3
stem & vein. I might just keep this up for a while!

lol, no worries. I edited it back.

[whiffypants]

...they just quit being effective and I felt weird all the time.

Huh, yeah, now that you mention it. I didn't think much about it at the time, I just thought I needed a break and took one, but... yeah.

Really glad you're doing better!!!

[herbalhippie]

So I was chatting with Mr Smiley Time about my stem and vein regimen and I mentioned how much
better I was feeling since I went from .75 regular kratom powder to 2/3 leaf and 1/3 stem & vein. He said
if that was the case, that the stem & vein I got might have too much leaf in it. That it should be brownish, not
green like regular kratom powder which is what my stem & vein looks like. Interesting. So I got some stem & vein
from him and it came today and it's beige! He says it's a blend of green & red veins.

I had been on stem & vein for weeks and had just gone back to regular dosing. I guess I"ll go on this
stem & vein for a while and see what this does for my tolerance.

I thought I had been feeling just a little too good to be on a 2/3 to 1/3 stem & vein reset.

[KrateAndVape]

Hippe, mine (ordered from Krabot late last Summer) was practically yellow in color. The image doesn't do it justice, but you can definitely tell the difference compared to a green. In real lide, I might call it tan. But when I first looked in the bag, I was like "Holy sh*t, that's yellow!"


But as far as the bad moods go, oh hell yeah! I got them too. Sometimes it was just "weird" moods to downright angry for no reason at all. I used s&v 1/3, like you, to 1/2 to taper down. I never ended up taking a break after the taper, but it did help me lower my doses to a point that I'm much more comfortable with. Not sure if I'd ever use it again... maybe if I was in soclusion in the woods are something, away from human beings. Those moods tho!!!

[herbalhippie]

Here's mine. Herbal RVA red stem & vein on the left. Mr Smiley Time's red/green stem & vein on the right

https://imgur.com/RtnNPma


I've been in mostly great moods on RVAs stem & vein. The bad moods I was getting on these wild blends I was making!

[KrateAndVape]

Hippie, your pic is so much better than mine But I definitely see the difference. I'd say my s&v (from Krabot) looks VERY similar to your Mr Smiley Time's... which makes me feel like I got some good s&v. Although it did help me taper, I still don't like how it made me feel. I have some s&v left, but next time I think I'll try to taper without it. We'll see.

[herbalhippie]

Hippie, your pic is so much better than mine But I definitely see the difference. I'd say my s&v (from Krabot) looks VERY similar to your Mr Smiley Time's... which makes me feel like I got some good s&v. Although it did help me taper, I still don't like how it made me feel. I have some s&v left, but next time I think I'll try to taper without it. We'll see.

I guess I'll know by tomorrow how this stuff makes me feel. After a couple weeks on RVA's stem & vein I went back to normal dosage (no wild blends) and felt fine. But now that I know that might not have been a 'true' stem & vein reset, I kinda feel morally obligated to go back on stem & vein for a while. I'm still not getting those 'WOW' moments with new strains I used to get frequently and I refuse to up my dosage.

[KrateAndVape]

I'm still not getting those 'WOW' moments with new strains I used to get frequently and I refuse to up my dosage.

Although I can still get decent results, the last wow mement I got was sereral months ago, the first few times I tried Red Bali from Inland. Nowadays, I'm just happy when I feel it "working". I totally feel your pain