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Scary Effects on Heart Rate !
Kratom
Citation:   Neuromancer. "Scary Effects on Heart Rate !: An Experience with Kratom (exp81443)". Erowid.org. Aug 8, 2018. erowid.org/exp/81443

 
DOSE:
7.1 g oral Kratom  
  1 glass oral Vitamin C (liquid)
BODY WEIGHT: 80 kg
Substance : 7.1g 'Indo super green' Kratom powder bought from a specialized online shop, in a glass of cool orange juice.

Setting : At my place, 5:35 PM. Alone. Nothing special.

Set : Nothing special ; I'm a mostly happy and positive person in general and was just feeling that way. I had 3-4 hours free time before meeting friends in the evening, so I decided to spend it playing video games and reading, and I thought taking some kratom would make it more pleasant. I had already taken kratom 3 times and I believed I knew what to expect.

T+0 : I start drinking the stuff while checking my mail. The taste is bitter, but much better than with tea !

T+0:05 : My glass is empty. I feel mildly nauseous, but nothing serious. I start a video game (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

T+0:15 : The nausea is gone, and the effects are there, astonishingly quick as usual. I feel both a bit more focused and a bit intoxicated.

T+0:40 : Still playing. I feel really warm and comfortable in my chair, and time passes quickly.

T+1:00 : Still comfortable, but my neck is a bit tense and I'm thirsty. I go get a glass of water, and I notice my muscle coordination is really hampered, like with alcohol. My mind is still clear, though.

T+1:25 : I stop the game and decide to go read a book. I start climbing the ladder of my mezzanine bed, with extra caution because of my decreased coordination... and I stop. Suddenly, my heart is going wild. It's racing and pounding in my chest in a way I have never felt before.

I stop climbing and go back to my chair. My heart doesn't slow down. I'm totally scared ; I think I could have a heart attack and die. I hesitate to call the medical emergency number. I don't want to be alone, so I take my keys and my phone and goes in the street out of my place.

The cool air seems to help a bit. I recognize that panicking can only make the matter worse, so I start trying to relax and do breathing exercises. It really helps and my heart rate decrease, but it's still very fast ; I count about 3 beats per second. I call a friend (who knows kratom too) on the phone and explain him how I'm feeling. Speaking with him helps much, and my heart rate starts decreasing steadily ; it remains fast, but not in such a frightening way.

T+2:00 : I hang up the phone after spending about 30 minutes speaking with my friend. My heart is back to normal. I'm still anxious and feel a bit dizzy, however. I go back to my place and start surfing the web.

T+2:10 : The dizziness is worsening, I feel very weak and I think I could pass out. I go back outside but it doesn't really help ; sometimes I feel better but a moment later I think I could faint again. I call my friend again ; I'm not feeling really better but chatting with him eases the anxiety.

T+2:20 : I decide to go for a walk while talking on the phone. I'm still feeling bad but it goes better with time.

T+3:00 : I'm back at home, the effects are mostly over. I'm still anxious and weak but I don't feel I could faint at any moment. I cook some food for dinner.

T+3:20 : I eat. I'm still tired, but the kratom effects are completely over.

T+3:30 : I leave my place to meet my friends. Nothing special in the evening. I avoided drinking any alcohol, having no desire to experiment the famous alcohol-kratom cross-interaction after that afternoon.


The first hour was a pleasant experience analog to what I knew of kratom, but the rest was just the worse time I've had with any psychoactive substance until now. The racing heart thing was just outright scary. I counted 3 beats per second which would make 180 bpm, but my heart had already started slowing down at that time. On the other hand, I was scared and my measure is probably very imprecise. Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was dangerously high. I don't wish someone older or with a weaker heart to have the same experience.

What's odd is that I had taken the exact same dose of the exact same kratom 3 weeks before without any harm. I think the bad effects were triggered by effort (trying to climb my mezzanine's ladder) ; everything was fine before that. But since kratom is commonly used for physical labor, I'm surprised to find no report or other trace of similar problem anywhere on the Internet. I had taken no other drug of any kind, and I don't have any heart problem (I used to have premature ventricular contractions when I was a child, but it was totally harmless and it completely disappeared when I was about 15). Why did it go wrong ? Most sources don't even mention Kratom to have any effect on heart rate, and those few people who do only write about a mild rate increase.

I don't think I'll take any kratom soon, and I will definitely do some research about what that kind of problem before experimenting with any new stimulant/sedative. I really don't want to run into that again.

Exp Year: 2009ExpID: 81443
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 25
Published: Aug 8, 2018Views: 4,754
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Kratom (203), Breathing (470) : General (1), Difficult Experiences (5), Health Problems (27), Alone (16)

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