How to Beat Opiate Withdrawal
Kratom
Citation:   BreakThePain. "How to Beat Opiate Withdrawal: An Experience with Kratom (exp86850)". Erowid.org. Jan 9, 2011. erowid.org/exp/86850

 
DOSE:
  repeated oral Kratom (capsule)
BODY WEIGHT: 300 lb
First a little about myself. My drug history is varied - starting from the age of 18, I have tried cannabis, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, various pharmaceutical amphetamines, MDMA, nitrous oxide, kava, DXM, benzodiazapines, zolpidem, Flexeril, Vicodin (hydrocodone), Darvocet (propoxyphene), Percocet, Oxycontin (oxycodone), morphine, Dilaudid (hydromorphone), methadone, Suboxone, and last but certainly not least, my demon gods, Opana (oxymorphone) and heroin.

Although I have experience with a wide variety of substances, nothing has ever called to me like opiates do. I am essentially a functioning addict - I have been prescribed opiates for years, but after the first few months, my scripts never lasted like they should have. And although it is incredibly amusing to free-base heroin until getting the next script, it is awfully expensive, and frankly, dangerous to acquire. I eventually got tired of never having any money and constantly being in withdrawal, so I looked for another way, and found it, in kratom.

I found a reliable online vendor, and a kratom product that I am comfortable with. Personally, I stick to regular Indo. It may be a bit bulky, but the best deal for the price, in my opinion. I’ve tried a variety of extracts, and for me, they’re just not worth the money.

I have consumed kratom in a variety of fashions (tea, capsules, etc.) and each has different effects levels. Low doses tend to be worthless for opiate withdrawal, but can be stimulating. High doses are where the narcotic, and hence withdrawal defeating effects can be found. For me personally, during my first few days of withdrawal, I usually take anywhere from 60 to 90g of encapsulated kratom, preferably on an empty stomach, typically divided into three separate doses. Over the years that I’ve been using kratom, my largest single dose was 40g, and even from this extremely high dose (roughly 400mg of mitragyne, the principal active chemical), I experienced nothing even vaguely resembling an opiate high. I imagine it’s because my opiate tolerance is simply too high, and with there being very little information available but such high doses, the risk/reward ratio isn’t good enough for me to try and find the mysterious kratom opiate-esque high. Simply keeping my skin from burning, being vaguely less depressed, stopping me from shitting myself, and making it possible to, say, go to work and be human are enough for me.

A high enough dose of kratom stops my physical opiate withdrawal, but it does nothing for the cravings and depression. Although those suck, they are a walk in the park compared to my body being in wretched, terrible pain. I have also found that if I eat within a few hours of dosing with kratom, the withdrawal blocking effects seem to end pretty fast. Also, I (perhaps strangely) get a rather strong energy boost from opiates - they just seem to make everything easier. While taking kratom, my energy levels are quite low, requiring huge amounts of caffeine to get even close to my pre-withdrawal energy levels.

Although I never get any kind of high from even huge doses of kratom, just as opiates are, kratom is physically addictive. If I am taking high enough doses to beat two or three days of opiate withdrawal, once that is over, I need to slowly reduce my kratom consumption until I can either accept the somewhat mild withdrawal associated with low dose kratom use, or what I tend to do, which is to continue taking kratom until I have another supply of opiates.

Notes on Preparation:

My preferred method of ingesting kratom is once it is in capsule form. One can easily purchase empty capsules (the bigger the better) at a variety of places - I buy mine at Whole Foods. Encapsulating kratom is a time intensive process - I can usually fit a bit less then half a gram in each ‘00’ size capsule, which I accomplish by putting the kratom in a small plastic bag, scooping the capsules in, and then re-topping them. I prefer kratom in this fashion because it is easy to transport and consume with an active lifestyle.

When I simply do not have the time to encapsulate kratom, but I know I’ll need it, I do sometimes make tea. I simply load it into my coffee pot instead of coffee, using as little water as I can, with the goal of producing as little, but as strong a tea as possible. Being someone who has drank the results of cold-water hydrocodone extractions (which taste awful) more times then I can count, I can personally feel that kratom tea is the worst taste beverage imaginable. To try and moderate this wretched flavor, I usually try to add a good bit of lemon juice, the goal here being to distract my tongue with the sour lemon flavor. In addition to the incredibly bitter flavor, one also does not get the full alkaloid value of the kratom used when brewing tea. The best bang for your buck really is the capsules.

I hope this helps some of you. As I and my brethren junkies know, opiate withdrawal is a very special hell, best avoided whenever possible. Good luck!

Exp Year: 2010ExpID: 86850
Gender: Male 
Age at time of experience: 21
Published: Jan 9, 2011Views: 87,011
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Kratom (203) : Retrospective / Summary (11), Preparation / Recipes (30), Medical Use (47), Multi-Day Experience (13), Health Benefits (32), Not Applicable (38)

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