DOSE:

oral

Kava

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

166 lb

I have had insomnia for 25 years. To try to solve this problem I used many herbs and psychoactive pharmaceuticals (that's another report) but I have settled on 2-4 tablespoons of piper methysticum as the side effects are minimal and it works for me. Typically it just allows me to fall asleep quick enough and have almost no side effects in the a.m. Sometimes I feel a bit 'thick' but it is much less so than with alcohol and I prefer it to cannabis as cannabis when I ingest it it lasts for 16 hours.

I do two things to potentiate kava...
1. take it on an empty stomach
2. eat some serious food after I've had a big bowl or two of it.

For the first time ever I had a mind-altering experience (not my goal) with kava. I took a larger dose than usual (5 tablespoons?) in my usual manner of kava in a ball of cheesecloth and pressing it out with my hands in cool water until all that is left is any crude vegetable matter (usually very little remains as I put it in coffee grinder and a blender before considering it being ready to use in a drink). This time I could not read the computer terminal (vision problem), and staggered. Usually I have nothing like this - just relaxation.

My experiences with kavalactones and condensed kava have not been at all as effective as the traditional drink made with water. Sometimes I add lecithin or an oil. I like the bitter taste because it takes like medicine.

Exp Year: 2010	ExpID: 91087
Gender: Not Specified
Age at time of experience: 54
Published: Dec 8, 2017	Views: 1,316
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Kava (30) : Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Retrospective / Summary (11), Unknown Context (20)