So kratom, to my knowledge is a partial opioid antagonist meaning your brain uses it similarly to other opiates. This means that it CAN be habit forming and in my area there are infact Kratom withdrawl programs because people willfully abuse it similar to how they would abuse hard opiates.
While I am a BIG advocate for Kratom I can agree that it is to be treated with respect and used responsibly.
coming from a hard opiate addiction background Involving fentanyl I sometimes forget that the rest of the population doesn't experience opiate receptor antagonists like I do.
for most people the recommended dosage is between 3-5 grams per day . many people consider 7+ to be "high" while individuals like myself tolerate and often take 10+ grams regularly and consistently without much issue. that being said, I have used kratom for almost a decade now and use it almost exclusively as my pain management source for MOST of my serious chronic bodily pain barring cluster headaches which require psilocybin or dmt intervention fairly often. consuming anything containing phosphoric acid may potentiate the effects of kratom for better or for worse and I'd suggest you avoid consuming products containing phosphoric acid while taking kratom. the combination there in leads to much stronger effects and will lead to intense constipation if used for more than a single dose or two. in indonesia this in conjunction with a few other ingredients is called "4x400". prunes and prune juice is traditionally used to relieve some of those constipation ailments from heavy use.
please bear in mind that combining these two, especially with a pre-existing medication regimen can lead to serious complications and can be dangerous.
so, if you're not already regularly taking high dosages or have a background in high dose kratom It would be better off that you don't start. many people see it as a way off the hard opiates but most users don't respect the fact that it can lead to relapse onto harder opiates as well.
by all means, and I mean this whole heartedly, do not use concentrates or extracts. these are what are readily killing users and have been the only source of "close calls" for me personally. what I thought was a single dose was actually 3 doses in .5 ml of fluid and I didn't know until I went pale, vomiting, blurry eyed, and outright dangerously sick. with lab tested leaf it's a bit harder to make oneself sick and the usual culprits to illness come from untested leaf that's been contaminated with foreign material, has high heavy metal values, or is actually laced with concentrate which is less common but not unheard of. Lab Testing is incredibly important with kratom as the trees can pick up heavy metals from the soil and imported leaf can easily be contaminated. you might be borderline appalled if you see how some of these farms harvest and dry leaf. these products are coming from poorer quality of life countries and are often harvested in ways that could be considered sub standard for people in more infrastructurally sound nations. I've seen leaf harvested from legitimate swamps and there's no telling who is getting that material. the only real stop gaps are using reliable vendors and verifying lab testing results. My vendor last year threw away 10,000 intergalactic credits worth of kratom for having failed lab testing for foreign materials I.e. dirt and debris.
in my experience stopping kratom after a long period of heavy usage in the 10-20g range daily will usually lead to : headache, agitation, restlessness, hunger. pretty much the same symptoms I'd get from quitting cigarettes. BUT more serious symptoms are totally possible including seizure or seizure like experiences like "brain zaps". so it's usually best to taper if possible after a long period of usage.
do not abruptly omit any previous prescriptions or mix them with kratom without first consulting your physician for anything related to this topic in any way. few of us are doctors and none of us can give legitimate health advice on a forum even if we were, the liability is just too high.
none of this should be accepted as medical advice and should only be seen as anecdotal reporting and words of warning. what works for me could very well make the next nexian incredibly ill or endanger them.
remember, you alone are responsible for your own welfare.
now for some background on kratom.
Mitragyna Speciosa aka "kratom" is one of if not the only active tree in the family of Rubbiacaea plants. I've read that these trees are somewhat related to the coffee arabica plant but I have my doubts on that all together.
they are heavy feeders and require ample water and nitrogen. you can't really drown a kratom tree as they regularly grow in bogs and swamps but you can kill one with thirst rather quickly. they will readily show they're not happy in a number of ways. I usually feed my trees 2x a month if not once a month with fish meal or a liquid fertilizer high in nitrogen. there are reports that say they can grow to be 30 meters tall or higher, my trees are growing at about a meter tall per year from cutting with near optimal conditions but I think I might be able to really push them a bit further once I get things dialed in.
they grow throughout thailand, vietnam, burma, indonesia and surrounding countries and could be considered "subtropical" but will grow anywhere with moderate humidity and tshirt weather through out the year but require protection below 40*f
