How did you discover this leaf, kratom?

[boureka]

My spouse's friend had a very old father who would become aggressive in the evenings. The local health food store proprietor suggested kava for him, which worked like a charm. Spouse went to a kava bar which also served another drink called kratom. Tried it and liked it so much, he ordered another...which wasn't a good experience. Still, the nice memory of the smaller dose lingered.( I'm pretty yuk when it comes to kava, but ever grateful it was a doorway.) It took me a while to jump on the kratom train...but so glad I did. Wakes me when I'm sleepy, calms me when I'm anxious, puts me to sleep if I'm mysteriously awake at 3 am.

[SeventhHeaven]

Great idea for a thread!

I'm very active on a political forum elsewhere, and there was a discussion thread one day on the opioid problem. Some were saying that opioids should be banned, and I said that, while I totally agree that opioids are horribly abused and damage a lot of lives, there are also people with chronic pain - or even short term severe pain - who wouldn't want to live without the relief they get from opioids.

One of the guys in the thread sent me a DM and asked if I'd ever heard of kratom (he has very bad fibromyalgia), and when I said no he told me how it had changed his life. He also told me about this Double M Herbals forum, as well as Smiley Time Herbals and another vendor he likes.

That was three years ago, and - like him - kratom has changed my life, definitely for the better I usually only dose once every other day or so, so it stays fresh, and the relief from my osteoarthritis is a wonderful treat - I played lead guitar for a living when I was young, and now my fingers won't even bend much, plus they hurt a lot sometimes (like the rest of me) - and Double M has played a HUGE part in learning how this wonderful leaf works and how to use it It's been a delightful adventure!

[herbalhippie]

I saw it mentioned on forum I used to belong to and this was years ago. A woman who lived in CA was telling us her husband had gotten some and really liked how
it worked for his chronic pain. I'm going to guess this was around 2005 or so. It interested me, but I didn't finally try it for myself until long after that.

[e_poison]

To make a long story short, I was on prescription painkillers for a chronic pain issue. I knew taking them indefinitely was not a great idea. I first discovered kratom when I was researching natural alternatives for pain relief. I eventually decided to give it a try. My first vendor was Canopy botanicals. Kratom worked great for me and I was able to stop the painkillers.

[Jikemo]

A coworker mentioned it to me one day and telling me how it was bad and like meth. I did some research for about a week to find out the truth and then went to my local Kratom shop to try it out.

[boureka]

A coworker mentioned it to me one day and telling me how it was bad and like meth. I did some research for about a week to find out the truth and then went to my local Kratom shop to try it out.

That's very funny.

[Kelleytoons]

I saw it mentioned on Hamilton's Pharmacopia (sp?), did more research online, and gave it a shot.

I always owe a huge debt to him.

[notwithy]

I had a friend tell me about it in 2016 but he was kind of fiendish about it so I was turned off initially. He lost his glasses after a night at the bar so I gave him $250 for a new pair and he ended up spending that money on kratom instead ("they're about to ban it!") and borrowed some glasses from a coworker who has a close enough prescription. I associated kratom with his behavior so it would be a long time before I tried it.

A coworker told me it was legit a few years later, but warned me that he got opiate-like withdrawals after taking it for a week. In 2021 I saw some at a head shop and decided to try it on a whim, I paid over a dollar per gram and took 12 grams over the course of a day. I felt nothing, which makes sense since I was on suboxone at the time. I tried it again periodically when I was on a lower dose of suboxone and had occasional success but it always made me feel weird the next day.

When I was off suboxone for a month, I tried it again and it was like a miracle for the PAWS. It was the only non-narcotic option to subdue my depression and get me motivated. I would take it on days I needed to be productive but eventually decided the pros outweigh the cons and have been taking it 3-5 times a day for the last 8 months. I've cut back on dose a lot, was taking 40 grams per day at most and now I've backed down to around 20. I plan to continue reducing and since I've found better vendors it's easier to get better effect with less. I started with Hippo, Okie's, and Viable. Most of my daily drivers are now from Lucky's or Mitraman.

[terposton]

My best friend's Mom was Indonesian and just a fantastic lady. I was having dinner with her in 1996 and noticed this cool looking tea pot so she offered to make me madat tea. Her family had kratom trees on their property and would send her kratom tea. Her mom didn't drink alchohol but would have this tea every afternoon and she claimed it cured everything even your mind lol. So I tried it but had to put honey in it as I wasn't crazy about the taste but I loved the feeling. It was until later that I learned it was kratom.

[BallzDeep9]

Back in 2016 saw something on YouTube, maybe from: Carpo719, or Philly Kratom, or "Kratom Hippie" (not our Herbal Hippie but a woman who did Youtube Reviews.) About that time I first got on Reddit... So being curious I went to a local Head Shop, chain actually where they sell paraphenalia, glass pipes, etc. The price was like $24 for 1 ounce! ~ OK I bought like 10 grams, weighed out for $1 per gram. Immediately knew it was comparable to Vicodin which I'd been enjoying for <> 10+ years for back pain. Went back on Reddit to learn more!

Carpo719 over 5000 videos on YouTube (most of his Kratom stuff was banned...) https://www.youtube.com/@carpo719

[GrannyJ62]

About 5 yrs ago I stumbled upon it in a fibromyalgia group at the time I had been on high doses of pain meds for over two decades and they had stopped working yet I couldn't stop some one in the group recommended Lizasbestbotanicals I started with her Red Haired Step Child and stopped the scripts best day ever saying no thanks Dr I've got something that works better although I had been taking kratom for 2 months before I stopped getting scripts just in case it stopped working the funny thing is just yesterday someone contacted me they found a post where I explained how well it was working for me and shes having problems with meds so I passed along some info that post was 3 yrs ago I m hoping it works as well for her

[NiqueKristan]

Someone mention it in an endometriosis facebook group a few years ago. She was very vague and I first got kratom from one ineffective vendor (can’t recall the name) and then I found this forum which was life changing.

[Madvillain626]

Discovered it via a kratom thread on another message board (i wanna say it's mostly a music forum lol) in 2014. In my mind I saw kratom as a possible nootropic and aid for anxiety/depression. Weed works for depression but it gives me anxiety sometimes so I was intrigued enough to buy some Baik Bali from mmmspeciosa. Loved the effects (even though I took too much first dose and puked) and the rest is history.

[Pixiedust]

I discovered it in a recovery group many years ago. I found out about it because I was having trouble getting and staying clean. I used to to wean off subs back in 2018. Ended up getting clean off everything in 2019. Started kratom back up in 2021 and have been taking it ever since. I found kratom groups that are more like family and I stuck with it. Over 5 years away from the hard stuff, thanks to kratom.

[GreenAnimal]

Chronic pain.

[ijustlivetruth]

I was prescribed a huge bottle of Percocet are wrecking a motorcycle, and after I went through a couple bottles, I was introduced to fentanyl patches from a family member. It wasn't long until I was shooting heroin and kept on going for a few years.

I had heard about it years before I actually tried it, but didn't actually give it a fair chance until I found out my girl at the time was pregnant with my first. That was 6 years ago, been using only kratom ever since.

[biggreenmat]

I was an athlete into my 30s and when you hit your 30s you start looking at everything you can to help you maintain and excel. Kratom came up as an analgesic on my radar like 12 years ago. I gave it a try and didn't notice much. Progressively upped the dose and found it kind of made me feel icky. I think I just had a bad batch or 2. A few years later I tried again and with a low 2g dose and found it AMAZING. Maybe it was just bad leaf or I just was dosing too high, but I get amazing results on 2g. I save it as much as I can to keep it special, but it is tough bc it just works so well and as I get older I get more tired and just hurt more. I'm just grateful I found it and have the ability to use it when I really need it.

[Aramella]

I was addicted to literally every substance you can be for about 16 years of my life. Different ones at different times of course lol not all at once. Then alcohol was the last one and it was a bad time. I went to long term treatment and after I got out I still had these awful alcohol cravings. My neighbor is an old vet who got off prescription opiates and took kratom which he ordered online and had given my dad some. I had some teeth removed and of course told them no opiates for me, didn't want back on suboxone! So dad offered me some of this kratom for my mouth pain. And it helped with my mouth pain BUT my alcohol cravings were gone! So I immediately fell in love. I still don't have alcohol cravings and my life has never been better. I don't smoke cigarettes or drink pop anymore either and I feel that the leaf helped me with all of those other things too. (Cravings) I had tried all the pharma stuff for alcohol cravings too they didn't seem to do it. I think kratom was also my gateway into healthy herbs, mushrooms, and supplements too!

[boureka]

"Maybe it was just bad leaf or I just was dosing too high, but I get amazing results on 2g. I save it as much as I can to keep it special"
Brilliant and effective! I know it's tempting to climb the ladder, but you'll hit your head hard on the ceiling.

[Kelleytoons]

Yeah, I don't think we can repeat the "less is more" enough around here.

Folks dosing regularly over 2 grams are missing out, that's for sure.