Kratom calmed me down when nothing else did

[Kelleytoons]

Just an observation which might be helpful to folks suffering from anxiety (which, to be honest, I NEVER had had before).

Got back from a visit to (one of) my wife's doctor(s) and the trip was stressful in a lot of ways, not the least of which was driving back when we got caught in a traffic jam that was stop and go traffic for nearly two hours. As usual talking with my best friend made the time pass, but I was already a bit stressed from the medical side and then after we got home (after her doing some blood work on a stop along the way) I ate and laid down for my usual afternoon nap.

Lo and behold I could not sleep - but it wasn't a typical "oh, I'm not sleepy" sort of thing. I was actively jumpy and nervous in a way I've never felt before. I have NO idea what was going on but the point here is that after trying some prescribed meds (not for me - my wife has a pharmacopeia of things that have many calming elements involved), none of which worked, I took a couple of grams of red kratom in desperation (mostly because I've both never found kratom capsules to be fast acting, and because I was getting more and more upset and felt nothing was going to work). And, sure enough, the kratom did the trick and I was able to drop off to sleep almost immediately after the usual timeframe (it takes about 30-40 minutes for capsules to hit me but I can tell - it's almost like a switch goes on).

Just another reason I should have gone immediately to my go-to remedy for almost all that ails us. Sometimes, when I haven't dosed for a few days, I feel like I really don't need this stuff but then this happens and I'm SO glad I have it and will never be without.

[e_poison]

Do you think it could have been a panic attack? You described the feeling as jumpy and nervous, which sounds like it. I get them sometimes when the stress of life really builds up. I have a fairly good tolerance for dealing with stress, but every once in a blue moon things really pile up beyond a reasonable level and the anxiety breaks through. My doc prescribed me a benzo which I take occasionally.

I’m glad the kratom worked. I’ve never tried it for a panic attack.

I hope your wife is doing okay. I feel you on the traffic too. I live in a big city and it quite literally takes an hour to go 10 miles. It’s awful.

Just out of curiosity which red strain did you take?

[Kelleytoons]

Unfortunately I cannot tell you exactly what it was since in my rotation I turn bottles over when I use them and three bottles of red (in that rack) were turned over - Denette Red Fire, TFH Red (Green 605 but was released as a red, MD I think) and TFH Bali Bliss. Also - I know I took three of one and a single one of another (and if I had to guess I think it was three Red Fire and 1 Green 605. Or maybe 1 Bliss. The reason I mixed batches was that all three were rated 4. If a batch is 5, my highest rating, I don't mix it with anything else). Each capsule is half a gram, so it was two grams total.

Since I've never had anything quite like that before I have no way of knowing exactly what it was. And I mean to tell you that in my 70+ years I just don't panic or otherwise get nervous (as a kid it used to worry me going to the dentist, but since that time the only thing I EVER worry about is when my wife has surgery. And then I'm so kratom medicated I make sure I'm mellow as can be.

But I'm REALLY worried about November - and with my wife and the traffic perhaps everything just did hit me the wrong way. I only know that once the kratom kicked in I immediately calmed down and went to sleep. It was like a light switch and was NOT a placebo effect because I honestly was sure it wouldn't work (my wife suggested it). I was sort of humoring her and the next thing I knew I was snoring. LOL.

It's pretty amazing that kratom can have so many different effects - right now I'm feeling terrific pain relief from a white (three capsules of a 5 and 1 of a Red - this is the ONE exception to my "never mix a 5" rule. When I want pain relief I always add at least one red, and this morning I needed the energy for the gym). And I'm wide awake. So very very different from yesterday's mix. Even if I were younger I think it would take an entire lifetime to try and figure this stuff out (but I'm having a ton of fun trying :>).

[boureka]

Kelley, sending you lots of sympathetic good will on your wife's health. For me worrying about a loved one is even harder than stressing over my own health. Wishing you all the best.

[Kelleytoons]

Thank you so much for the kind words.

And you are 100% correct - I would MUCH rather have her pain myself than her having it. But we keep praying and maybe one day our prayers will be answered (However I'm always reminded of the guy who prayed for something and didn't get it and he said his prayers weren't answered and he was told "They were, indeed, answered. The answer was no."

[Babel-17]

I'm really glad you got relief from Kratom for that. Panic attacks can be insidiously debilitating. Lithium orotate and Inositol, which along with choline is in lecithin, can provide a bit of a cushion against the severity of them. I use Now brand Sunflower lecithin powder, fwiw. A light teaspoon once or twice a day is my preferred amount. Lithium orotate is pretty standard among brands, I get whatever 5 mg. quality one is at the lowest price. The tablets from KAL was my most recent purchase. One a day, every morning, with the occasional extra serving.

Edit: But as a "First-Aid kit" item, pure Inositol powder might be worth having around. Several years back I would knock back a teaspoon of that powder as needed. Tastes like sugar, though slightly less as sweet. And oh, a few hundred milligrams of glycine powder at night can be very relaxing. It too is sweet like sugar, go figure.
I just checked, and Inositol is a sugar carbohydrate. Unsurprising I guess, given that fruits contain some.

[BallzDeep9]

But I'm REALLY worried about November - and with my wife and the traffic perhaps everything just did hit me the wrong way. I only know that once the kratom kicked in I immediately calmed down and went to sleep.

Depressing time of year, seasonal change, getting cold & dark early... Good quality Sleep is needed! ~ I have on occasion done exactly this Kelley. Get up way early, have my usual "Morning Serving" and then back to bed and... will resume a nice deep sleep. And will be "Sleeping In" too, and feeling pretty good when it's time to rise up.

Here's something new... Lately been experimenting with using Tolerance Reducers, before bedtime ~ Agmatine, Black seed oil, and buffered Vitamin C. All of these have been shown to "Up regulate" the mµ opioid receptor aka MOR ~ key receptor that gets activated by Mitragynine. I read this article, on Vitamin C to block "withdrawal" from opioids, LINK - and have been making, a cocktail of juice with: around 1 gram, Calcium Ascorbate, plus some Agmatine and Mag Citrate... have that ready in fridge. I get up, middle of night or early AM - and drink that. Really helps early AM sleep and, probably helps keep my Tolerance nice and low!!

[boureka]

Darn memory ..but it was black seed oil or agmatine...which I could remember which...blocked my kratom receptivity completely.

[Kelleytoons]

Darn memory ..but it was black seed oil or agmatine...which I could remember which...blocked my kratom receptivity completely.

For me, agmatine (I threw out three or four bottles after that happened. Will never touch the stuff again).

[GreenAnimal]

Darn memory ..but it was black seed oil or agmatine...which I could remember which...blocked my kratom receptivity completely.

For me, agmatine (I threw out three or four bottles after that happened. Will never touch the stuff again).

Any theories on why it blocks the effects?

[Kelleytoons]

Well, I'm no doctor (although I *have* played one on television) but based on reading about it agmatine does interact with the metabolic functions, and absorption of kratom is definitely part of our metabolism.

The wiki (always sketchy at best, however) says that agmatine helps with opioid dependency, and may even potentiate the effects, which sounds great for kratom EXCEPT kratom doesn't really act like any typical opioid. And the fact that kratom IS so different in its mechanism may explain why agmatine isn't a good idea to combine with it.

But, as always, it's up to you to see how your body reacts. I just know I will NEVER take it again (I don't know if I fully explained, but it took MONTHS for kratom to start working for me again and that was only after a day of agmatine use. But I'm positive it was the agmatine because up until that it was working just fine and that just stopped it cold).

[GreenAnimal]

I’ve never taken it but I think I’ll avoid it after reading that. Some days getting a good burn is enough of a crapshoot anyway so I don’t want to mess with my tolerance. I’ve never had much luck with potentiators anyway.

[e_poison]

I just know I will NEVER take it again (I don't know if I fully explained, but it took MONTHS for kratom to start working for me again and that was only after a day of agmatine use.

Just curious, did you take any kind of tolerance break during this time to see if it helped? If so, how long?

[Kelleytoons]

Well, as I said - months. (To elaborate: when it stopped working after trying it for a few days I knew something was wrong. So I stopped for some weeks, then tried again once. Nothing. Then I stopped for a month and tried again. Nothing. Then after a few months I tried again and all was well. Agamentine screwed me up big time for a while).

[e_poison]

(To elaborate: when it stopped working after trying it for a few days I knew something was wrong. So I stopped for some weeks, then tried again once. Nothing. Then I stopped for a month and tried again. Nothing. Then after a few months I tried again and all was well. Agamentine screwed me up big time for a while).

Ahh okay, gotcha! Yeah, that's insane. I wonder if anyone else has had this kind of negative experience with it. Whenever I hit a wall where the kratom isn't working, a quick 24-48 hour soft reset usually works. I don't want to imagine going 3 months straight with no pain relief.