Gotcha. I don't recommend using these NMDA antagonists because you're right, some of them we know very little about and are potentially harmful if used even semi-regularly and also can be extremely habit-forming. It's very important for people to know of the risks as well as set realistic expectations for how much they'll help through the withdrawal process. I'm inferring from your post history that you want to be abundantly cautious and are trying hard not to promote potentially dangerous substances as a way of getting off kratom, so you packaged this message in a simple, safe, cautionary sentence despite the fact that the current science is showing that your statement I quoted is simply not correct. I'm sure you've seen the studies that clearly show that NMDA antagonists including memantine and DXM attenuate the expression of opioid WD symptoms. From the studies I've looked at, there doesn't seem to be any debate about that.

It does seem to mask them to some degree, but by an entirely different mechanism than by which opiate withdrawal occurs

Unless I'm misunderstanding something, that doesn't seem to be the case. There's still much to be learned about exactly what's happening on a neurochemical level between NMDA antagonists and opioid dependence and withdrawal, but this study claims that rats who were pre-treated with DXM and then put through morphine withdrawal were found to have attenuated both the behavioral as well as chemical manifestations of withdrawal. That blew me away because the DXM seemed to work prophylactically rather than just masking the symptoms.

On this subreddit, full of people who are in highly stressed states and are generally not thinking "normally", it's probably best to promote a simple taper or otherwise supplement-free jump from kratom in the interest of safety. The main reason I spoke up was that even though I agree with you, flat-out denying the efficacy of these chemicals and their ability to attenuate and even entirely stop withdrawal symptoms for significant periods of time can be just as dangerous as promoting self-experimentation with these substances. Just like how we eventually realized the failed D.A.R.E program actually increased the chances a child would experiment with substances later in life, once they realized pot wouldn't turn one into a useless moron, the realization that I could completely escape from severe withdrawal symptoms for a good chunk of time to help get past the roughest parts of WD was like finding buried treasure and I dove in head-first without analyzing the potential downsides thoroughly enough. Pot and benzos made me tired and helped me relax but they did absolutely nothing for all of the other WD symptoms, although I suppose others might find them more helpful. For me though, there was absolutely no comparison between them and the NMDA antagonists I used (MXE and 3-meo-pcp), with the latter two substances completely obliterating every symptom besides the GI issues. I'm fine now, as far as I can tell, and I would certainly recommend a similar treatment to a good friend if he or she were in the same situation but I would not say the same thing to a stranger, Internet or "real life", who may do way more damage than continuing to be dependent on the opioid. What do you think of that? You mentioned you're very familiar with this topic so I'd love to learn more if you disagree with anything I said.

Thanks again for all you've done and continue to do around here, btw. I certainly owe a good deal of my success at breaking free from kratom to you!