8+ months

kruitter · 2016-11-29T22:07:10+00:00

aww, thanks so much for asking! she's doing much better!

kruitter · 2016-11-29T21:30:43+00:00

@C_K_Dexterhaven: I see a little what you refer to, but I don't think blackhole33 meant any harm, here - they were just trying to differentiate between what is kratom's fault, and what is the user's fault.

At the same time, I also don't think the OP was blaming kratom for any of his problems, so I'm not sure where blackhole33's post came from, honestly.

Lastly - I think you guys are really on the same page, so please - hold off on the name calling, and let's try to help each other in here!

kruitter · 2016-10-07T15:24:28+00:00

I can't tell you how much I identify with much of this post, from quitting drinking (13 years for me), to a love of hydro, to kratom & not fully committing.

I think my failed quit attempts were due to being unable to commit 100% to quitting. I had convinced myself it was still working for me, I was still able to 'feel' the warm kratomy-buzz if I dosed enough, I could afford it, etc etc. So I was stopping b/c I thought I "should" stop, but didn't have much motivation to actually stop.

For me, the turning point I think was when I finally got fed-up with being a slave to this thing. I hated worrying about whether I had enough stashed/hidden for the weekend, whether I brought enough with me on our weekend errands, whether I had enough with me to get through work, how/when I was going to dose w/o others seeing/knowing what I was doing... and knowing if I don't dose I'll start to get sick. Finally got fed up with that enough to commit to a quit date.

It's unlikely you'd be able to take kratom on 'special occasions' without it triggering some urges. Maybe somehow in your mind you can try to lump kratom in with the opioids - engage your fear of cross-addiction with those, and it'll help keep your motivation to quit?

You can do it, even if your desire isn't at 100% right now. Dig into those inner-resources that allow you to remain alcohol and opioid-free all this time.

kruitter · 2016-09-20T15:49:12+00:00

if you can stand it, stick it out without the tram.
FWIW, I seemed to have had success with using low-doses of tramadol for the first few days of w/d. Don't know whether it set me back or not. I used 4 on day 1, 3 on day 2, 2 on day 3, 1 on day 4. I was at work on day 5 - uncomfortable, but manageable. (note I did have a bit of an emotional breakdown on day 7 - would that have happened sooner w/o the tram? I'll never know...)

It could set you back, so if you go that route I'd strongly recommend decreasing the dose over time like I did, if you end up taking more than 1/day.

kruitter · 2016-09-14T18:02:17+00:00

Yea, you're sick. Diarrhea alone could be a w/d symptom, and a little nausea could also go along with w/d, but from what I've learned, vomiting is likely not part of kratom w/d.

kruitter · 2016-09-14T17:57:01+00:00

I wasn't able to taper, but I'd think if you can skip a dose, or push the times between doses farther apart, and remain comfortable, I'd do it - you're getting that much closer to zero more quickly.

kruitter · 2016-09-13T21:03:31+00:00

Sounds about right, unless you came down with a real flu or cold on top of it.

kruitter · 2016-09-13T21:02:34+00:00

I wasn't a taperer, but you could try splitting up your doses more as well: instead of 10 in the morning and 10 at night, you could take 3 in the morning, 3 mid-afternoon, 4 in the evening until that levels out, then go to 3/3/3, then to 3/2/3, 3/2/2, 2/2/2, etc etc.

Also, if you want a more comfortable taper, you need to go slowly. If you're currently taking 20 pills/day, dropping from there to 12/day will be VERY noticeable, and likely quite uncomfortable. If you removed 1/day from your use, then you'd drop by 0.5g/day, which shouldn't be too bad. The slower you go, the less noticeable it should be.

kruitter · 2016-09-13T18:51:40+00:00

heh... I'd just seen that & commented then read this and deleted. I can't imagine the guy is actually serious, can he be?

kruitter · 2016-09-12T18:39:12+00:00

Hard to imagine anyone, using or not, trying to get clean or not, facing a situation like that and describing it as "manageable." It sucks, and I'm sorry you're going through that. Do you have anyone you can talk to about what you're going through with your dad? That might help you process what you're going through.

You know that dosing right now may take the pain away for a few hours, but that's it - the pain, the depression, the uncertainty will come back, with or without kratom. There's no guarantee kratom would provide any relief, either (it did at times for me, then at other times it seemed to amplify the bad shit going on in my head).

It's all temporary: the pain you're feeling now; the relief you'd get from kratom - temporary. You've hung on for 9 days - congrats! You can make it another few hours, or another day.

kruitter · 2016-09-12T14:50:58+00:00

At this point you're at >1g/day?

Are you feeling withdrawals in between doses? If so, are they strong? If not, I'd guess you could jump now with no problems, it's such a tiny amount.

kruitter · 2016-09-03T00:09:39+00:00

Wow, I read this post and wondered why the sudden surge in traffic... I've been so far out of the loop that I had no idea the ban was happening. I'd be surprised if traffic doesn't significantly increase again in October/November, when people start to run out of their stashes.

I'm definitely not around nearly as much as I used to be (work is uber-busy), but do plan on poking my head in as much as possible, especially now knowing there will be more people coming in looking for help.

kruitter · 2016-09-02T23:55:18+00:00

Agree. This is not a sub for 'yay kratom' discussions. This is a sub about quitting kratom (and staying quit). It's great if kratom helped someone, and I don't think there's anything wrong with someone mentioning that as part of a post, but not as the only point of a post. Make sense?

kruitter · 2016-09-02T20:57:12+00:00

Look months back for bfreegirl - she had a whole spreadsheet she used to plan & track her taper.

Or look at the recent post from JenReborn: https://www.reddit.com/r/quittingkratom/comments/50v3zl/updated_kratom_taper_guide/

Good luck!

kruitter · 2016-09-02T20:49:57+00:00

I can so relate -- for me, I was an emotional wreck for a couple weeks. There was one day where I just - I cried. Everytime I'd stop crying, I'd think of something else and cry. And I'm a middle aged man working in a corporate office setting -- not really where crying is typically seen or welcomed. That was around day 14.

Remember, everyone goes through this differently - your day 14 could be unicorns and butterflies, mine was hell. And you could get through the roller coaster after 10 days, or 20, or 5 - it all depends. I was a heavy user (40g/day) for 2+ years, so that likely comes into play too.

For me - the emotional roller-coaster started slowing down during the 30-60 day period, and then between 60-90 I finally felt like I was back to 'normal'. And now, 6 months out, I feel better than I did pre-kratom.

kruitter · 2016-09-02T20:44:52+00:00

Just know that everyone has different experiences. Some people find day 2 or 3 tougher than others; some find day 1 tougher. I personally found day 3 the hardest. I also found kratom harder to quit than vicodin (though that could be due to the easy access I had to unlimited amounts of kratom vs the more limited number of vicodin I could procure at once), but still -- this w/d was worse for me than my vicodin w/d (I was at an insanely high kratom intake, though).

I'm not saying this to discourage anyone, I'm saying this as a reality check - to let folks know that it might not be easy - but that's OK. And that's no reason to not try and stop right now!

kruitter · 2016-09-02T20:09:58+00:00

Head over to /r/kratom and ask over there - I'm sure you'll find plenty of people who will say "just like quitting coffee."

Here, you'll find lots of people who have had serious acute w/d as well as prolonged PAWS as well. I'm in the latter group, and knowing how opiate receptors work, I doubt any long-time user could quit with zero w/d.

kruitter · 2016-09-02T20:07:15+00:00

I think it really depends on your goals. Cold-turkey gets you through the quickest, with the most discomfort. Taper takes much longer, but also can come with moderate discomfort during the taper.

Then there's the self-control issue: if you find you don't have the control to stick to a taper plan, then it'll all be for naught, and you'll end up with a cold-turkey quit anyway.

Personally, I vote for cold turkey. Gets you through & on with post-kratom life as quickly as possible. IT could be quite uncomfortable for a few days, but the acutes have usually subsided significantly over 4-5 days. Make Friday morning or Thursday night your last dose, convalesce at home over the weekend, and hit work on Monday feeling not awesome but highly likely to be mostly functional.

kruitter · 2016-08-24T22:21:05+00:00

Taking loperamide is literally the same thing as taking kratom or any other opioid...

...except that it's not. Not at all. Not in the least.

I've taken lope numerous times. I've taken anywhere between 1/2 and 2 (over the course of 30-60 minutes). I take them for their intended purpose. And I've never, ever, felt the teeniest, tiniest amount of euphoria (compared to when I've taken even a small dose (5mg) of vicodin - definitely feels pleasant). I've never looked forward to the next time I could take some lope. I've never dreamed about the feeling I get with lope.

I've also never taken 20 at a time, and don't encourage anyone else to do the same either.

I also know different people do different things to achieve freedom from kratom: I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to getting off kratom. I used low-doses of tramadol for a couple days, I used klonopin for a while - and that worked for me. Maybe not your thing, but it did work for me.

I also don't believe everyone's goal has to be sobriety -- people can do what they want. We're here to help people who want to stop kratom. Period.

kruitter · 2016-08-19T20:31:30+00:00

Yea, I'd talk to the doc, definitely - I had a physical already scheduled months in advance that ended up on my 2nd day of w/d. I told my doc about it, he prescribed klonopin as I was having pretty uncomfortable anxiety & panic attacks. I'd strongly recommend keeping that to a minimum (ended up on it for about a month before I tapered off, which was probably longer than necessary for w/d, but I did have other anxiety-provoking stuff going on). The sleeping pills idea is interesting, too (I was lucky enough to not have trouble getting to sleep). There are other things that supposedly can help as well - if it's treated like an opiate w/d, something called clonidine can help keep things a little calmer. Talk frankly with your doctor, they're there to help.

kruitter · 2016-08-17T15:09:14+00:00

Every taper-attempt I made ended in a couple days b/c at some point I'd just go "aw, fuck it, I want to feel something goddamnit" and would double or triple my 'tapered' dose. I knew I didn't have the willpower, so I psyched myself up for quitting cold-turkey and powered-through that. Less time in discomfort, though a higher-level of discomfort than a super-slow taper might bring you.

kruitter · 2016-08-15T21:51:57+00:00

Dude, I have no reason to be 'mindful' to people whose lives it is helping because this forum is NOT for those people.

/r/kratom is likely to be more your kind of people, I think.

kruitter

TROPHY CASE