Background- Moderate drinker, tried shrooms, MJ, Salvia, DXM and a few others, but favor opiate painkillers.
After a series of surgeries, I was prescribed Percocet for several months (2-750s once a day). Even at that low dose, it was hard to leave them behind when the time came. After doing some research, I discovered Kratom as being recommended for transitioning off of opiates. I was skeptical in the extreme, but willing to give it a try as I missed the oxycodone.
I have a naturally high resistance to opiates (unfortunately), so buying them on the open market would have been prohibitively expensive. I also didn't like the side effects of being on them for so long (reduced testosterone levels and an increased sensitivity to pain, so I hear).
I tried Kratom from several different vendors and in several different preparations and I can say most experiments were disappointing or outright failures. Kratom seems to have a very thin line between doing nothing and doing too much. It's also hard to get down as it tastes really bad.
When done right, Kratom was like a really good oxycodone buzz that comes on very mellow and lasts for hours, not like the quick pop of oxy. The right dose of Kratom allows me to keep that experience over a long period of time (for me it comes on about 20 minutes after ingestion and the peak or near-peak lasts about 1-3 hours). The come-down is also very mellow and gradual, with a long afterglow. It really is a nearly perfect substitute for opiates, just not as convenient.
Also, I found it easy to give up the oxy after discovering Kratom, which I don't crave. I do it once or twice a month and as great as it is, I can take it or leave it.
The trick is to find the right dose and ingestion method.
Here are a few things that help me make it truly enjoyable:
1. I find it's much better to take too little and not feel anything than to take too much and get sick. Too much will make me vomit for a long time, and if I thought the taste of puking up tequila was bad, it doesn't come close to Kratom. I measure it precisely so I know how much I'm taking or I'll definitely regret it. Also, potency can vary batch to batch even from the same vendor. If it doesn't seem to be doing anything, even after I've increased the dose, I may have bad product. Do your internet research to find a recomended vendor.
2. I'm careful if I make a tea, if I try to swallow the wet leaves. They stick together in a lump that is very hard to swallow. I nearly (literally) choked in one early experiment. I never had much luck with making a tea out of it - it didn't have much of an effect and I nearly gave up on it completely.
3. Mixing it with yogurt is a good way to take it. It still tastes bad, but a soda chaser makes it easier.
4. The best way by far to take it is putting it into gelatin pills. For about $25 I found a pill-filler that allows me to put my desired dose into pills in a few minutes. I can swallow these and not have to deal with the taste (except for maybe burping it).
Kratom is my favorite recreational substance, even better because it's legal. It's a bit of a pain to unlock its potential, but it's definitely worth it.
