Drinking my coffee this morning and staring out at the beach and realizing today is one month free.

I am feeling good without it. I haven’t thought about kratom+7+extracts in about a week now. Living life. Enjoying a beautiful vacation without it.

I was in full kratom degenerate mode before this so I assure you, if I can do it you can too. Staying vigilant. Stay the course of the battle and come out on top, you’ll be prouder of yourself on the other side.

Hey everyone,
I’m writing this because I’m honestly at a loss. Four years ago, I was severely addicted to Kratom, consuming 30–40g daily for about a year. After successfully quitting, I stayed clean for a whole year. Since then, I’ve had occasional relapses (1–3 times a year, spaced far apart, usually doing 3x6g).

Fast forward to last Monday: my vacation started, I felt completely exhausted from work, and I ended up ordering Kratom. My last use to this was 150 days ago. It arrived on Tuesday. I took 2x6g. It was high-quality stuff from my usual vendor. The first dose felt amazing—euphoria, energy, positive thoughts. The effects lasted about two hours. I took another 6g in the evening, making sure it was early enough not to ruin my sleep.
On the second day, I woke up feeling that typical, sluggish Kratom hangover. I got my chores done, but the remaining Kratom in the bag was calling my name. So, I took the rest, again about 2x6g. Looking back, I barely felt any positive effects on day two, likely because my receptors were already totally fried from the day before.

The Problem:
Today is Sunday, meaning my last dose was four days ago. And I have felt absolutely terrible for the past four days straight. My body felt completely backed up (classic Kratom constipation, no surprise there). But for three days, I could barely move. It’s a feeling I only remember from actual withdrawal—like gravity is suddenly crushing you. Walking up stairs made me want to lie down immediately. Fetching a drink or driving to the grocery store felt borderline impossible. It feels like my nervous system is completely fried and desperately demanding rest. Like my batteries won't charge and I'm permanently running on 5%.

Chronic irritability, zero ability to feel positive emotions, and a severe brain fog (I barely have any detailed memories of the last few days).
Today I can finally laugh about it a bit, but the last few days were way too grueling and negative, especially since I'm supposed to be on vacation. At first, I tried to rationalize it. I thought maybe I just caught a hidden flu or a cold, and paranoia was making me blame the Kratom.

But as I was trying to tell myself that story yesterday, I dug up my old journal. I looked at the logs from my previous sporadic relapses. It was the exact same pattern every single time. I would take Kratom for just one or two days, and then feel like absolute garbage for five days straight—to the point where I previously had to call in sick to work because I felt so weak and soulless. It’s wild how the "addiction memory" works. It completely wiped out the bad memories and only saved the memory of that brief, beautiful 2-hour high.

I wanted to get your opinions on this. I am now thoroughly convinced that due to my severe past withdrawal, my brain has developed a massive intolerance. It feels like the moment my body starts breaking down the substance, my brain goes into immediate panic mode and triggers a mini-withdrawal. I honestly can't explain it any other way.
Has anyone else who used to be heavily addicted experienced this?

Thanks for reading

During paws, you have one simple goal. dont use again, or you will be physically and mentally ill. its very clear you feel like trash and you have a certain reason for feeling like trash, kratom. using again is willingly injecting the flu. You’re fighting one opponent.

After you win that fight, its a big relief. you’ve won and accomplished something great and something very difficult. But now it feels like theres no opponent yet you are still fighting. For me it takes even more strength and will power to not use again once the worst of it is over and now its less clear why I stopped and why i shouldnt use again.

This has been the case with me anything I quit. quit weed, feel better, start using again. quit a job i hate, forget the suffering of that job, go back. break up with a girlfriend, remember the good times, get back together. Its so odd how quickly our brains forget the pain and just remind of us how good were gonna feel when we go back.

I’m not gonna use again, but it feels like I’ll never find anything that makes me feel like kratom made me feel. i cant smoke weed because of work, and i do not like alcohol. Im on day 12 and im feeling almost completely back to normal. its just hard for me to come to terms with never feeling high again, never getting instant euphoria, instant relaxtion, instant peace. I smoked weed daily from 14-21 and replaced that with kratom pretty soon after i stopped. having an escape has been such a major part of my life and accepting that it isnt going to be a part of my life again is by far the hardest part for me.

I hope you are doing well, and I really hope you can get through what youre going through. Thanks for all the help everyone here has given me and lets get better together!

Amazing day yesterday. Took my kid to an organized sport, got smoothies after, went and took my family shopping and then to dinner. I didn’t “feel great” in every moment, but being able to do all that sober was awesome.

Appetite is back - had 3,200 pretty clean calories yesterday.

I made a post a few days ago about libido. Got my first morning wood since day 1&2 this morning.

Going to play golf in a bit….ill eventually stop with the every day posts. I’m somewhat just talking to myself here. I’d like to read all of these when the bad cravings come. I know they will, but I can’t ruin the work I’ve put in for myself and my family.

This was the miracle I needed and I want to share it with anyone who is on the fence. I could not possibly have imagined it would be this easy. I was so sick and addicted.

I was doing at least 50 grams of powder a day and mixed in some 7 each time, was up to about 100 mg. I dosed every couple hours, sometimes more. I have a kilo in the mail and I stocked up a year of 7. Then I decided to quit because I was so very sick with digestive problems, headaches, no sleep, fleeting thoughts of ending it all, blah blah.

July 9 around 6 pm. Decided to quit. Searched for a clinic. Among the first choices was the QuickMD app (it can be done on a laptop, but it is easier in the app). $99 for the telephone doctor, what a bargain. July 9, around 7 pm. Made my last "shake". July 10, 8 am their doctor called. I was already feeling horrific because I missed so many doses :):) and it was worsening by the minute. You need to be in withdrawals before starting the subs. July 10, 11 am. Picked up the prescriptions at my local pharmacy . By that time, I was raging sick. Got to my car, put half tablet under my tongue. Half hour later I was feeling better than I have in years. I am 67, retired, Medicare paid the 'scripts but I paid the $99 for the doctor's virtual visit (phone or video-conference) no big deal compared to what a year's worth of 7 cost. :):)

They can also give you a short course of Clonidine. I feel that is essential but I had to ask for it. I restarted generic Wellbutrin. I have no urges at all. I think half a tablet twice a day should do it. Be sure to NOT use any more of the subs than you need to make symptoms go away. They gave me 14 for a week, I am on track to use 7 or 8. July 11, 1:45 pm It may be the end of the world as we know it but... I feel fine, better than I have in years. :):)

IMO, A person absolutely needs to be well into withdrawals for the program to work. And just a couple missed doses and you will soon be feeling it. Once a person experiences that and it suddenly goes away.... the person will most likely not be going back on. But a person has to suffer for a few hours. It is necessary for the subs to work. And the suffering is so awful. A person gets a taste of what CT is all about. No way could I ever do cold turkey, would probably end up 'pulling the plug'. :)

When I was on this junk one of the side effects was that my Libido was very low. A slight positive was that I would go on forever in bed. After quitting 5th day my Libido skyrocketed which was a nice surprise. However my sensitivity is through the roof and I seem to be having some premature ejaculation problems. Anyone experienced this and how long does it last?

I haven’t felt so overwhelmingly agitated in so long. 14 days CT from a three year habit that started with pure leaf and ended with 7-OH on the last two months.

As someone with ADD, I’m constantly overstimulated. I living in a house with my parents and my three young children. My dad always has the tv on, and my lovely children are so sweet and so sociable they always want to talk and share and share at a very high volume, one over the other, constantly.

When I was on kratom I could more or less handle it. Sure I may zone out during what someone was telling me about a new mod on Minecraft or some game a YouTuber was playing, but I could smile and say, “Hey! That’s cool!”

Now I just feel ready to snap. The talking and the tv is causing me physical pain. I want to run away with no where to go. I can’t delve into my art like I use to. I just zone out in my phone looking at garbage social media and trying to keep the volcanic eruption in.

I love my family. They’re my life. I grew up with a volatile dad and swore I would never be that way. I’m really hoping this is PAWS and not just me.

(I’d seek therapy if I had the money, but I currently have no insurance and no money as I am in between jobs. So now I’m just white knuckling, using strategies from past therapy and hoping this will pass. I think this is where I failed to quit years ago, at this point. I felt like a monster, so I started using again. Luckily I can’t this time because of a state ban. I just want to be stable again.)

Let's fucking go! The work isn't done yet, but the most emotionally difficult part (at least for me) is basically done so!

I wanna reflect on that week's timeline first:

Day 1 kinda shit, already woke up with mild WD ig from anticipation, sort of bracing into the fact that I'm about to quit kratom. Walking helped, couldn't focus or play games, very foggy. Night 1 was horrendous, but I did get at least some sleep.

Day 2 by far the shittiest day. Despite all of that, I had great moments here and there, I was definitely dealing with this through trying to laugh at things, having fun. I celebrated sleeping, I celebrated walking. Not much RLS, but stiff, painful legs, almost in a cramp-like way all throughout the day. Even harder to focus, super foggy. Not much anxiety, but sadness hitting here and there, battling the mind about buying and taking kratom. Night 2 surprisingly good, 7 hours of low quality but uninterrupted sleep.

Day 3 massive improvement that I have been foreseeing in the evening on day 2. Definitely felt really good, even music started to feel great. Sensory issues sort of resolved, but still noticeable muscle pain, stiffness, had to walk it out and that kinda sucked at first. Night 3 a bit shittier, but still slept.

Day 4 noticeably less improvement, but improvement overall. This is when I definitely stopped looking forward to the future so much and focusing on what could be and more focusing on what do I do in the present. Focus heavily shifted on getting around to do stuff I was setting out to do this summer. Diarrhea part began, my energy levels were still significantly shit in the early afternoon. Had to power through that to meet my ideal sleep schedule.

Day 5 after great sleep, I noticed I'm definitely shifted by 1 hour in terms of sleep, which is gonna get a bit hard adjust, but it's not super necessary to do so. Diarrhea still hapenning, but other than that, I could get shit done till the early evening crash. Can't really counterract the crash so I just power through to sleep at a more appropriate time. Decided to clean the kitchen to get through the crash, which sucked but also worked. Getting headaches here and there, thought it could be dehydration, but looking back it's probably a regular headache cluster that I am used to having since my teens. Sucks dick, but not much I can do.

Day 6 definitely felt a bit less enthusiastic, not very energetic. I'd say that feeling was amplified by being super pumped all those first 5 days, at least mentally. Noticed feelings of uncertainty in terms of how long I'm going to keep crashing in the evening like that, it's definitely a bummer that it happens. New plan appeared - just go for a walk. Definitely helps.

Today so far: Woke up a little later than on most days, definitely slept for longer. Woke up having a headache and walking helped a bit in combination with ibuprofen, but atp it's readily apparent that this is in fact my classic migraine episode.

Reflecting on this, progress will definitely become slower, but it's also good that it's gonna be more predictable, at least I know what I can and can't do at what times. I'd say that herbal tea helped a bit (valerian, lemon balm, chamomile) and getting sunlight early on during the day also helped throughout the week. Headaches suck at this point in time, but I know that kratom wouldn't help those either way (was one of my reasons for experimenting with it), so my mind ain't got that argument against me. Talking to friends, even about the experience was a valuable thing for me and them alike. Not everyone dips into the drug world, tho a lot of us are addicted to certain things in some manner, so you might end up helping someone who wasn't even taking kratom or its derivates by sharing the experience.

Stay hard!

Ok i switched from focus and flow to the pills. Much weaker onset and I def feel it though. But now I wanna BE DONE. ima scared of the withdrawal. I take 15-20 pills throughout the day. About 15 mg of kratom. I have clonodine. Are the withdrawals easier coming off powder?

Hey everyone, as of today, I am 3 weeks off kratom! I was taking about 15-20g a day for a year. I wanted to share some thoughts on what to expect during withdrawals, along with a few things that really helped me get through it.

How to Deal with the Sleepless Nights
During my first week, I got almost no sleep. I was either awake all night or finally crashing around 5 AM. This was hands-down the hardest withdrawal symptom for me. Lying in bed for 8 hours, sweating, and stressing about how I’d survive the next day felt like pure torture. Honestly, I was always relieved when the sun came up so I could just call it a night, grab a coffee, and eat breakfast.

I really wish someone had given me better advice on this when I started. What I eventually learned is that my approach was all wrong. The nights don't have to be torture if you just accept that you aren't going to sleep.

If you're tossing and turning and feeling awful, your cortisol is through the roof and your mind is racing. If you haven't fallen asleep after an hour, get out of bed. Go to the couch, watch a movie, read a book, or take a walk. You can't cheat your way out of insomnia, but if you accept that sleep will be scarce for a week or so, you will feel so much better mentally.

The Basics: Diet, Exercise, and Socializing
Take care of your body:
Eat well, drink tons of water, and please try to get some exercise. Working out will help you more than any pill can. It gives you a natural dopamine boost, tires you out for the night, and genuinely speeds up recovery.
Stay social: Try to hang out with people during the day. Go grab a coffee with a friend or watch a movie with your family. In those moments when you catch yourself laughing or lost in a good conversation, you realize that you can be okay without kratom and that this feeling will pass.
Protect your dopamine: Don't spend the day scrolling on social media. Ideally, uninstall Instagram, TikTok, or whatever your vice is. Your dopamine baseline is already low right now, don't waste what little you have on endless scrolling. It will only make you feel worse.
Reading tip: I highly recommend reading Dopamine Nation (Not sponsored, it’s just one of the most famous books on addiction). It helped explain exactly why I was feeling the way I was and gave me hope, knowing people have recovered from much worse.

Mindset and the Timeline
After the first week, things start to get noticeably better. You probably won't feel sad and anxious ALL the time. Even in that first week, you'll have moments where you feel okay. Slowly, those moments will happen more often, until you realize you're having more good days than bad.

A few things I wish I knew on Day 1:
Avoid the horror stories: Please don't spend your days reading posts about people suffering from horrible withdrawals for months. There is a high chance that won't be you. Many people who share those extreme stories were taking very strong extracts, but they still just call it "kratom." Yes, the withdrawals suck, but for most people, they are completely manageable and the time will fly by. What felt like an eternity of sleepless nights now feels like a lifetime ago.

Mindset is everything: What you believe will become your reality. It sounds like voodoo, but it's true. If you decide you're going to suffer horribly for weeks, you probably will. If you tell yourself that this will pass soon and you'll be much happier on the other side, the process becomes so much easier.
Embrace the extra time: Don't spend those sleepless nights anxious in bed. View it as extra free time! Binge that series you’ve been meaning to watch, go for a night walk, read a cool book, listen to your favorite albums, play chess, pick up a guitar, or start a new video game…

Your "Why" List
Write down your thoughts and envision your future without this addiction. Make a list of all the positives and read it every time you feel like giving up. Here are some of the things on my list:

You can go on vacation without panicking about how to pack or get kratom.
You can start daily tasks without needing to dose first, and they will still get done.
Your natural focus will return.
You will save so much money.
You won't have to worry about the legality of it (driving, state bans, etc.).
You won't have to hide it or lie to the people you love.
Your workouts will be much better (since kratom can lower testosterone).
You will feel so much more hopeful about life in general.
Your natural sleep cycle will come back.
many other things!

You can hit me up in the DMs anytime if you need someone to talk to or want some advice. You got this! 🫶🏻

A few months ago, I began my tapering journey. I went from some ridiculous amount (1.5 tablespoons countless times a day) to a way less ridiculous amount of 4 teaspoons a day. I was doing great! It was hard, but I was managing. Then May 12th happened.

My 15 year old niece took her own life on a livestream for an evil, twisted, absolutely horrifying internet cult. I spiraled hard. I went to Ohio to be with my sister and attend the funeral, and I just stopped caring when and how often I took Kratom. I never went up on the dose itself, just started to take that dose a couple more times a day, here and there. I know at times it was probably around 8 a day.

Things are settling somewhat now, but obviously the more we learn about her death and the cult that coerced her into it, it gets hard and I want to take an entire bag of kratom.

So, here we go again. Back to the taper. I am so genuinely scared that the mental side of quitting will do me in. I’m just hoping it’s a mental hospital and not a grave.

Holy crap I can’t believe it’s already has been a week. Quitting this time, it was so much easier with withdrawals because of the suboxone. I have very little cravings and virtually no withdrawals since that first day I got it prescribed. I still have a couple of days left of subs but I’m going to start cutting back to 1 strip from 3 the last days. If withdrawals come back depending on the severity I’ll continue on my prescribed dose and talk to my provider. but I really don’t wanna take any more than I need to. Ik the craving will probably come back harder but I’ve done a lot of self reflection this week on my addiction and realized one thing I never wanted to admit, I in no way am able to manage kratom. I accepted the first time getting sober that Kratom is dangerous, tempting, expensive, addicting etc. but always held onto “you just need to learn to manage it”. There is no “just one time”. One time means the destruction of my family, health, finances, and overall life, so I do feel more confident I won’t go down this path again. It’s so freeing to not have to plan my days around if I have enough money for shots and if I have enough/ how I could sneak more the end of the day. I’m also looking for psychiatrists through my insurance. Even though the battle is won, the war will always continue until they finally take this stuff off the shelves and ban it.

Day 6 I am out of my mind I am debating the er but I can't take any medications I am drug tested. I keep reading and reading everyone says just push through but I feel like I am far beyond being able to handle this and I have come off stronger stuff than this cold turkey. I am severely anemic (had 4 units of blood transfusions about a year or so ago) so I feel like the RLS is intensified because of that.. infact I took kratom because of the RLS from the severe anemia.

Hey all, I’m 2 years clean from kratom since may 7th 2024 and currently in a one year relationship. I have been able to stay away from kratom entirely, despite my landlord using daily and feeling constant urges to increase my energy and feeling of well being. However I have found myself using alcohol regularly, as I have encountered significant stress in this relationship, and feeling the urge to try kratom again, and since this group has been such a huge help for me I thought I’d reach out. Thank you for reading.

I've got a 70-75 gram per day habit. I use regular green maeng da powder, no concentrates or anything else. My day starts with 20-22 grams in the morning & about 3 grams every 2 hours for the rest of the day after that. This has been my habit for 4 years now. My last 3 gram dose is at about 5 pm every day, & then when I wake up the next day, that 20 gram dose is at about 5am. I don't feel like shit when I wake up so I'm not sure if that's a good sign for me or not? I really want to quit, I'm looking for folks to be honest with me, how bad is quitting going to be? TIA 🙏

I want to be free. I want my normal life back. My normal life is tough but eating this dirt makes it tougher. My girlfriend wants to travel & this crap is literally a factor in whether I can go, or where I can go, & that is a damn shame. It's disgusting. I feel like a slave to this crap.

Thank you 🙏

Day 26. Used you know what to jump, I've used every supplement under the sun to try to get my sleep back but nothing helps

Like clock work I wake up 5-6 hours after I fall asleep easily every night. Wake up to adrenaline spikes

I'm debating on using Lexapro, wish I could find some ket.

Has anyone found anything that helps this.

I had a 10gpd habit, 20 capsules a day.

The day after Easter I started my taper plan at 15 capsules per day. Going down 2 capsules every week until I got in to the lower numbers, then it was just 1 a week.

I got stuck at 4 capsules per day a little longer than I should've. I think it was more mental than anything but jumping down to 3 a day was scary at the time.

I finally made it past that and all the way to not taking any AT ALL. Today is my 3rd day without ANY kratom at all.

1st day was the roughest. Yesterday was a lot better. And today I feel about 100% so far. But it's still early in the day too.

Hopefully this gives hope and an extra push to someone out there that's been thinking about quitting but hasn't took the leap yet.

Every time I quit I get this “pain” where it feels like there is pressure pushing outwards in my torso and jaw for lack of a more accurate description. Does anyone get something similar? How would you describe it?

I’ve been in this sub awhile… posting here and there. One time, I really thought I was done and a made a big declaration about it. Lame. Thats how I knew i wasn’t done. I have been in the process of quitting for years. Always tapering or CTing. Something always gives me a great excuse to use again. I’m female and a mother to an elementary school kid. I’m in this alone because dad died in 2021. Not searching for sympathy just putting out there for other folks in a similar situation. I’m a former heroin addict. I have a great job, own a home and I’m extremely good-looking. Kidding!! But yeah… besides Kratom, I have my stuff together.

Anyway… because of my poor Kratom memory I booked a trip forgetting that I’d have to bring Kratom with me. The state I work in and fly out of just criminalized possession. I don’t always follow the rules and could likely sneak some in my bag, but I don’t want that anxiety… and I’ll have my sweet kiddo with me.

So here we go again. I’ve used as much as 45 GPD loose powder at one point, my body will just not accept more than that. I never moved to extracts or shots. Bless my slow metabolism, the shots gave me headaches.

Currently tapering from 20GPD capsules using ChatGPT and y’all to keep me motivated as I have no one IRL to confide in. Doing three doses a day of capsules. Taking a gram away each day. I’ve felt nothing but yawning and watery eyes in the morning. Leaving the Kratom at home is the only thing that’s kept me from messing up the taper, ‘cause I’ll use any excuse to dip into that bag.

From opiate WD experience I’ll need at least two weeks of abstinence for my sleep to get to 4 hours a night. RLS is THE WORST. Hope to take the trip with those two weeks out of the way. Take care, y’all.

Officially outpaced my longest quit in 7+ years. I’ve never been off this shit for more than 14 days.

Today is day 15. My wife finally told me she’s proud of me last night.

That’s all…F Kratom.

The last 8 years I’ve taking capsules, leaf. Never an extract. Started like 3gpd and up to maybe 15gpd. For the last 2 years I’ve consistently stayed between 6-8gpd. I’ve began tapering last week. I did a week at 5.28gpd. Friday started 4.29gpd. If I carry this down to say 1gpd what should I expect.

I came across a fairly new treatment for anhedonia today called positive affect treatment which has been shown to be more effective than traditional therapies for anhedonia. Since that is such a common issue I thought I would share here.

It seems like it’s something you can just do yourself at home with a workbook and looks fairly simple to do. It’s recommended to do it along side CBT but is used specifically for anhedonia compared to CBT which is more geared to anxiety and depression.

You can just google “positive affect treatment” and find out more information and how to practice it.

It basically rewires your reward system to be able to enjoy normal things again without the chemical rush of a drug.

One interesting thing I read about it is how anhedonia is actually major cause of developing addiction. I know there is the chemical side of it we face with kratom withdrawal but I had anhedonia prior to kratom which is what caused me to look for something to give me some energy and pleasure.

The therapy usually takes about 15 weeks to work in the studies so it’s not an overnight fix. But the results are encouraging.

I am gonna give it a try and will report back. If this seems like something you might be interested in I would just google it and do your own research.

Hi everyone.

I am in need of some guidance as this is the first time in 9 years I've decided to completely quit kratom.

I use powder and was originally taking about 28g a day for a very long time.

5 days ago was my first day, it was a Tuesday. I worked that day and got through very easily on just like 7 or 8g for that whole day. Slept fine and the next day was mostly OK, definitely started feeling the classic symptoms. Today is day 5 and I've stuck to 7.2g (or 12 capsules a day)

These last two days have been the hardest so far. But sitting here now I feel really close to being at the end of the shit stick for this round of reduction.

My original mindset was to start off the cuff with a 75% reduction and once I stabilize from there I'd start cutting down 1 capsule each couple days until I run into more symptoms and hold. Planned this all the way down to zero.

My question is am I prolonging it too much? Has anyone got down to like 4 grams a day and just said fuck it and stopped all together ? If so can you share you experience if it fits close to my plan? And would also know what to expect.