Hey, just wanted to share my experience quitting kratom. Skip ahead if you don’t care about backstory.

[Background]

I used about 6, maybe 7 yrs, initially only sporadic use, with frequent long breaks (several months of non-use). Around year 3 I increased usage to maybe 2 - 4 times a week. I again had long periods of only using here and there or not at all.Around 2021, I was in a situation of very high stress working jobs that were very demanding and also having moved to a new state. I got into hard opiates, which were strong, but also horrid side effects, were hard to source, and also had the danger of risks with being adulterated. After absolutely hellish withdrawals, I leaned heavily onto kratom to quit hard opiates, which it worked amazingly for. I went from waking up multiple times a night drenched in cold sweat to being able to sleep. It made a huge difference and i fully credit kratom with getting me off hard drugs.

My plan was to wean off kratom afterwards. I ended up never weaning off kratom because it was so therapeutic. I eventually started using kratom every day, usually multiple times. Tolerance went up, but only to a point. My usual dose was probably anywhere from 7 to 14g, often 2 or 3 times a day. Sometimes I’d constantly take it throughout the day as needed. It was not unusual for me to go through 25 - 30 grams in a single day. After a while the effects lessened, but never completely diminished. I switched strains/colors every few weeks which helped keep it working. As you know, kratom doesn’t really get you “high”. For me it was comparable to coffee. I always felt better to be on kratom than not. At the end, I was going through 120 - 200 grams a week.

[The effects of daily usage]

The effects of my heavy kratom usage seemed pretty mild. I had moderately decreased libido, which I actually appreciated because it made me less distracted. I got blood tests done and made sure to take large doses leading up to it, results came back perfectly healthy. Using kratom made me also more or less quit drinking alcohol. I had 0 desire for it. Only reason I drank at all was social pressure. The biggest downside was that I began to have very diminished emotional response. I was always apathetic, nothing really made me feel strong one way or the other. Towards the end i felt like a bit like a zombie.

[Effects of quitting]

I honestly expected far worse. First 3 days i felt absolutely no withdrawal effects. Day 4 and 5 i felt a bit dissatisfied, maybe a bit groggy and some cravings. Day 7 I felt intense desire for kratom when I woke up. No negative sensations, just cravings. This went away quickly.It is now day 15, since day 7 i’ve noticed nothing notable. I occasionally think “some kratom would be nice right now”, but really nothing strong or disruptive, its more like craving your favorite snack. Even that is a bit of an overstatement. Its truly nothing bad at all so far.I also feel way more energy since quitting. I sleep far less, i feel alert and focused, almost *too* much energy at times. I am gradually seeing my emotions return. This might just because of weightlifting, but i lifted weights during kratom use as well and didnt have this much energy.Overall, i have no regrets of using kratom all these years. Quitting has been smooth and painless, and it gave me great benefits during use. Maybe the “real” withdrawals start only after a month, but i kind of doubt it. Honestly i somewhat miss using it, and after 2 or 3 months i have no qualms with getting back into it again.Cheers! Thanks for reading!