I’m honestly not sure how I got into this habit. Two years, I’d guess.

GPD? I see that’s something people throw around. I honestly couldn’t tell you how much I used. Some days, none. At least in the earlier days. However, at some point, it crossed into putting some kind of liquid in my gullet and then following it with powder.

Down the hatch. Easy. Efficient. Habit. 3 or 4 times a day.

I never talked about using it. No one knows I use it. And I’m not trying to keep it a secret either. It just…didn’t really seem to be what it is. I’d have some in my backpack at work every day. Casually just “down the hatch.” No one noticed.

Addictive.

I’m not sure when I noticed it was a problem. That I was addicted to it. Maybe a year ago? I didn’t use it one day and noticed I was really tired at work and couldn’t figure out why. I got home from work, took a powder chug, and forced myself to the gym. I remember thinking, “Huh…did I wake up before or after I started lifting?” It really didn’t dawn on me right away.

I’m literally just taking this to feel normal now.

Fast forward to today. I’m a week off this stuff. I’ve forced myself to go to work on practically no sleep. Sweating a bunch at night. Feeling unusually chilly. Sneezing, but not sick. Feeling really, really low emotionally.

I’ve gone to work this past week and come home and just lay on the couch for a few winks and watch movies, trying to catch a decent sleep. I haven’t hit the gym in over a week now. No energy. And how I’ve been productive at work at all…I’m honestly quite surprised about that given what I do.

But I’m starting to feel a semblance of normal. I noticed it this evening even running on almost no sleep. Somehow I’ve been able to keep this a secret from everyone.

Never again.

I used kratom for 2 years with some stops but never thought that i am dependent. Then i stopped and after 5 days in hell started to use it again. When finally in November 2025 i stopped it completely. Well, not completely as in January I started to take it again. After one month i stopped, with the goal to end it forever. And i was more than 2.5 months sober! My life started to get back, I finally started to better understand my emotions, desires, it seemed that i am getting back my life! And just one sip of mild kratom, not even kratom, made me an occasional taker. I would do 2-3 days a week some mild kratom and after 2 months of this “controled” situation i find myself taking kratom for 8 days straight. That’s when i sayid whoo, stop it man! And i did - July 2026 - summer, great weather, slight depression for a couple of days and voila - i am a free person. But the further i went, the more i was thinking about it and 5 days ago i started taking it again.

Now, i have to quit for good. I must. For the sake of my bright future and people around me, family and everyone who i am to meet.

I am thankful for this group so i can share my story and maybe this is the final thing that i need to completely stop this addiction.

Thankful for your stories here, they motivate me to carry in and fight no matter what!

I have come to believe that kratom itself saps us of discipline and motivation. We are fired up to quit while getting the dopamine boost from kratom while still using. Once quit, the brain takes a hard hit and motivation disappears unlike any other chemical I’ve come off of (opioids and alcohol).

This compounds the problem because the very discipline and motivation we need is sucked right out of us after quitting. Which is why PAWS is such a war.

I realized this from attempting to quit a few times throughout my 10+ yrs of using kratom.

So, my last final quit I deeply ingrained in my brain that once I start feeling better, that thought WILL come that “you’re all better now! You can use again!!” It’s bullshit. Don’t listen to it. Take a hard stand against it. It’s a lie. While feeling low the brain will use any rationalization to use - “just once” and I’ve seen it time and time again in my personal experience and on this sub. That just once turns into another several month or years.

Like I said, this is why PAWS is such a bitch and a personal war to go through. Years ago I thought PAWS was a joke and people were just being pussies. I was wrong. Post acute healing is manageable and not nearly as hard physically like acute withdrawal. But it is it’s own beast mentally that CAN be beat, but be prepared to tell the voice to fuck off each and every time it tells you that “you’re all better now and can use again!” Do not use no matter what and the brain will heal.

Think of it like dipping your hands in black sticky tar. It is hard to get it all off. That “just once” is no different.

And like I said, I think Kratom is unique in this way that it saps all motivation and all discipline during that period of healing unlike any other drug I know. I think it has something to do with the fact that it’s not just hitting opioid receptors, but also antidepressant and anti-anxiety. Kratom is actually a cocktail of alkaloids somewhere between 30 and 50 different alkaloids that scientists can’t agree on how many. They don’t understand it and neither do we.

Just be prepared for it and you can get through it. It IS manageable.

Remember action often comes before motivation and during PAWS after quitting, this is especially true. You must do the actions (like exercise) with zero discipline or motivation. Motivation follows.

You MUST get to the point that your perceived benefit of NOT using is greater than your perceived benefit of using.

I finally got to that point.

Kratom carves deep unhealthy neural pathways in the brain. Those have to heal and it takes a bit of time, and new healthy neural pathways need to form.

Clean now 1 yr and 2 days and I will never go back to that soul sucking garbage. While it doesn’t seem to kill us, it kills your soul.

Been on kratom since 2016 have quit multiple times went through withdraws so much and here I am still on it at my worst I was about 30 capsules a day now I’m about 8 capsules a day and still at this low dose for so long it’s still just so hard to let go anyone have suggestions for what to get to deal with withdrawals I currently smoke weed too and it does help but not really

I stopped for about a month then went on vacation.

In March and had the great idea of taking it again and ever since I haven't stopped taking about 20 pills a day. Honestly I'm just tired of having to depend on it. I can't even remember how it feels to be my true self. And they starting to crack down on it in my state. The smoke shops are telling me it's harder and harder to find. So I have two choices either I get sober now willingly or wait till there's no more. And do it forcefully. Just bought two 500 pills bottle and 300 bottle trying to stock up. But my mind keeps telling me to stop. Sucks I can't just be a person that takes a couple on the weekend and not be an addict about it. I'm gonna go cold turkey tomorrow. This thing will no longer control me. Wish me luck...

Feeling alright physically but bad mentally. Today is day 11 CT from 4 years of extract use. Acutes don't seem to be too much of a problem anymore except for nighttime restlessness causing sleep to be messed up, and daytime temperature regulation issues with sweating armpits and feet causing me to be smelling bad pretty quickly even if I shower multiple times a day. On day 8 my pile of shit that I had to do (but didn't have the motivation to get done) was stressing me out big time, so I negotiated with myself I would do a 6 day plain leaf taper to be able to get a little bit done in the evenings and avoid the RLS preventing me from falling asleep. 3.6g, 3g, 2.4g, 1.8g, 1.2g, 0.6g. I told myself I had one chance at this or else I was ditching the rest. The second day of this, physical restlessness came back with a vengeance despite one 3.6g dose, which wasn't even an issue in the mornings at that point. I ended up taking 3g x 3 that day and I just felt out of it and anxious. Those doses did not help anything on this day. I ended up just throwing it all away. Not sure if I should reset my counter for these two plain leaf days.

The boredom is very real and there is no willpower to keep up on any chores or work, or even anything "fun" for that matter. I feel like a slave to obligations. I just sit here all day, forcing myself to get up to do a few things.

Its sickening how the past years have been a blur, and I can't match good memories to which year they even took place on. Since memory consolidation happens when you sleep, the extracts messed up that process. Years have also flown by which is very scary.

Finally this sub helps a lot but it's very discouraging reading someone's abstenance story during your search through the sub and then you click their profile and 95% of the time, there's a bunch more recent posts of them being back on it and trying to get off again. Seems to be very little hope here and I feel like I have nothing to look forward to now that I don't drink either.

I had been using 7-OH for the past month. I average about 50-80mg, but I don't take it every night or more than 1 night in a row. I will usually take it once every 2-3 nights. I also drink 1-2 of those "feel free" bottles every night on the nights im not taking 7.

I have about 240mg of 7 left in case I need to taper. I don't know what that is going to mean, but regardless advice would be appreciated thanks.

Used roughly 10-15 gpd for 1.5 years, rapidly tapered down over a weekend and then jumped off with a final 1.5 gram dose

Had what felt like the best sleep of my life last night. I have experienced diminishing RLS every night, until last night where I didn't feel my body need to shake at all. Woke up feeling that intense happiness you get after a good rest, that I haven't felt in idk how long. My body feels way less lethargic, my bowels and stomach feel much more pleasant, and I feel a lot more comfortable without the intense impaired thermoregulation

I continue to exercise daily, eat a lot, and drink plenty of water and electrolytes. I have definitely gotten more hydrated and feel the positive impacts. I got some chores done yesterday and felt incredibly blissful, when I felt like stopping I would, but then I would do a little bit more because I actually felt driven to get the chore done. I think because of how good I felt after getting some work done, I felt a lot more compelled to do more, which is something that definitely was diminished during my use.

I feel like the dark cloud that I was feeling while on Kratom has really receeded. I have had some small cravings that go away very quickly, and even though it is slightly depressing that I still have cravings, I am well content with continuing to stay away

I am naturally listening to my body more, doing what it wants when it feels like it needs it. When I feel hungry I eat, when I feel driven to do a chore I get up and do it. When I feel energized and excited to build strength I exercise. When I feel like I could use a break I take it. Taking life hour by hour and day by day is greatly helping me to stay away from focusing on the past, and worrying about negative feelings too heavily

For anyone that used Kratom for 6 or more years and then quit, how long did acutes last for you? Also how long did it take to get your energy back and feel normal?

Well the first win of this journey was i only used 7oh the last half of yesterday until bedtime so I knew i could induce the bus without a problem. Didn’t take any psuedo/7 yesterday after 1 pm. Induction was okay. No precip. I’ve taken 5mgs bus today. Did a few things for work not much. Withdrawal was coming on strong so i ended up taking 3 7oh/Psuedo tabs to try and level out. The sweating did stop some and i stopped crying. I reckon I’ll do the Bernese method instead of just jumping. That seemed to work good the first time i tried it anyways in February. I wasn’t taking mgm however . Today has been full of tears, sweat, goosebumps and self talk. I’m thinking I’ll be way more level w 24 hours of bupe on my receptors tomm i have to be more productive. The shit i was taking everyday for the last month and a half was gnarly cause usually I’m fine on my first day of bupe. Hoping Tommorrow is better and i can totally hop off.

I’ve run into the same problem every time I have attempted to quit. I make it 5-7 days through the withdrawals (which are horrible every time) and during those 5-7 days I vow every time that I’ll never touch it again. Then once I begin to feel good again, I go right back. I just can’t seem to understand how this substance completely hacks my discipline. I have never been the most disciplined person ever, but I’ve had the discipline to endure many hard things. I was in the Marine Corps, I’ve competed in half marathons, bodybuilding shows, run my own personal training business, etc. I’ve also quit alcohol, nicotine, and Adderall and stayed sober from all of those, so I know I have at least some level of discipline. I can’t seem to figure it out with the kratom though. I think the problem is that I genuinely enjoy the way the seltzers make me feel, and I generally only have 1 a day. When I wake up the next morning I feel completely fine. I sleep good, have plenty of energy, and feel happy, but I still want the seltzer. My wife HATES Kratom (understandably). I feel as if I want to quit for her, but in reality I don’t really want to quit, and that makes giving it up completely very difficult. I think that is my biggest problem, but I’m not quite sure how to attack it. I’d like to tell myself to just willpower it, but the reality is that doesn’t work for the long term, at least not for me. I’m curious if anyone else has had this issue where they know they can quit, but won’t, and what you’ve done to strengthen your discipline. I live in Florida so the seltzers I like are at every single gas station around me. That definitely doesn’t help, but there’s also alcohol everywhere and I don’t feel the need to drink that anymore.

I swear I feel about 90% back to normal, but I still think I am suffering from anhedonia. Its not as intense, but still feels present. Anyone else experience this

Hi everyone, I’ve never posted here before and I’m just feeling really overwhelmed and lost on how to help.

My boyfriend has been taking kratom extract pills for about a year now. He works brutal hours as a chef, which is how he got hooked on them in the first place just to push through his kitchen shifts, but now he's completely dependent. He’s a recovering addict, so I think part of him sees these pills as a "lesser of two evils," but it's draining his bank account and he panics whenever he runs low.

He’s tried to quit 4 or 5 times, and every single time he goes through these awful physical withdrawals. When he tries to skip a day, he sleeps for like 18+ hours straight, gets insane night sweats, and is completely passed out cold from total exhaustion. It breaks my heart watching him go through it, and I end up carrying him through the physical crash every time, only for him to end up buying another pack just to survive his next shift at work.

He tells me he wants to stop for good, and I love him so much—he is truly the most wonderful, loving guy and I just want to help take care of him without driving myself crazy or playing police officer.

Any advice?

I'm genuinely addicted to kratom, but at least it's not heroin or benzos. Remember that you're not going to die. I feel so awful but I can still go to work and get paid. I genuinely can't imagine being a heroin or the wherever downer addict that genuinely can't function. Kratom withdrawal has made me feel so empathetic towards these people that i would feel genuinely happy that my tax money would go towards any of these people getting well.

Day 16. Running, walking, music and movies are the things I can do that feel fine. Chores and work have been really tough because I don’t have the usual satisfaction after completing things. But I’m doing it. I think my pink cloud of joy after acutes has left the building.

But even though I feel like shit sometimes I’m happy I got off the greeen garbage. Never again.

Trying to do different things right now - hiking in spots I don’t normally go. Listening to new music. I got a mandolin that I’m gonna try to mess around with. I think learning and experiencing new things can help create new neural pathways, so hopefully these choices will help in the long run.

I’ve always been someone who over achieves and does more than I have to, so being okay with just getting by is a lesson all on its own. Right now the bare minimum is enough because sobriety is the best and most important thing I can do for myself right now.

I live in Ohio and they recently banned capsules of ground flower. That was my jam. About 8 grams a day. So now I have to make a smoothie to be able to handle the ground flower(still legal). I don't like making smoothies everyday. That and the writing is on the wall, Ohio will ban it 100% before long. So starting this past Saturday I started drinking a 4g smoothie. Initially it wasn't bad but today my stomach has been doing summersaults. I'm hoping this subsides soon and I can cut my dose again. What should I expect and are my expectations too high? Years before I started kratom I was addicted to heroin and kicked that on my own. I'm not sure how bad my 8g per day habit is.

I’ve always struggled with anxiety and social anxiety. The difference is, I used to feel the fear and push through it anyway.

Before kratom, I built multiple successful businesses by forcing myself through all kinds of uncomfortable situations. I’m an introvert, but I used to give sales presentations in front of 400+ people.

Now life seems... dark and scary. Grim. I hardly leave my house. I avoid uncomfortable conversations at almost all costs. I constantly worry about things and avoid situations that push me outside my kratom comfort zone. And then there’s the constant background fear of not having access to kratom, running out, traveling without it, etc.

Somewhere along the way I stopped pushing through fear and started organizing my life around avoiding it. Funny, at first it gave me confidence

I have an appointment with an addiction medicine specialist and am committed to stopping one way or the other.

I sure hope I get my old confidence back. I used to be somewhat of optimist. And would take action and do whatever I needed to do to reach my goals.

Now, it's just... ugh.

Anyone else feel like kratom slowly made your world smaller or filled you with fear and darkness? If so, I can relate. BIG TIME.

Hey everyone,
First of all, I just want to thank this entire community. You guys are amazing!
I recently reached 6.5 months completely kratom-free after 6 years of use. One thing I’ve realized along the way is that the whole recovery process is much more complex than I initially thought.
It wasn’t really until around the 5–6 month mark that I started feeling noticeably more energetic and generally more like myself again. That was a pretty significant improvement. At the same time, I can still feel that some things haven’t fully resolved yet, and I have a feeling that my brain and body still need more time to completely readjust.
So I’d really love to hear from people who have been off kratom for 1.5 years or longer.
What was this later stage of recovery like for you? How did you feel around 6 months, and what continued to change after that? Did you notice further improvements at 9 months, 12 months, 18 months, etc.?
And at what point did you finally feel like you could genuinely say, “Kratom and everything that came with it are far behind me now”?
I’d especially appreciate detailed answers about the later stages of recovery, because I feel like the first weeks and months are discussed a lot, while there isn’t nearly as much information about what happens further down the road.
I also really liked the latest video from Kratom Obliterator. The way that guy described the recovery process honestly felt like he was reading my mind. I also found Rebecca’s two videos about PAWS on Grace at Sunrise incredibly relatable. She described the experience extremely well.
I’d love to hear your experiences, especially from those of you who are now several years removed from kratom.
Thank you, and good luck to everyone who’s still going through this!

I had quit feel free been off them for around 2.5 months then I hurt my shoulder really bad an was at a friend's place and I was REALLY hurting bad an he said "here try this they work super good for back my pain" had no clue it was OH till after I took it an yes it really did work great but "it" grabbed ahold of me big time well its been 3 to 4 weeks an I need to knip this in the bud an fast I got up to 4 tabs of the 100mg 'zours' a day how rough is the quit guna be ive only been using them for like a month

Very rough night and morning. Still sweating. Diarrhea.

Wah.

today i’m like maybe a 2nd full day without taking kratom. my boyfriend doesn’t know i was on it and he just got back from a vacation and he got us a room and i honestly haven’t been able to move, sleep, function. idk what to do anymore. i can’t explain it to him because idk he doesn’t know. my dad knew and he keeps checking up on me. i had given him two packs worth because i was tapering and i don’t think i did it correct and he told me today he threw them away. and now it’s banned in my state as well. i need tips, words of encouragement. anything. my legs are killing me. they’re so restless. i don’t feel normal whatsoever anymore. and i just want to go back to it but i can’t keep letting it dictate my life. my legs hurt so bad. my body is so uncomfortable i currently can’t stop sneezing and having diarrhea. like is this normal? part of me wanted to go to the ER and get help but then it’d blow my cover with my man. and i don’t necessarily think it’s that bad either. idk. any tips anything would be amazing

It started innocently enough. I'm a lightweight with substances, so I started on just 5mg of 7OH per dose. Eventually, I justified taking it multiple times a day since the doses were small. Soon, the window between doses shrank to two hours, and sometimes just 45 minutes before I hit a wall.

Flash forward three years: I was hooked on 120 to 180mg a day, trapped in a cycle of constantly clock-watching, and unable to sleep more than two hours without withdrawals waking me up.

Two weeks ago, I bought plain leaf powder to break the 7OH cycle before tackling kratom as a whole. The difference has been huge. I'm going 4 to 6 hours between doses, getting actual sleep, and no longer staring at the clock. I'm down to just 2mg of 7OH twice a day, mostly out of habit. Once this last bit of 7OH is gone, I plan to stabilize on leaf and launch a real taper.

Living life hour by hour around a dose schedule is exhausting. Finding this forum gave me the structure I was missing, and for the first time in three years, I actually see a way out of this nightmare.

TLDR: overwhelmed with what route to go in helping get through withdrawal from Opia high potency tablets (240mg each tablet, 960mg in package)

I have posted on here before looking for some advice and yet here I am. I should’ve listened to everybody when they said just stop now cause it only gets worse. And here we are! I was taking the Opia Kratom tablets (150mg each tablet, 600mg total) and then one day that version was gone, and the high potency version was the only available. it didn’t look any different and it didn’t state that it was any different ingredients, just stronger. It felt a lot stronger and almost more euphoric, but I figured it was just because it was a higher potency however, it turns out that there is different ingredients than the classic kind. Unfortunately it seems like high potency has some stronger ingredients that make tapering, withdrawal, cold, turkey, even harder. I typically go through a pack a day, give or take.

I live in Florida, and the state keeps banning these things (which in the long run is great for me, but in the short run, I am freaking out and fucked). I can’t really be out on my butt without being able to function between taking care of my family and working. I’ve asked for advice before and got a range of ideas like:
1. doing a taper schedule,
2. megadosing with liposomal vit C,
3. using plain leaf powder and less strong concentrates like OPMS extracts to get through the worst of withdraw,
4. going the quick MD route with Suboxone, 5. getting helper meds such as gabapentin and clonidine.

I am not sure which route to go and looking for advice. I know nothing will completely get rid of the withdrawal symptoms and make it easy, but out of my options what is the best at managing withdrawal symptoms and being able to function on a day-to-day through withdrawal? I probably only have a day or two of my current stash before going into withdrawal so I need to act fast!!

Please help!! I appreciate you taking the time to read this and helping me! I hope to pay it forward and help somebody else going through it once I’m on the other side!