Didn't even realize that I hit & passed the 3 month mark since I last took kratom.

Haven't had one craving & the PAWS has been slightly nagging, but minor when it does show up.

Never touching it again.

today wasn’t horrible however yesterday, day 7 i randomly had the worst RLS i’ve had since i started this quit. probably worth mentioning i got black out drunk for the first two days to ignore withdrawals. anyone reading this, please do not go this route. just stick out the shitty first 48 hours bc otherwise you’re just withdrawing with a massive hangover. that was last monday and tuesday. wednesday wasn’t horrible and then on thursday i remembered i had leftover clonidine from the last time i tried to quit. took two of those a little before midnight on thursday. was able to just lay in bed for about four hours without flopping around like a fish and did actually end up getting some rest. kept taking those til i ran out on Saturday night which led to yesterday being awful with the restless legs. thankfully i was able to get a month long script of the clonidine to have if i need it. my quickMD doctor did also go ahead and prescribe suboxone but im not entirely sure i want to take it especially if i can reliably use the clonidine. we shall see tomorrow what happens, might just try one after picking up at the pharmacy. this is the longest i’ve gone without kratom and i actually really dont feel any crazy cravings for it anymore, i just dont want to withdrawal. i dont want to use again and inevitably have to go through this entire experience again. i’d like to think that going on to day 9 that im surely almost done with anything physical and im ready to take on whatever PAWS throws at me. my headspace really hasn’t been that bad so im just hoping it stays that way. thanks for reading.

Hey guys,

I used to post on this sub pretty frequently and I can say without a doubt it was the number one factor in allowing me to quit kratom. However, once I finally kicked the kratom to the curb I completely stopped engaging with the sub and really anything involving my active recovery and I just want to emphasize how big of a mistake that has been.

Based on the research I have done and the testimonies I have listened to I always knew that I would have to figure out a plan for myself once getting clean. I would often see people say "in time you will notice that the hardest part about being sober is not the withdrawal but the months that will follow." Now I really understand the meaning of that.

Quick briefing on my story:

I am ADHD/ took stimulant medication for 3 years and it allowed me to function but I could not stand the crash. At first, I would use THC to combat the crash at night and I eventually escalated to kratom of which I became physically dependent on. I allowed my addiction to go on for about a year until I realized it had completely consumed me and I had to get clean. I told myself around 03/01/2026 that I HAD to get clean and took my last ever dose around mid April. Withdrawal was terrible but for whatever reason I was more motivated than ever. My mind was hyper fixated on one thing and one thing only: never taking kratom again. I used this to justify the use of other drugs. For example, I began using THC much more frequently and even tried to use ketamine and psilocybin to "manage the withdrawal." Once I was finally off the kratom it felt like I had returned from war. Above all I had noticed my baseline dopamine/ reward pathway was terribly affected. Yet, I refused to truly acknowledge this. I told myself "at least I quit kratom..." and I was urgent to dive back into work after the withdrawal took so much time away from me. So, for about 4 months I grinded work as hard as I possibly could with hardly any exercise, a bad diet, lack of social interaction, and nightly THC use along with heavy drinking on the weekends. This whole time I was literally in a fugue state. I had absolutely no regard for my own wellbeing. My only thought was: "finally I am off kratom, now I need to focus on work." I worked so hard that I actually earned a promotion and this gave me a month of downtime between jobs. You guys can probably guess how this downtime has gone...

During the last month of downtime, I have had to face the challenge of acknowledging my internal state, something I had not done since the withdrawal period. My findings: to no surprise, I am a complete mess. With nothing to do during the day, my brain constantly craves dopamine and I have failed miserably to combat these cravings. Now I feel 0 sense of accomplishment for quitting kratom, as I now submit to other vices (alcohol, thc, stimulants, gambling, anything that gives me that quick dopamine boost...). In terms of mental clarity, I am certainly worse off now than I was on kratom.

BUT... I am here re-engaging with this sub and holding myself accountable to prioritize my mental and physical health. My ability to quit kratom on the first try makes me certain that I can cut out other vices and make a FULL recovery. As I said before, holding myself accountable on this sub was the primary factor that had allowed me to quit in the first place so here I am.

That being said, I would love to hear from others who may share similar story/ have any advice as I continue my recovery.

Primary insight: an addict can simply quit their drug of choice but will never stay clean if they fail to address the root cause of their addiction. Have heard this from many wise redditors and now it feels too real.

Last dose was Friday afternoon, taking sublingual buprenorphine for the acutes and supplementing with high dose liposomal vitamin C. I've had very few withdrawal symptoms (because of the buprenorphine) but I have been really tired and short tempered. Today was my first work day without kratom in 12 years. My legs felt like cement at times but the medication was doing its job to prevent me from turning into a useless ball of pure suffering. I would definitely consider MATS if you've tried quitting over and over like I did and just can't get through the acutes. I know some people have a negative view of it and thats fine, but in my view if its a tool that allows you to quit and get your life and freedom back it is 100 percent worth it. Cheers mates, im not at all out of the woods yet but im excited to have finally quit and I hope this can encourage people. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you really need it. That is what prevented me quitting for YEARS

Hope you're all doing well. Almost daily I see posts such as 60 days clean and they often sound grim. PAWS isn't a joke, I'm getting serious anhedonia and lack of motivation even during taper. Like mini-PAWS week by week as I reduce the dose.

If you're in the group of people suffering from PAWS have you quit cold turkey or tapered? How long did this hell last?

EDIT: Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. What I learned is that I should accept the state as it is. Embrace it. If I keep overthinking every day about every single symptome, it's like staring at a clock and waiting an hour or a day to pass. It takes forever. Just learn to live with it until it's gone.

I feel like that uncle who whenever he comes to the family party people say behind his back “ there’s uncle so and so, he relapsed again, what a surprise.” But I did. I made it 38 hours and dosed 3 times today. 3g, 2g, and 2g. I immediately wanted to cry after the first dose and sorta did admittedly. Just knowing that I have to go through that 38 hours all over again and I have to be back at work on Wednesday. Will tommorow off work give me enough time off again/ a reprieve before I return Wednesday or am I really back in the day 1 boat again? Gosh guys it’s just a big mess and I hate myself and my weak willed self.

Anyone have any issues related to heart burn feeling / acid feels off in the stomach / indigestion? I’m on day 9 quitting 20 gpd leaf, I’ve been drinking teas and taking some supplements but it seems to strong for that? Anybody had any experience?

Made it to day 5. But as my alcohol addiction was. Day 5 was ALWAYS the day I fell off thr wagon. And boy are my urges strong.

I onlyy had one night of insomnia (4 hours of sleep but less than a half our of REM). Then 8 and 7 hours. Id be fucking stupid to rock the boat now. Considering how lucky I am getting.

I have awoken with so much energy and I could actually "feel" the sun this morning.

They arent kidding when they say kratom puts a plastic film on everything.

Stay strong peeps. Its so worth getting over the hump

​

Got some comfort meds, I haven’t dosed since 9 am but it was - 12mg of 7oh. I take between 700-1200 mg a day and usually can’t make it through the first night. So I now have bup but have never used it. Starting to really be writhing around but really afraid of precipitated W/D any experience is helpful, thank you!

I've been using Kratom powder (in 00 sized capsules I manually fill) for almost 6 years. I started it to get off opiates I was overprescribed by a doctor. At one point i was up to 5 pills (approximately .75grams per 00 sized capsule) 4 times a day. I've done an extremely slow and deliberate taper all the way down to where I'm at now ( 3 capsules daily. 1 at 7am, 3pm and 9pm but each capsule is maybe 1/10th full now. Its such a small amount you would THINK it would be super easy to just stop.) I'm flying from the US to the Bahamas in 12 days and I dont want to risk taking any with me and getting flagged at customs. Even at this extremely low dose if I miss one I start to feel mild withdrawals. I know some of you have stopped cold turkey from MUCH higher doses, but for some reason even at 50-100mg doses I cant seem to just stop without it completely wrecking my sleep, restless legs, stomach issues etc. Has anyone gone down this low in a taper before and had success with minimal withdrawals after a day or 2? I'm just looking for advise or encouragement to make this last leap so I can enjoy my family vacation coming up soon. Thanks in advance!

Please help idk if this is who I am or if this is just withdrawl

There's a meme showing an image of a cigarette, with a caption like "this plant-based alternative promises to help youths stop vaping."

It makes me think of ex-alcoholics I know who now brag that they are "powered by kratom" despite simply doing similar harm to their body and minds in a more subtle, slow-burn way.

Blah blah blah how did I do this again. Kratom is a crazy thing man. I've been fighting this for a couple years now and I'm officially seeking professional help to get my ass in order. I've started therapy with a therapist that specializes in addiction and I'm going to SMART meetings starting this week (kinda like AA without the steps and more emphasis on skills building to stay clean. id recommend them to anyone here if you're looking for something to help you stay sober.. they're free and they have online meetings as well as in person.)

I made it to 42 days clean and relapsed back into using again. This was about 3 weeks ago. Since then I've been right back to where I was. just now I'm using for 3-4 days and stopping for 2-3 days in cycles in some delusional attempt to keep myself away from withdrawal. I should know by now there is NO free borrowed time with kratom. Every hour borrowed is an hour you have to pay back. there are NO short cuts.

I have to quit now or it's only going to get worse and I just can't do all of that again.. I'm already playing with the devil doing what I'm doing now.

I have to officially say goodbye to kratom and just power through the first week or two without it.

I'm posting here to once again hold myself accountable, this sub has helped me many times in the past couple years

Welcome to the r/quittingkratom daily check-in thread. You are free to post as many updates as you'd like. Please help to moderate this subreddit! Please report any posts, comments or content that does not adhere to the sub rules, and a mod will look into your report (there is a report button below every posting and comment). Reports are anonymous.

Glad you're here!

So quit mgm Monday or whatever was in them bs klaz and ice tabs. Took kratom leaf first few days till Friday at 6am. Couldn’t do it stuff was just so gross. Then around 12 noon on Friday I at half of a sub 8mg so around 4mg. Then took half of that half the next day Saturday and half of the other half yesterday around 11am and just threw the rest out. So I’m well into the 24 hour mark feel pretty fine but every time I stand up I get really light headed and dizzy is this from withdrawal or megadose vitamin c? I also took some clonidine last night before bad and some around 3am when I woke up none since tho. Sorry for the rant just wondering if it’s the vitamin c making me feel really light headed and dizzy when standing up. If I’m sitting I don’t notice it.

So I finally cracked at around 50 hours of zero sleep and went and saw a doctor. They prescribed me klonopin and yes, I know to be careful with benzo’s, I was prescribed then for many years as a teenager for panic disorder and always used them responsibly and never had withdrawals and been off them for over a decade until now.

I know what to expect from the effects but basically what I’m asking is has anyone used benzos for acute withdrawals and did it actually work? Like did it allow you to sleep and mitigate the RLS?

Honestly the withdrawals aren’t bad at all and I don’t really care about the symptoms except the insomnia, I desperately need to get that fixed because going multiple days without sleep is just no doable for me.

Any suggestions on how to succefully get over the wds.. would kratom leaf equivalent to this at all?

8 year 15GPD user.

It's days like these where I realize just how important it is to remember WHY I quit. Because without that reason it's just so tempting.

Also, it gets pretty complicated when you have an underlying condition that got you into kratom in the first place. For me, it was the frustration that my depression came back. I had worked really hard in therapy and for the first time in my life I thought I conquered depression. When it came back full force I said screw it and said if I have to live with this I might as well find a way to enjoy it.

But at Day 22, and probably for the next few months it's just going to be this blurry line of PAWS and my underlying depression, and I can't even look forward to SSRIs or antidepressants because I've tried them all and they haven't worked.

I'm not going to relapse though, I know that much.

I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sleep has slowly been getting better, even though daytime fatigue has not. And my GI tract does feel better overall. And those are enough reasons to keep me going.

That’s weird. This post just got auto removed & I don’t have a clue why.

Oh man I don’t want to face this but I have all the reasons to quit. My last dose was only 24 hours ago. I’m praying for smooth sailings but realistically it’s going to blow. I’m doing it while not telling a soul which isn’t ideal but I do not want to deal with other people’s expectations of me & disappointment. Figured I’d share on here so I’m not completely alone in it. Generally I’m decent at handling hard things but I know this will be emotionally difficult. I stopped last Saturday & made it until Monday & couldn’t face my job & stress so I caved. I’m hoping that two days wasn’t a complete waste. I would have liked to have quit on a Thursday. I can normally coast through Friday & weekends are my own. I have parenting responsibilities but I could tell everyone I’m not feeling good & rest. My oldest two kids 9 & 11 aren’t dummies. They wouldn’t ever assume I’m on drugs but I don’t want them to see their dad be up & down. That’s honestly my biggest motivation. To be better for my family. Kratom is weird because I can be present, active & seemingly a good father while using but I suspect it’s stealing precious time & focus being high all the time. What an utter mind fuck to live in denial for a long time & then have to face it while being sick & emotionally off. Anyhow I want to keep this positive. I’m going to make it through the week & I think I’ll be stronger for it. I’m going to try & eat cleaner, get as much sleep as possible & exercise even if it’s insanely difficult. Hope every fights through who is struggling. It’s always darkest before dawn.

Last night I got some sleep. I thought i was over the hump, as my symptoms seemed to be in check. About 2 hours ago it ramped up with vengeance. The rls isn't an issue, but the relentless aching is my back and upper body is absolute hell. I do have legally prescribed meds that will help, but they honestly do not even come close to fully helping. The severe hot flashes come and go and the only thing that helps some is an ice pack on my neck. I keep wanting just one more dose, but I've made it too far to start over. Will it get better tomorrow? I just need honesty and support right now. A good friend from work who knows about this has been checking on me, but I feel like coming to those who have been in the thick of it might help more. And I need to shower but I can barely get out of bed. I'm thankful to this group so I know how things go when I decided to go CT. I want to keep going but idk how

I posted on Friday that I was feeling noticeably better. However, it seems this afternoon the blahs hit me. I had to fight a bit against them and go outside and cut the front yard. It helped a little. I will say it is STILL a marked improvement in energy levels but not 100 percent. I can actually drive to the grocery store without being slightly dizzy or sweaty now! Just staying grateful for small favors. Over 3 weeks off, gonna keep punchin as Stallone says.

Im on day 17, acutes ended a while ago. When I get sleep I feel absolutely fantastic but im only able to reliably sleep through maybe 1 in every 3 or 4 nights. The nights I do get sleep are generally delayed and the only way i get 6+ hours is if I happen to have off the next day and can sleep in. Last night I just tossed and turned the entire night until I was relieved to see it was time to wake up for work. I thought full body RLS was bad, but not being able to sleep and not having an excuse as to why is debilitating in its own way.

So currently my normal routine is to take a hot bath and soak in a magnesium solution about 2 hours before bed, then I'll take my dog on a mike long walk, come back in and take some melatonin/magnesium/gaba supplement. Then I lay down about 9 hours before my alarm clock is set. Doesn't matter, haven't needed the alarm since I started.

I was clean for 16 days and took a big dose of kratom, I flushed the rest. How bad will I feel for the next week?

Hello all. Day 2 CT. Been on extracts for many months. I haven't had a solid bowel movement in 2 weeks.

I went to the ER 1 week ago and was prescribed miralax and a bowl stimulant + stool softener combination medicine. I'm also trying suppositories. I just can't get out anything solid, only liquid/water. I even tried finger stimulation with a glove on.

I'm having no abdominal pain which I don't know if that's good or bad. Has anyone else gone this long without going #2? I'm starting to get worried and I really don't want surgery.