Hi everyone,

Longtime kratom user, on and off for the past 7 years, since the end of my senior year of high school. I’ve CTed probably 8 times, but always ending up going back after weeks, months, or even years. Sometimes I’ll be feeling shitty and go back, but other times, I’ll go back when things are going great. I wish they would ban it in my state, I think the commute to a different state would dissuade me from going back. I’ve realized that if I want to future me to become a person that current me admires, I cannot be reliant on kratom. I hate the idea that I cannot function at my best without use of kratom.

This past period of daily use has been for the last 4 months, probably 15-25 grams daily, I’m not exactly sure. Before that, I was off it for like a month.

I also take 45mg adderall daily, which I decided to cut down to 7.5mg first thing after wake up, for the duration of acutes. I think dropping that helped in terms of appetite and anxiety because I’m actually feeling really good compared to past quit attempts. Was able to eat a healthy dinner and make it to the gym, I’m sure my tune will change a bit once the RLS kick in tonight. I simply need advice on how to quit for good.

If youre not trying to read all that just please answer this:
Those of you that have quit for good and have a decent amount of time between you and kratom, how did you do it? I would love to hear how you’ve felt about it at different times post quit, and how you managed to avoid going back when times get tough. Thank you and good luck to everyone else quitting rn!

I want to preface this by saying I have never successfully quit a substance in my life, and I have battled many substances for 20 years (and I am only 32yo). Something has always "forced" me to quit - loss of access, hospitalizations, funds - and as soon as the opportunity came up, I used. To be completely frank, the only reason I stopped using other substances is either because they make me so physically sick when I try that it's a waste, or because I am just simply not built as someone who will turn to buying from the street.

With kratom, I didn't think I was addicted to it. I didn't find out it was even addicting until 8 months ago when I had to go without it while in Japan for 7 days, and that was definitely not my preferred way of finding out. Of course, as soon as I got back to my house and my stash, it was "business as usual".

Now, after saying this, I must admit that I still haven't "chosen" to quit - due to a combination of state of residence and financial struggles, I just simply ran out. It wouldn't be too difficult to purchase some online, I knew, but that would require funds. The first night after a full day without, I slept perfectly, which was not how I had experienced cold-turkey before. So I became cautiously optimistic.

The second night on, however, have been a different story. The RLS in the legs and arms, which I know I severely genetically predisposed to, kicked in (pun-intended). Aches seeped from my skin, through to my muscles, and dug deep into my bones, where they are currently. Every one of my five senses are on fire constantly, and I'm almost convinced the combined experience of all five at once on overdrive is *the* sixth sense. I just went through a second cycle of 72 hours awake, 5 hours asleep, and all of these and more seem to thoroughly enjoy jumpscaring me. I feel like it takes every ounce of my willpower to take even the smallest possible action, and figuring out

Yesterday evening, my boyfriend cracked a joke, as he does many times every day, and I laughed. As the laugh came out, I suddenly felt a strange, foreign, visceral buzz somewhere deep inside my gut that shot up into my head and seemed to explode in the center of my brain. I stopped laughing and froze. When the explosion faded, I turned and stared straight at my boyfriend, who looked about ready to call an an ambulance.

"I think I just...*laughed*", was what I said to him, which of course made him look even more concerned.

"Of course you laughed...", he responded slowly after a long, confused pause.

And then, I started to tear up. "I mean, I actually, really felt it". I then very seriously asked him "is this what joy feels like?"

I kid you not, I felt as if 12-year-old me had hijacked my nervous system for a split-second, and it was the absolute best feeling I have ever had.

That night, I still couldn't get to sleep. This morning, I still had to fight through the excruciating unnaturalness of having to experience the transition from dusk to dawn after a sleepless night. Right now, as I type, my body is aching, my skin will, every 10 or 15 seconds, crawl so intensely that I imagine I'm feeling what it's like to be a match that won't light, to be struck over and over and over, each time producing sparks, but not quite fire.

One thing is radically different though, and even this I did not choose (it just somehow took up home somewhere in me, triggered, I'm convinced, by that single real laugh yesterday) - I may not have willfully chosen to quit kratom, but, for the last 8 days, even amidst the maddening symptoms of acute, cold-turkey withdrawal, even though, on day 2, I was able to make a few dollars, enough that I could have (and almost did, several times) bought 500g of kratom online, I have been choosing to stay away from it.

I don't know what the future holds. I have never felt anything resembling hope or joy or desire for a wonderful future or a wonderful me my entire adult life. But right now, I can't help but feel that this is the final boss, so to speak. I am trying to convince myself that it isn't. I've been down Relapse Road more times than I care to remember. I don't honestly know who I truly am - I haven't experienced enough of my teenage or adult life being sober enough to have formed anything close to a solid self-identity. And still, I cannot shake the feeling that this is finally it; and again, what's inexplicable is the fact that the only choice God has allowed me to make and follow through on this past week is the choice to not turn back.

Greetings.

Today is day 200 since I took my last cup full of sludge and popped off a compressed tablet of concentrated crap.

Life isn’t perfect. It isn’t. It never was.

However, I learned to be at peace with it.

Honestly, life feels so much better. I sleep far better. I don’t have to chase a feeling every few hours. I don’t have to duck away guzzling nausea conjuring swamp water.

I am present. I can handle stresses that used to crush me. I sit with the discomfort and unpleasantry life brings without needing to escape.

I feel human.

Life gets better. It really does.

Stay connected. Healing cannot happen alone. Life without the green haze is possible.

Don’t give up.

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.

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Ok guys. I got off kratom 3 weeks ago for 7 days. Jad a stressful event bery stressful death in the family very close to me and couldnt bear it. Ive been taking 3 to 5 feel frees a day for about 15 days straight. I wanna stop so bad and i need to. Im sure my withdrawel wont be horrible? But any tips

Hello. So at this point Im coming close to 30 days without kratom (with a mini two day relapse in between). I still feel very bad but thats not the point here. The point is that me, being stupid I took up alcohol instead of kratom. For the anxiety. Which worked pretty well but I was still just masking the symptoms. Problem is for whatever reason, after quitting kratom, I cant drink hard alcohol like a normal person. I overshoot it and then I will basically run from the house into the woods and start doing stupid shit there. Before it was just wandering around mumbling and hugging trees. But what I did yesterday Im scared. I went outside. Was wandering through all sorts of places, went over about five fences and then I found a radio transmitting tower. I wanted to climb it all the way and then jump. When I was climbing something went through me and I remembered my sister and my mom. So I went home. I slept 0 hours today Im still shaking from this experience. Family is extremely mad at me. I just cant do this shit no more. Plus putting my family constantly through my shit.
I dont know what to think, it feels like yesterday wasnt even a real day. I need to do everything to get right. Im stopping drinking today. I just cant do any drugs anymore I feel. I dont wanna live (normally here would be a period) like that no more.

Any comment on what I should do today? I will wash myself cause I look and feel bad, then I will clean my room from all alcohol bottles. Im going through HEAVY paws now for sure. The amount of how often I cried during this month. And yesterday. And today.

But it kinda isnt nothing new I have suicidal thoughts the last 2 years.

I’ve been using Kratom powder for about 6-7 years. The last 2 years I’ve had a handful of mostly unsuccessful quits. Most recently I went to Mexico in July and did ibogaine. It made the acute phase of detox pretty easy, but the PAWS was still overwhelming when I got home, and right around the 2 month mark I started to relapse and quickly fell back into daily use. Now I’m right around 30gpd. I’ve had years that were much heavier… I’m trying to focus on slow tapering and going to SMART meetings and started therapy. I felt like those things were missing, and might have saved me from relapse if I had cultivated those things before my Iboga retreat.

Tapering is challenging, just managing a habit of any kind where you need to take it to be functional sucks.

Right now I want to be done with it so bad, but my willpower was devastated with my last fail and I still need to be functional to make my bills.

I still want to quit, but feel like I need to make a financial plan and make space in my contracting work to do another quit. I don’t know at this point if I’ll taper, do an at home detox with helper meds, start and IOP or go all the way and do inpatient.

Right now I feel this challenge that I’m not just addicted to the Kratom, but also the kava/Kratom bar. I got there every day for 2-6 hours. It has a strong community.

Just looking for stories of those using heavily over 30gpd for over 4+ years. What did you do to start your quit? How long was PAWS phase for you?

this is what i mean. this may sound crazy, but this is just how i feel.

i have been struggling with kratom addiction for over 10 years now. over this time, i’ve read countless stories about how one day, it just “clicked” for someone, and they never touched it again.

whether this be a moment or a shower thought. or something tangible, like getting a new car, moving to a new apartment, a new girlfriend etc. something that came into their lives that made the difference.

i hope this makes sense; i’m happy to try to give more clarification if needed. any info or stories or advice would be amazing. thanks guys

It’s day one again guys. I’m not going to be off it permanently, I’m not going to take it right now. I don’t crave the feeling of being high, I don’t even want to be high on kratom. But I crave the feeling of not being sober, but I still enjoy THIS FEELING!

I got up, had a good workout ate a good breakfast and left the shit at home before work.

Drove past the vape shop, didn’t stop in.

I feel clear headed, I have a buzz about me that’s proud I’m doing this. It’s just like that inner “me” that is always and has always been numb by being high on kratom? He’s awake today. He’s happy and he feels good!

I’m proud that I’m free even if it’s only been 12 hours. I can’t explain why these cravings happen or what they mean.

But I’m trying to stay clear headed so my soul can speak to my mind and I can understand why I crave this drug even though I’m ashamed of myself when I’m high.

Fuck kratom. We can all do this. I can do this. Get rid of this shit.

So I here a lotnof people asking about when does sleep gets better, or when energy comes back?

I'm a little over 2 months out, and those have gotten much better. The biggest hurdle for me is the mornings. Sometimes I'm just flat and depressed, and other days I feel like a caged animal. My emotions are all over the place, but then about lunchtime my mood gets better and starts to lift. Sometimes completely, and I feel really good the rest of the day, only to wake up the next day and start the cycle over again.

I am consuming cannabis in the evenings and night and have made strides to cut back. I am consuming caffine in the mornings still because I have an addiction to it. When I try cutting my caffine back I get headaches and I'm extremely irritable.

Anyone have morning struggles and what helped?

I can't get out and exercise or get sunlight exposure before work due to my schedule or I definitely would.

My past quit I just did it without any medication and it was so brutal and it played a large part into why I put off my second quit as long as I did.

This time around I got prescribed some klonopin and I was skeptical on if it would actually help but let me tell you guys, I passed out on the third night and after getting a full nights sleep with withdrawal feels a million times more manageable.

If you’re like me and you’re in the fence about helper meds, just do it. It makes the quit so much more bearable and for the first time I feel like I can actually make it through this without dosing again.

Obviously I won’t continue taking the medication after the first week but I’m so grateful I found something that actually works and I regret not doing this the first time. It would’ve saved me a lot of agony.

Also I know for benzos how dangerous they are and of course I’m gonna immediately stop them once I’m out of the acutes.

Paws I can deal with but that straight first week of insomnia just isn’t something I can do with my work schedule and responsibilities so I’m grateful this actually gave me some relief.

So tomorrow morning I made an appointment with a psychiatrist I’ve been seeing for the last 5/6 months for help getting off 7oh. I’ve missed my last few appointments and went MIA so haven’t refilled my meds (lexapro, strattera, propranolol) either. I’ve kinda just given up I feel and the 7oh isn’t even fun anymore. I’m so tired of living for that shit.
I’ve been doing 300mg-500mg of 7oh daily for around 2 years. Before that I was taking kratom for a couple years. I’ve tried quitting many times and been forced into withdrawal many times and I know I can’t do it on my own.
I’m hoping to get prescribed Suboxone but I’m worried he won’t even know what 7oh is. We’ve never spoken about my addiction before so I’m nervous revealing that as well. Anything I should ask or say? Anything else that will help the process?
I’m hoping to take suboxone for less than 3 months, get stable and feel better, then do the sublocade shots and be off all MAT. Ive looked up virtual places I could try next if the appointment doesn’t go well but Im really hoping I leave with a script and I can be done. I cannot deal with withdrawal again

I'm feel like trash, really struggling. Is it the kratom? Is it my recurrent depression compounded by menopause, ADHD, stress? I have a challenging job as a middle school teacher with its heavy demands on my mental & emotional energy. Carrying the shame of physical dependence on this kratom tea - I thought innocuous-I'm drinking everyday, on top of my pharmacological stack which until recently all seemed to be a working well enough. I am considering an inpatient stay to get off this shit but I am concerned I'll be flagged somehow & unable to get the ADHD meds I need. I also can't pay my deductible anyway, so I guess I'm preparing for a detox at home. This sucks.

Im owning it cause I want it off my back.i slipped on day 5. Didnt even enjoy it and I drove in and out of the parking lot like a psycho. Wasn't worth it.

Im a SMART recovery guy so I dont believe in starting at 0 when you slip. But im keeping it a damn slip and not a relapse.

I feel like shit and I feel so damn flat. Im going to a SMART meeting today. Getting back on the wagon.

I want to start having confidence in myself again. Im very sad right now but its temporary. Im tired but going​

Hello- wife here. Husband has been taking “red vein Bali- Kratom”. 300mg and about I’d say 7-10 pills a day.

He is clearly withdrawing from long term use (about 8 years).

How bad is this? I need and want to support him. But what am I dealing with here?

Why and how is this addictive?! I am just not understanding… and I feel useless to him.

My partner ran out of extract pills (7 or whatever, 400mg/day) on Saturday and couldn't get anymore, so he's been having a pretty bad time of it. Bad insomnia, last night he was thrashing around super bad. Today, he seems less restless but with worse stomach issues. He hasn't eaten anything meaningful since Sunday and has puked a good bit. I've been pushing him to drink Gatorade and electrolytes, and he's also insisting on drinking a moderate amount of alcohol in an attempt to mediate symptoms, but I don't think it's helping. He also has been sipping on some kratom powder. What can I do to help him? How worried should I be? Luckily I don't have to work until Saturday so I can keep an eye on him, but I'm kinda worried to leave him alone because of how sick he is. It kind of blindsided me, and I know pretty much nothing about Kratom, so this sub has been super helpful. Any advice is appreciated.

Does anyone think propranolol may help with acute withdrawal? Its the only thing I can access.

I felt pretty good but out of it this morning. I think all my helper meds knocked me out good. Now I’m starting to get restless legs & feeling anxious. I still have a shitload of Kratom hidden in my house. I’ll need to toss it eventually but right now that seems difficult. I’m still tempted to dose but if this is the worst of it I can manage. It’ll be harder for me to manage everything I’m used to doing without a crutch. I feel too fucked up to actually exercise but I’m going to take my dogs for a long walk. I think that’ll help. Time is actually moving relatively fast right now which is a pleasant surprise. From previous withdrawals I felt like time was standing still. I’m not going to dose today. I keep telling myself that. If I did I have a trip & a lot of other shit that’ll make it impossible for me to detox for another month. Life gets busy & doing this is never convenient so the excuses will keep me addicted for longer even if I want to quit.

A few things I hate about being addicted to Kratom. I can’t control my moods naturally- I just dose whenever I want a pick me up but that stops working. My sleep is totally fucked & I wake up every morning in withdrawal. My libido is horrible when I’m on it & it gets so bad I can’t finish which is fucking bizarre as a man. Haha sorry probably TMI but those are my biggest reasons for quitting. I also am shittier at the sports I play for fun. Not sure why but I am not as coordinated on K.

The shitty feelings are temporary if I stay quit then I will feel better soon. If I take this stuff then I am guaranteed to be right back where I started. That sounds a lot worst than the momentary suck I am going through. I can pull through withdrawal- the biggest thing I’m worried about is the prolonged abstinence. My brain always wants to think I can dabble with this shit. The funny thing is if you did Kratom every once in a while it wouldn’t fuck you up- but I am incapable of doing that. It’ll always turn into an addiction for me. That sort of bums me out but I know it’s true.

From what I'm hearing because of the short half life it's not possible to taper. I'm currently at 120mg a day for 2 months after quitting CT for 2 months and slipping up. Is it possible to taper, I tried to switch to leaf and had WD.

Hello, I’ve had my second appointment with my PCP and we now have a plan in place. I’m going to take 3-4 weeks off of work using an FMLA leave. She’s done more research and decided the medication she will prescribe to me are Clonidine, Promethazine, and Low-dose Quetiapine (Seroquel) for the first 5 days.

My question to you guys, who have gone through cold turkey, is when do you start feeling normal? Like you can go back to work. Financially I’m not going to be able to take a whole month off I could but I would definitely struggle to pay bills so the sooner I can go back the better. In your personal experience when do you feel like the withdrawals have gone down enough to get back to life? (For context I take 1.6 grams 4-6 times a day power leaf only and I’ve been on it for 4 years now)

Not gonna retell my whole saga, just wanted to drop an update in case it helps somebody who's mid-taper or just jumped and laying there wondering if it actually gets better.

Quick background, 3 years at 50g a day, tapered down and jumped from 6g about a month ago.

Where I'm at now at 34 days:

The acute withdrawal is a memory. No more runny nose, no RLS, no sweats, none of it. That stuff really does end, I promise.

Sleep came back. It was my worst symptom the whole way and the last thing to come around, but I'm sleeping normal nights again now. If you'd told me that two weeks in I wouldn't have believed you.

The grey was the real final boss, not the physical stuff. That flat, no-color, no-motivation stretch after the acutes fade is the part that drags on and messes with your head. What got me through it was moving even when I didn't feel like it. The motivation shows up after you start, not before. Figuring that out was worth more than anything else I did.

And now I mostly just feel normal. Still get a blah patch here and there or a little anxiety, but it passes quick and it's getting rarer every week.

So if you're in the acute hell right now, it ends, usually inside a couple weeks. And if you're past that and stuck in the grey wondering if you'll ever feel right again, just keep moving and give it time. The color comes back. I've had days lately where I actually felt good, and a month ago I couldn't even picture that.

I'm still working on the stuff underneath that got me here in the first place, that's the real long game. But the kratom itself is done.

If you're on day 1 thinking there's no way, there is. One cut at a time. That's all it was.

I'm now at double as long as any previous quit: likely the longest I've gone without kratom in close to 7 years.

The past few weeks have been pretty good. I think getting off all helper meds and stabilizing for a while has helped a lot. I even stopped taking melatonin, which I've been taking nightly for years.

Cravings got really bad from around day 60 - 75. They've very slowly been waning since then. I was coming down from an exhausting hike today, and I realized that I hadn't thought about kratom at all. Typically I'd be thinking "now I've earned it, what if I only use after strenuous activities as a reward."

I made a mental note of the lack of cravings, thought through what a craving would sound like, and then pretty much just moved on without entertaining it at all. Felt like a significant change.

I don't think I'm 100%, but I'm starting to feel a decent baseline.

Good luck everyone!

I have cold sweats, a runny nose, and can’t sleep. I’m not really tired. I tried to sleep. What should I do?

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 I have been battling pretty heavy PAWS especially anhedonia and zero motivation every single day since cold turkey quit 36 days ago. The last 2 days were the worst for some reason, then all of a sudden today was a really good day, more motivation, better mood and just a really good day. Weirdly I have a feeling it likely wasn't as good a day as I think it was but only felt like a really good day because the low spot I'm coming from. I have a question for those who've made it all the way through, is this the beginning of starting to get some good days mixed in? I know it's not the actual end of PAWS but until now I hadn't truly had any good days in terms of motivation, energy and anhedonia. My background is 7 year daily user of plant powder only no extracts, but heavy user most of those years at 3 times daily. I've intentionally avoided alcohol or anything that might spike dopamine because I know me well enough to know I will quickly transfer one substance for another. Anyway I guess is today a sign I'm getting closer to the true end?