(This is uncomfortable for me here...I usually engage in subterfuge on these forums when it comes to personal identifiable traits, but feel like in this case, JD needs to open up for a minute. I feel like I owe it to some of you to share my experience.)
A long time ago, I lost more than an inch in height from a lower spine compression injury. (I highly recommend against it.)
This has meant constant nagging chronic pain...and those lovely blue pills that are currently rumored to be the devil. Lots of those.
As the feds waged war on physicians and they refused more and more to prescribe opiates, folks in my circle began to seek alternates. That is how I heard about Kratom (it is supposed to be pronounced "Kra-Tom" BTW, not "KRAY-tum") years ago and paid little attention. Sadly, the "head shop herbals" often are worse for the body than the real thing they are supposed to replace. (Synthetic weed, anyone? Bath salts? Ringing a bell??)
Only...Asians have been chewing the leaves forever.
It is not some chemical...its nothing but a natural...related to the coffee plant.
(See NETFLIX: "A Leaf Of Faith" for much more info.)
Several of the veterans in the chronic pain/disability group I have been involved with for years tried Kratom and had great luck.
After a specific guy I truly respect said the same, I decided to give it a whirl. This was a while back.
It was truly amazing.
I was on more oxy than most terminal bone cancer patients (420MG a day...along with 40MG of Methadone. That would kill the average person without a huge tolerance BTW. (The typical 'percocet' contains 3.5MG of the same opiate. Do the math...) (No, I was not a junkie. I love herb, but never cared much for booze or opiates. After 27+ years with my injury, the levels increased to get the same analgesic effect. This happens to everyone who has nagging nerve damage/pain after enough time.)
(...NO, you cannot buy my pills. YES, I know they bring up to $50 each for 30's on the street. Don't care...don't bother asking. Also, just a little note to stalker types...if you get through the Rotties, plan on drinking stop leak before trying to infiltrate my space. It might increase your odds of survivability. In VA, we shoot trespassers and jury results speak for themselves. Okay, back to Kratom now...)
I did a little research on who sells Kratom and how they do quality control. (If you decide to use it, I strongly suggest being smart about this, as the cheapest stuff can contain fillers and foreign material.)
I ordered it and I tried it.
In powder form, the stuff tastes like you are eating lawn clippings. How the Asian folk chew the stuff...??? YUCH!
(I am fat...but not a cow. Humans are not meant to eat grass. Why couldn't mother nature have made it taste like BACON???)
Of course...anyone ever taste a pain pill? Acetaminophen? *GAG*
For this reason, after that first order, I went to the capsules.
I noticed something. Where I would normally get "the jones" after 4 hours without more oxy, I went 12 hours without any of it my first day using the Kratom. I also noticed my feet and spine did not hurt...like...at ALL.
(12 hour gap in dosage has not been possible for more than 15 years in my case. The Fentanyl patches make my already "loving and gentle" SARCASM personality about three times more confrontational and cranky...
so I was forced to eat my little blue M+M's. Always had them in my pocket. It made RV life impossible without regular (90 days) trips back East to get script refills. Every time we would get comfy, we had to leave, drive home and deal with doc visits...grrrrrrrrr...)
Then it was 16 hours...then I began to keep track of how much I was reducing opiate intake.
The stuff tasted AWFUL, but it really worked!!!
Some of you may have noticed an absence from my uplifting and gentle, loving, warm and fuzzy posts on this forum.
Reason=I detoxed myself. Pretty much against MD's suggestion.
I went from 420/40 to a current 45/10 dose of Oxy/Methadone. (...and continuing to reduce. I plan on ZERO opiate within a month. That methadone crap is very tough to reduce. Worse than heroin I am told.)
Blood work indicates my "check liver light" is now off for the first time in 20 years.
I have dropped 60 pounds (and continuing to lose with a modified "****" eating program.)
I have energy and my metabolism has increased.
More than that, the pain is actually controlled better than with all that opiate crap in my system. The only side-effect is the "espresso zing" that comes along with the pain control. (Coffee people...you will want decaf if taking this stuff. At least I do.)
I thought for sure, the Kratom would become ineffective like the Oxy did over time.
NOPE.
Three capsules with morning decaf and then as needed during the day takes care of it. Truly ASTOUNDING, compared to the traditional pharma-for-profit method. F&^% the doctors. Lemmings, controlled by the feds. Period.
Had I gone to one of the Chinese chemists 20 years ago, I would have saved myself a ton of agony and money.
There are a few things to mention. Nothing is perfect and neither is this.
For those with weak hearts, make sure your doc approves. Three capsules of the "White" Kratom strain (best I found for pain control) is like a shot of espresso or two. You'll WILL notice a change.
While it does not make you "high" (if anything, in INCREASES clear though) folks around you will see a smile and increased energy. Those who nod off behind the wheel...you won't anymore.
You cannot take it before bed (unless you are one of those people who sips coffee all night)
To the old farts ingesting the daily acetaminophen poison...
It will make your body feel younger. Your hair will grow faster, your body oils return, alligator skin scenarios will vanish and not taking a shower for 4 days will no longer be an option. (Men...there are other, rather nice side effects after a few weeks of use. This may be strictly due to the long walks you are now going on and the jobs you are getting done that previously would remain on the "Honey-Do" list...not sure. See if I am not right. (My 78 year old friend, who never touched a pain pill called me and actually started to weep as he told me his PanHead left the garage for the first time in 10 years. He laughed when the cop ticketed him for expired tags...he takes it every morning now...and re-registered his Harley.)
You can watch the film for deeper explanation, but its magic has to do with how it floods the same areas of the brain as opiates...but without the opiates. For some reason, it remains effective over time on pain because of this.
Use a LITTLE, not a lot.
A bunch of junkies who try to get a "high" from the stuff use big doses.
I strongly advise against it. A couple of the SCI "super chair" vets (the ones who lost use of their legs, but look like Ronnie Coleman in the upper body) went there with it. Constipation, tummy upset and chronic belching grass-gas was the result.
ONE capsule to start with. Watch that arthritic neck pain vanish.
I needed three at a time, but the load of opiate coursing through my body at the time may have had a lot to do with it.
The older folks who use it that I know all have similar findings. A natural, safe and relatively cheap pain reliever that has quite the opposite effect of most, in that it energizes instead of putting you to sleep and making you stupid.
Anyone reading this addicted to street $hit, you NEED to try this.
Four bag a day heroin spikers with collapsed veins have detoxed (while working 40 hours a week) in 30 days using this.
It virtually erases 75% of the withdrawal symptoms.
You are going to see and hear the naysayers referencing the "Kratom suicides." LOL, look into that a little. I want to dig into
everything and this was no exception. The mother of the best known bridge jumper was on MANY psych meds...all at once...and had OCD symptoms. He also was trying to take enough to mimic the effects of heroin...which cannot be done.
You will also hear docs whine about its unproven efficacy and all the other typical lobbyist propaganda.
Here is JD, who just opened a highly personal part of his life like a side of beef to you, saying it works and works very well.
Anything can be abused. Even honey and peanut butter.
Compared to the risks of high-dose opiates, this stuff is SUPER safe.
Check out Tylenol and what it does to your liver when used long term. >shiver<
US medicine is wonderful...if you make 150K a year or more and can afford it.
Otherwise, it sucks. Yet the docs (and the patients) continue to follow the same patterns over and over.
It is unlikely your doc will approve. They will likely suggest Tylenol and Ibuprofen/percocet instead.
Kratom, in abusive amounts, will constipate you. Blood work in all liver function/kidneys/HDL's/cancer crap...IMPROVED for me.
My own doc is tickled and said, "You should not change a thing."
(Guess who started using Kratom, BTW. ...but still will not suggest it for patients...
)
Until they can make a pill and scam people for 10 dollars a pop or more, they will never admit how it works.
Remember:
Online orders need to be carefully vetted.
The movie will identify an online outfit that properly checks the product.
Hope this helps at least one of you.
It has been the
most uncomfortable thing I have ever typed here. So be it.
Time for chicken coop work.
It is 66 degrees here today in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia.
