DOSE:

repeated

oral

Kratom

(ground / crushed)

BODY WEIGHT:

75 kg

Before I begin, I’ll provide some context for this report. I’m a healthy 26 year old male. I live a fairly active lifestyle and I eat well. I drink alcohol occasionally and I don’t smoke cigarettes. I’ve been smoking cannabis for 10 years and I have extensive experience with psychedelics, namely LSD, MDMA, DMT, salvia, psilocybin... I’ve also had cocaine, amphetamines, nitrous, prescription opiates and various other drugs in the past but never habitually. The only consistent health problem I’ve had is chronic migraines. Test results in the past have suggested that I have a somewhat sensitive liver. My bloodwork showed elevated liver enzymes for a period of about 3 weeks approx 18 months ago during a period of stress induced migraines and subsequent over-use of NSAID’s, though the cause is not completely clear. This was resolved after total cessation of NSAID’s and alcohol, and my blood work returned to normal after a short period.

I first came across Kratom on a recent trip to Thailand. A local friend of mine bought a bag of fresh leaves from a truck driver and gave me one. He mentioned it was a little like coffee, but with some sedating effects. It was very mild and not particularly noticeable. A couple of weeks later, a guy I met in a rural area offered me some pungent red liquid he’d brewed with homegrown kratom. The taste was surprisingly good, and I really felt the effect this time. I’d taken a tiny amount of LSD earlier in the day which had mostly worn off and we were all smoking quite a lot of cannabis, but it was definitely noticeable.

Upon arriving home, I was pleased to discover that Kratom is completely legal in my country. I found a reputable online vendor and promptly ordered a small amount of finely powdered “thai”, “bali” and “borneo white” strains. The smell was slightly familiar, but quite different to the fresh kratom I’d had overseas.

I first tried 3 grams of the thai just to get a feel for the dose. I felt a very slight change in perception, maybe comparable to a cup of coffee and a small dose of codeine. A couple of days later I tried another few of grams with much the same effect. It was mostly unremarkable, but pleasant. I figured I’d experiment more when I had the time and put the rest aside for a rainy day.

3 weeks later, my girlfriend and I cooked up a batch of “bali” strain in a pot with boiling water (about 10 grams each, or whatever 3.5 teaspoons is). The taste was awful, the texture worse... but to my pleasant surprise, it was highly enjoyable. We spent the night sitting around listening to records in a state of euphoric sedation. It was still quite mild, we were 100% lucid and coherent, but also paradoxically inebriated. A glass of wine and a joint amplified things a great deal though. Very interesting body feeling, incredible warmth and fantastic dream-like ‘nods’ reminiscent of a moderate dose of opiates. Closing my eyes for a moment would take me into incredibly vivid dreams about my childhood home, platters of spinning colours or rolling green fields with familiar faces laughing and flying kites... This was great. I thought I’d hit the jackpot.

A few nights later, I repeated it exactly. The effects were the same. Just wonderful stuff I thought. The next week I had a little more. There was definitely no craving or sense of longing for the feeling, but it was certainly an enjoyable thing to look forward to. Over the course of about 2 weeks, I took kratom about 5 times - around 10 grams each time.

After a usual enjoyable night with kratom and a glass of wine, I awoke the next morning feeling incredibly nauseated. I figured I was getting sick and carried on with my day. Eventually I was overcome with overwhelming nausea and went home. I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t shit. I tried eating a banana and puked almost instantly.

I dragged myself to the doctor the next day, dehydrated and in poor shape. They took an urgent blood test and found that my liver enzymes were through the roof. I was sent home with strict orders to go to hospital if symptoms worsen.

A couple of days later I had become incredibly jaundiced and could do nothing but lie in bed shaking and sweating. My kidneys were radiating pain throughout my body and I had barely eaten a thing in 3 days. I was admitted to hospital that night. After extensive blood tests and several ultrasounds, I tested negative for all common liver diseases and showed no signs of gallstones, bile duct obstruction or anything else likely to cause such a reaction.

The doctors were very baffled, and over the course of the week painstakingly and reluctantly isolated kratom as being the cause of my condition. My specialist kindly referred me to several studies which show almost identical symptoms in others who have used kratom recreationally. This one in particular shows remarkable resemblance to my case: https://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?ID=8733

I was discharged from hospital after a week with a diagnosis of a drug-induced hepatic injury. A month later my jaundice has gone and I’m able to eat. I’m still feeling fatigued and weak, still experiencing abdominal pains and my liver enzymes are still abnormally high (though decreasing by about half every 2 weeks)...

… so basically, unless you like having bright orange skin, being nauseated and in agony, and spending a week in hospital being poked and prodded by confused doctors - stay the hell away from this stuff. Even mild recreational use can cause grave health consequences.

Exp Year: 2013	ExpID: 100091
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 26
Published: Aug 19, 2015	Views: 21,040
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Kratom (203) : Health Problems (27), Various (28)