DOSE: T+ 0:00	5 g	oral	Kratom	(capsule)
T+ 0:00		oral	Caffeine	(liquid)
T+ 0:00		oral	Vitamins / Supplements	(liquid)
T+ 2:30	4 g	oral	Kratom	(capsule)
T+ 3:00		oral	Coffee	(liquid)

BODY WEIGHT:

190 lb

By the time I had the experience I'm about to describe, I had known about Kratom for only a few months and I had enjoyed it thoroughly each time I tried it. I have chronic pain in my knee from a rare condition for which I have had surgeries, and I also struggled with bouts of depression and mild anxiety that I would chalk up to childhood neglect and various insecurities that developed after many bad experiences. My biggest attraction to kratom is the ease at which it is consumed and the discrete nature of the high, not to mention that I desperately needed to escape opioid pain meds.

This is one of many experiences I had in college while experimenting with kratom, and I had a great time with it because it was a respite from the hellish time I was having. I hated the college I went to so I would leave as often as I could. I didn't have a car but I lived 45 minutes from my hometown and there was a car rental agency that would rent cars for a reasonable price and they picked me up for each reservation. I planned my escapes from the uni to buy kratom from a great local head shop in my hometown, so one day I made it to the head shop in the afternoon in a rental. I bought a $50 pack of maeng-da that came in sort of a short metal canister with a plastic seal. Usually after picking up some kratom I buy an energy drink or coffee because it potentiates the effects very well, and this time was no exception, so I got a Red Bull and used it to wash down 5 grams of the kratom (10 .5g veggie capsules) at, let’s say -- 4:00pm.

[4:30pm, half hour after dose]

After I took the kratom I went to the nearby mall to walk around while I waited for the effects to kick in. It took about 30 minutes of walking around finishing the Red Bull to notice a difference, and I didn't eat a few hours before dosing so this time I started to feel it early (usually it takes an hour). The onset for me is a warm sensation and a noticeable shift from pessimism to optimism. It’s definitely what I would call a ‘glowing experience’; I just felt content like I’m cool with whatever happens, and especially tolerant of other people which is positive because I'm normally anti social.

[5:00, 1hr after dose]

By this point I finished the Red Bull and I was lost in euphoria. I felt more inclined to talk to people and smile, and things generally felt amusing like I had a more whimsical attitude. It kind of made me curious, and there was this feeling of excitement or anticipation like something cool would be around the next corner. Even though I don’t care about the mall, I just felt content walking around in there, looking at the items in the shops and thinking about past experiences. Kratom always makes me feel like I’m on a cloud but it’s very clear-headed, almost like Tramadol but more natural, because Tramadol has similar effects that feel more artificial and sometimes they have a wicked comedown. To me, an experience with Kratom could be described as similar to Tramadol or a low dose of Oxy but without the lazy eyes or comedown. It just kind of fades in and out very naturally and it’s never scary.

[7:00, 3hrs after dose]

I usually take another dose a little smaller than the first when I feel the effects begin to fade, and this time I felt it lessen after about 2 and a half hours, so the 4g dose (8 caps) I took at 6:30pm started to kick in around 7, and this time it was even better because the 5g from a few hours before was still working its way through my system. Time will knock the experience back but another ‘booster’ dose kicks it back up somewhat higher than even the onset of the first dose.

That's what I love about kratom: each dose becomes absorbed by the other, and in that way, the experience keeps building on itself, and there's so many little techniques I use to enhance it both physically and personally. What I mean by physically is that I feel it more if I use a potentiator like taurine or caffeine (both of which are in Red Bull), and I can enhance the mood by making myself more comfortable. I like to play some trip hop or something that sounds dreamy while burning some Nag Champa incense.

[Erowid Note: Driving while intoxicated, tripping, or extremely sleep deprived is dangerous and irresponsible because it endangers other people. Don't do it!]
Anyways, it’s 7:00 and I'm cruising through the downtown area listening to some music, and I decided to park and walk around. The downtown area in my town is beautiful and holds a lot of nostalgia for me, so I walk around feeling content like before, taking pictures and enjoying the night. I felt it so strongly I just kind of smiled to myself, and I eventually ended up in this really nice local cafe where I sat drinking a black coffee, feeling the kratom come in stronger waves with each sip. The way I ‘ended up’ there is the best way to describe it because with Kratom the experience is so raw and natural. It feels like things just happen in whatever order they're meant to, and I don't have to try hard to take part in any of it, like watching a projector go through a bunch of slides: I sit back, relax and watch, and each experience creates another memory I always look back on with the nostalgia.

Overall it's better than drinking or smoking weed, and when it's over I want to try it again, but not in a creepy way like with Oxy or MDMA, I just have an authentically happy experience and I miss it when it's over.

Exp Year: 2017	ExpID: 111278
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 21
Published: Jan 22, 2018	Views: 8,132
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Kratom (203) : Depression (15), Glowing Experiences (4), Retrospective / Summary (11), General (1), Public Space (Museum, Park, etc) (53)