The two or three people who I know have followed my page for the majority of the year will know that I'm a huge advocate for kratom. I have been from the day I posted my first experience report with the substance here on Steemit. For anyone who doesn't know, kratom (mitragyna speciosa) is a shrub native to Asia which contains a number of psychoactive alkaloids, with the two most prominent acting as partial opioid agonists.
Many of my fellow speciosa proponents will have you wholeheartedly believe that it isn't addictive in the slightest (physically speaking). Don't listen to them, they have an agenda. One which comes from a good place, as the FDA/DEA is on a war path to ban the drug right now, but a misguided one nonetheless. Kratom will absolutely cause you to go into withdrawal after using it regularly for an extended period of time, and if you use the substance then it's important to understand that. Countless people have been given false information and started using the drug everyday at excessive doses, thinking that nothing would happen upon cessation of their use. So if you do not wish to experience this, then never use it more than four days in a row without at least a three day break. Realistically you could most likely push it a bit further than that, but to be on the safe side it's best to stick to a strict regimen.
Up until early last month I never experienced any withdrawal symptoms. However due to me getting a new job and having a steady income I decided that I'd start to push it a bit. The reason for this being that taking kratom before going to work made my shift go by far faster, and a lot more enjoyable. So I opted to begin taking it before every shift. I work part time in retail, so this is usually a short shift 4 - 6 days a week. As a result I had far less off days, and would take the drug more frequently. This resulted in me experiencing withdrawal symptoms from a drug for the first time in my life.
In my experience these symptoms aren't bad at all. Most can expect to get a constantly runny nose, sneeze frequently, experience loose bowels, have a lack of energy, insomnia, anxiety, and the infamous RLS (restless limb syndrome). I don't get most of these. Personally, the two most prominent ailments I experience are RLS and excessive itchiness. The latter of which being a far rarer symptom than the rest. There's times where my bowels will loosen, but never to the point of diarrhea as is common with opiate addicts. On top of that, I really only experience this at night.
The worst thing which comes from the withdrawals is by far the restless limbs. When laying down to sleep in the evening, I'll start getting very itchy, and for the life of me can not get comfortable. Imagine your body feeling as if you just chugged three cups of coffee, while your mind is really tired. It's a really uncomfortable feeling. However I've found that a little weed really does the trick to alleviate this. So does a small dose of DXM, but I refuse to take that stuff. By far the best option for squashing the withdrawal symptoms is a largish dose of phenibut, you just can't take it for more than two days in a row. Unless you want to experience far worse withdrawals than kratom can ever induce.
Kratom withdrawal is for all intents and purposes opiate withdrawal lite. I've never been addicted to opiates, but from everything I've read on the topic. What I experience coming off of kratom is a drastically toned down version of what people experience when quitting painkillers or heroin. Like I said, it's not unmanageable in the slightest. The RLS can be infuriating when trying to go to sleep without the assistance of cannabis or phenibut, but it's never been enough for me to take a dose of kratom just to get through the night, and these symptoms are almost nonexistent during the day. Now keep in mind that I'm not a heavy user. If you're taking an ounce or more of the plant per day, then you're likely in for a rough ride. But such excessive doses are not necessary with kratom. The only reason to go that high is due to an outrageous tolerance level, or ignorance about how the drugs dosage's actually work. Taking less will often lend itself to better effects than taking more!
Kratom withdrawal isn't serious in the slightest for me, however it's a largely subjective experience. What doesn't phase me in the slightest could easily be the most miserable experience of your life. If you're just beginning to use the plant, and are looking to use daily (or almost) it's imperative to not use excessive doses. If you find yourself needing more and more to garner the same effects. I'd suggest you take two days off, and cut your dosage nearly in half when resuming your dosing regime. What's perhaps just as important, if not more, is to keep in mind how many times per day you're using kratom. If you're only taking it once per day, you're likely going to experience milder withdrawal symptons than someone taking the same amount per day as you, just split into 3 or 4 doses. So keep that in mind.
Kratom is absolutely addictive, so don't listen to anyone telling you otherwise.