Effects - Kava-Kava extract question

[genaro]

I have a kava extract which is 60% kavalactones.
It's a thick paste inside a graduated syringe (I have a total of 10mL).
The smartshop who sold it sent me a notice telling me not to exceed the daily dosage of 0.2mL
I took 1mL at once (on empty stomach) and had no effects beside a very slight initial ophoria (for 30minutes) followed by some strong sedation & muscle relaxation which lasted for 2 hours.
I read kava is supposed to produce strong ophoria/laughing & deep blissful relaxation.
Any comment or advice would be apreciated so I can understand better why I have so weak effect when taking 5times the recommended dose.

There's a guy which posted a report on erowid.org, he had good effects with a quantity of kava root powder which is equivalent to 3g of my extract !
That would mean that to achieve good effects from my 60% extract I might need to take 15 times the recommended dosage ! This does seem strange to me...

[sands of time]

Euphoria, laughing and bliss???! Are your serious? Thats not the kava that I have used.

[genaro]

well, here's what I found about kava:
"kava procduces a feeling of relaxation, peace and contentment, along with a sharpening of the senses"...honestly I had nothing but some big sedation and muscle relaxation (certainly not "peace and contentment" and "sharpening of perceptions")

So...what kind of effects do you guys personally got from kava ?

...and regarding your past experiences with kava, what do you think kava is interesting/useful for ? Any spiritual use for it?

[ratufiji]

To get a buzz, or more, out of Kava, make sure you follow the below guidelines. Trust me on this, I have quite a love affair (and long experience with this plant), it will not work otherwise.

You need to take your kava as a drink, a cold water infusion i think it is correctly called. That means get some good quality, strong and, very important, fresh, root (waka) powder from Fiji or Hawaii.

Fill a good sized basin half full of water, room temperature, take an old sock ( more aesthetic options also work), put some kava in there, hang it in the bowl for a few seconds and than start kneading that sock like crazy. You have to really physically move, squeeze, press, break the kava powder in the sock, till you get a light or more dark brown liquid. This cannot be done in less than 7-8 minutes of kneading and massaging the previous sock. Drink this down in big gulps, total volume not less than 2 gallons (8 liters) over 3-4 hours/person, taking a drink about every. 10 minutes.Than my friend you can experience the real, strong kava effects. It can knock you out!

You like to know how much good grade kava paowder to use? First make sure you have strong material from good and fresh supply source. Preferably order directly from the farmers overseas, not through shops or distributors, where the kava tends to be beyond drinkable age. Freshness makes a big difference! Old kava is like old marijuana, acceptable only under distress.

You should use about 50-100 grams for a gallon of mix, adjust as you like. When you drink the ambrosia, it should definitely numb your mouth, lips, tongue quite quickly and strongly, but not burn holes in your stomach or make you gag. It's an aquired taste, but one actually gets to like it over time, it's true, i have seen it numerous times. It is not too foul tasting actually, basically tastes like liquid soil, muddy water. Full vegan of course! I never thought much of trying to mask the taste, if you want it take it! If you can't take it, it's not for you. very easy actually. some people sip beer in between or chew lollies, whatever works for you to keep your mouth fresh for the next bilo (bowl of kava).

Can one get intoxicated by Kava? Oh Yes, and it can get so bad that one is totally helpless, unable to walk, no sense of orientation. It is not very pleasureable in my experience and therefore regular users in the south pacific look more for a constant low buzz, moderate amounts over several hours, not aneasthesia and full out drunkenness. That can happen, but is the exception. Kava has a reverse tolerance by the way, you need to drink less and less over time. (most people's mixes still tend to get stronger over time strangely!)

Is it psychedelic? NO! not in any way. it can mellow you out, enhance auditory and visual sensations, create a feeling of togetherness, of belonging, of friendship and sharing. The Here and Now becomes all, problems and issues get new priorities. It is a social drug, that should only be used with good friends, in a comfortable circle, with good music and good vibes, without great expectations, just drinking Kava together to celebrate this moment an d because there is not really anything better to do. Than Kava will be a deep, bonding, amazing experience, a true plant of the gods, a vegetable ally.

Finally, to get the full effects it helps to sit on an island in the south pacific, hear the ocean waves lapping on the beach in the background, a million stars overhead, you are sitting on nice soft woven mat on the lawn, under the palm trees, some of your fijian friends are playing sad love songs and that pretty local island girl is trying to get your attention, calling you to the dark area behind the mango tree. This are the nights when it is impossible for to ever see the bottom of the kava bowl, the miracle of the never empty tanoa. Because those hills under the full moon, over there, are full of Kava.

Kava has great play with Marijuana, both amplyfying and enhancing each other. I have taken Kava while on E, certainly didnt have any sleep problems that night. Otherwise this combo didn't do much, except maybe the kava is a great way for hydrating.

If South pacific islanders want to use psychedelics, and dor some reasson want to skip the mushrooms which can be found fairly easy on all of the bigger islands this time, there are at least 2 secret, rarely used, ingridients to the kava mix. One is the well known angel trumpet (Datura spec.), the other a grass like plant, not phaliaris (sp?), but i do not know the name or the active principle. a mystery waiting to be solved.... I have tried this mix, it is quite intoxicating, brought me apathy and laziness, quite enjoyable body high and a clear euphoric mind. most surprisng was yhe duration, with effects lasting for 12 hours plus. the hangover was terrible, normal kaba hangover can be bad, that was the king of HO's. (real) swim's tell me when they dose high enough of this mix, they can fly. From what i can find out it seems to give the illusions, feelings, visuals, sensations of flying, that's why they call it the bird drink. this all is in the fiji islands, check it out.

Reputation Comments on this post:

thorough informative post on personal experience with kava kava

[genaro]

thanks a lot for this complete answer )