Does kratom have physical withdrawals?

[wellhelm]

Swim searched and could not find a lot on this subject. Swim was wondering if daily use of kratom could lead to physical withdrawals rivaling that of heroine or methadone. Swim is talking worse case(or maybe best case for some) scenario. Daily hefty dosages for months at a time.

[Nicaine]

Rivaling that of heroin or methadone? No. There are definitely some physical w/d symptoms though... the most significant is probably generalized fatigue, which can get pretty bad for a few days. Agitation/restlessness is another. SWIM has also noticed depression starting around day four, which he thinks is probably more psychological than physical.

Beyond that there are a few minor, sporadic symptoms like chills and runny nose/eyes. Nothing serious, and nothing that persists beyond 3-4 days.

P.S. SWIM is basing the above on cold turkeying off 2 to 4 cups of kratom tea/day for over a year.

[nera]

Yea there is a withdrawl. Think of it as a VERY mini version of an opiate withdrawl. But it takes along time for the usage to become an addiction strong enought to produce withdrawls. And if your at that point you know what is comming anyway.

--Nera

[wellhelm]

Thank you for your reply's. Swim thought that since it was such a like entheogen to opiates that there must be moderate to severe physical withdrawals with large daily doseages over a prolonged period of time. Swims friend, who is very pro-kratom, insisted there were no physical withdrawals ever. Swim guess'es the truth is somewhere in between. Thank you.

[sterling77]

Kratom withdrawal has been compared to mild-moderate codeine withdrawal, which isn't that bad but enough to label it a "withdrawal". Swim hasn't experienced any sort of kratom withdrawal so he can't comment.

[Nicaine]

To put in a final word from SWIM... withdrawal from a heavy kratom habit definitely sucks. It just sucks less than most forms of opiate withdrawal. As stated, the fatigue is really severe... it's difficult to drag oneself from a sitting to a standing position. The feeling of inner agitation (a.k.a. akathisia) is pretty bad too, and combined with fatigue it makes for a terrible combination... you feel like you can't sit still, and at the same time you're so fatigued and lacking in energy you can't really move around a lot either. Not very fun. It's all over after 4 days (max) tho.