Have you heard of Kratom?

[TonyBennett]

Until over a month ago I had never heard of Kratom. but I wish I had. I bought 100mg of it and it lasted a week. But the second day I had reduced my morphine intake and it helped me cope with a sever cough. The cough was creating extreme pain in my chest as that is where my chronic pain is. Here is the link kratomuk.co.uk/. Get the one for pain. The only way I could take it is with honey and yoghurt, the taste is awful and is too powdery to put into your mouth. It pisses me off that the natural things are not prescribed but the chemicals are which have mostly dreadful side effects.

[earthwitch]

I am glad you are getting relief from it, however whether its natural or synthetic, I hate to say it, but its still a chemical. Natural meds also aren't totally free of side effects just because they are natural and some can have really major side effects for some folk, make disease worse, or interact badly with other meds. Always a good idea to check out with your doctor first if you intend to try something "natural" - it is after all a medication, just an unprescribed medicine.

[TonyBennett in reply to earthwitch]

I have been in extreme chronic pain for 15 years and on 400mg morphine a day. And due to this pain I have wanted my life to end. I have been through many many things to try and get it sorted. Nothing has worked. So some of us have nothing left but to go elsewhere and get relief from where ever we can. Its this or end of life. Its that simple. All pharmaceutical drugs carry an enormous side effects. If you are new to the pain game, then yes go and check everything out first and keep going back until you exhaust every avenue. Its a pain free world I want, I don't want to live on this path any more; so I have to change it by any means I can. At nearly 60 years of age I can make good decisions, analyse and assess what the risks are. I have gone through many ordeals in life that give me good grounds for taking the alternative routes. So I am not a child to get told to see my doctor, but its a good statement to make for those who do not have the knowledge to make these choices.

[Chawner in reply to earthwitch]

I agree with you and I was also td it could be dangerous to mix perscription drugs with natural/herbal etc meds.

A lot of them don't mix together and can be dangerous. Please be careful

[Hidden]

The difference between prescription drugs and "Natural" remedies is vast, untested and unproven drugs represent both a very real threat to health and a tantalizing glimpse into a symptom free world we are all desperately seeking. I would never be so arrogant as to lump all Homeopathic and natural remedies together as some are very effective and have proven benefits, but there are as many that do not. Prescription drugs in the U.K are tried, tested and extensively trialed, I agree that they all have side effects, but they are known,and documented , their efficacy has been documented and their side effects are known, your Dr or consultant will have carefully weighed up and taken into account the other drugs that are being taken,and either thinks that it is safe to take, or, falls into a calculated risk category ,the Dr or consultant is then legally responsible for that the decision. When you make that decision yourself, you do it with the bare minimum of available information,or in a lot of cases you do it on the recommendation of someone else, who is suffering similar symptoms, or, has used the drug for a similar condition,or,has a vested interest in you buying it for monetary gain, of course a lot of people who recommend it are just well meaning people who know how awful and life destroying some of these conditions can be,and mean no harm, but they can never have in depth knowledge of you and your medical condition or other illnesses you may have. So I would say, never take it without asking your Dr first, see if anyone else has used it for the same condition, who's advice did they start taking it on?, is there any literature out there from any scientific community? If this is so good why is it not available from your Dr or chemist? Desperate people do desperate things, and I guess the best outcome would be, you could be out of pocket,or out of luck,the worse thing would be, you could make yourself seriously ill,make your condition worse,or make prescribed medication ineffective,which could make you ill in ways that you could never predict. The internet is a wondrous place,but beware people trading information as knowledge.

[TonyBennett]

I leave this information with people to make up their own minds. I understand your concern with the mixing of drugs. As I said please don't nurse maid me, but its good that you point this out to people. When the NHS has no answers for your pain you have to look elsewhere or end your life. Its that simple, because no one would survive this pain and put up with screaming their heads off.

Dan9878 I had all the infor by the link I gave at the top. It was a friend on Facebook that told me about it. As others have said its not a quick fix and its not a legal high. Although some idiots think it is. Nature has provided us with natural gifts to help us. As for the reactions and side effects of Kratom, not much that I can see. There are more side effects from pharmaceutical drugs than this. Well that is my reading of it. I just hope they don't make Kratom illegal. I have written to my MP and await his stupid reply. My MP is a Conservative toff that has no ability to put himself in others shoes. Born with a silver spoon in his damn mouth. Like most off them. I leave this information in your hands and please if you are considering and you want to know if it will have side effects with your medication, talk to your GP or Pain management consultant. Both my Pain management consultants know how bad I am and have said its fine to take other alternatives as there is nothing else out there. So I have done the right thing and asked for the info before going ahead. So I do cross the T's and I dot the i's.

[Alexann]

Hi, I read that Kartom is addictive, a lot of people use it in the

Far East, also when people are trying to withdraw from opioids.

I would be very careful with this.

[TonyBennett]

Alexann I live on 400MG morphine a day and you mention addictive. From my personal position I have no choice. Morphine isn't working. If I didn't have an alternative I know that my next move is 6 foot under. I have no cures no future and nothing to look forward to except chronic pain. That is it.

[USAhousewife]

Is Kratom available to be shipped to US? I'm very interested. My dad was a pharmacist, I was raised working in his drugstore, I believe in drugs vs herbs. Had he had a herbal shop, I would prolly believe in herbs. However I've enjoyed the use of various herbs in my lifetime. At the ripe old age of 58, I would love to try it to maybe lessen the amount of meds I require for pain, maybe it is what I need to help my meds completely knock out pain I'm a child of the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's and the 2000's, Sex, drugs and Rock n Roll Baby

[mrlivered]

I was motivated to finally stop lurking and sign up when I saw this post. I contacted the guy who runs the site that you link to, kratomuk.co.uk, a few months ago asking for advice on my condition, he gave me some information and recommended an online source of good kratom. Long story short, it's done me more good than all the meds I have been prescribed over the past four years. As someone who is always sceptical about my cances with herbs and "alternative" remedies, I was amazed - and now i am converted

I don't understand why anyone would see kratom as a drug or some kind of "legal high" but apparently some unscrupulous characters are trying to market it as such. It was great for my pain but the most I can say about it from a "legal high" point of view is that I felt happy for the rest of the day. But that might just be because my pain had reduced, lol! If you're interested in lending your name to a petition against proposals to ban this gentle herb, the place to go is leepkratomlegal.org.

[TonyBennett in reply to mrlivered]

I have already signed the petition and have a reply from teh house of commons. Not sure how to engage here to post the copy. But I have it. And glad it helps you.