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Kratom has been dubbed “a drug of abuse” by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, because its consumption can lead to addiction. The drug comes from the leaves of a tree in Southeast Asia, and is legally bought and sold as an herbal supplement in many states. When ingested, the drug binds to multiple receptors that govern the body’s central nervous system (CNS), activating some and blocking others. The cumulative effects are, paradoxically, analgesia (pain relief), sedation (calming), and stimulation, and they help to explain why recreational use of kratom has become increasingly popular.
Kratom’s euphoric and analgesic properties—these tend to be felt when large amounts of the drug are consumed—have also gained the drug some popularity in recent years as an alternative treatment for chronic pain and opiate dependence. Other conditions that kratom has sometimes been used for: generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and social phobia— although none of these uses for kratom has received any systematic scientific study or the blessing of medical professionals.
In fact, because kratom is a “natural” supplement and can be legally acquired with ease, what many users fail to apprehend is that the drug can cause dangerous side effects, and that stopping the drug can result in withdrawal symptoms.
Given that kratom modulates multiple receptors in the CNS, it should not be a surprise that over time, regular use of kratom can actually change the brain and body’s makeup and chemistry. Once kratom use is discontinued, this altered physiology can no longer sustain itself in the absence of the drug, and both brain and body must reacclimatize themselves to functioning without kratom. This process of re-acclimatization is what constitutes “withdrawal” and can be characterized by various symptoms.
The following list of withdrawal symptoms from Mental Health Daily has been compiled with the help of kratom users:
If these were not enough, here are still other symptoms associated with kratom withdrawal, as reported by kratom users themselves, according to the same article in Mental Health Daily:
The “withdrawal timeline” for kratom refers both to the length of time it takes for kratom to leave your system and the duration of symptoms that accompany the detox process. In both respects, the withdrawal timeline can vary from one person to another on the basis of factors like:
The above variables will undoubtedly influence how long and how hard a detox from kratom will be. That said, based on the fact that kratom has a half-life of more than 23 hours, it is estimated that a complete detox from the drug, (meaning the time it takes for your body to fully eliminate kratom), should take roughly six to seven days. For many users, withdrawal symptoms will peak in their severity during this timeframe— usually within a couple days of a final dose of kratom. For other users, however, withdrawal symptoms will only increase in their severity after Day 6 or 7.
Kratom withdrawal has in fact been divided into three stages:
The gold standard for treating substance use disorders, including kratom addiction, is inpatient treatment, which consists of a medically supervised withdrawal (detox) from one or more drugs, paired with medication(s) where appropriate and behavioral therapies.
Detox from kratom consists of:
Ultimately, the goal of inpatient detox and treatment is to help you become permanently kratom-free.
Outpatient treatment for kratom, though less comprehensive than inpatient treatment, may be an option for those who are short-term, low-dose kratom users. (Inpatient treatment is the better choice for those with more serious addiction.) For those for whom inpatient treatment is not an option because of job, family or insurance reasons, an outpatient program for kratom may also be the better choice. The advantage of most outpatient treatment programs is that clients can commute to them, receiving detox and treatment without having to live on campus. Usually an outpatient program will offer the same set of treatment services, only at a lower level of intensity.
Kratom detox at home is not an ideal option for anyone— because of the unknowns. Some withdrawal symptoms can pose serious medical risks, as evidenced by the potential complications of high blood pressure, depression and suicidal thoughts, among other problems.
These risks are magnified by a serious kratom addiction (high doses and long-term use) and the presence of co-occurring mental disorders and/or other health issues. Often, too, a person may not be aware that they have these medical risk factors.
For these reasons, a medically supervised detox is always recommended in cases where kratom is the drug of use.
A common concern related to detox from kratom is whether to quit “cold turkey,” as in all at once, or more gradually wean off the drug. In the first case (quitting cold turkey), immediately and abruptly ceasing all use of kratom will intensify withdrawal symptoms and complicate recovery. That’s because the body—and, in particular, the CNS which was most affected by one’s use of kratom—has no time to adjust. If, on the other hand, you gradually taper off of kratom, incrementally reducing the level of dose, your withdrawal symptoms will be both less intense and less in number. This is why professional detox and treatment will usually apply a more gradual taper.
Any decision about treatment for a kratom addiction will involve individual considerations, such as:
Only you can answer these questions for yourself, in deciding what is right for you.
Another important factor to consider: what aftercare services will you need in order to sustain your recovery from kratom? Any trusted treatment provider should have some basic aftercare services in place, on the basis of studies that show that aftercare services can boost recovery success rates. Here are some things to look for when considering any program of treatment:
Anyone who is using kratom may need detox and treatment. In addition to its classification by the DEA as a “drug of concern,” kratom has been linked with a number of dangerous episodes of psychosis, marked by hallucinations, delusion and confusion. Kratom also has no known medical use and has received little scientific scrutiny. We therefore know little about its long-term effects, which may be more dangerous than we can even guess.
Don’t play with fire: if you’re using kratom, consider a medically administered detox today.
For information related to kratom detox, check out these articles:
