As one visits the online kratom forums, various issues come up from time to time. Taking kratom to alleviate the bad side effects of other drugs is an issue that arose recently.
Each of us has our own specific purpose for taking kratom. Your ailments may be very different from my afflictions. The other supplements and medicines you take may be very unlike what I use. And our body chemistry, general health, age, diets, and physiques differ, too.
Every person has a right to do what they want with their own body. Nobody has a right to say what we do with ourselves, so long as we are not hurting someone else. So, the question as to right vs. wrong ways to use kratom is a tricky one. What works for one person may not work at all for someone else.
When it comes to medicines, it’s best not to mix a lot of different substances together without a doctor’s approval. Of course, many physicians are prejudiced against kratom, so instead of seeking a medical professional’s okay, you have to buckle down and do some research on your own.
Can you take kratom with gabapentin? With Oxycontin? With Adderall? With Xanax? With Prozac? With Benedryl? With alcohol? With cannabis?
It’s hard to really come down hard on this topic. What’s best varies from one individual to the next. But we can make some generalizations based on studies by experts and customer testimonials. Some cautionary points need to be made to ensure that people stay safe and don’t go overboard, thinking they can do anything they please, with no consequences.
A person in an online forum said they were taking an SSRI medicine for anxiety, but it had undesirable side effects. They specified these unwanted effects, then asked which type or vein color of kratom would be best suited to counteract those effects.
Comments accumulated. A consistent theme was “Please don’t use kratom to counteract the effects of an SSRI drug, but consider changing the SSRI medicine. Use kratom for its own benefits, not as a fix for a faulty substance.”
Now, how universal is this recommendation? Is it always relevant to any situation?
It seems to be fairly applicable across a wide spectrum of cases. But we cannot judge another person when we are not the most knowledgeable experts on the subject. We have to understand how a person’s current belief system, unique lifestyle, and past experiences can impact what they’re trying to do now. All we can do is offer general guidelines that seem to fit most cases, but not all.
It’s always a good idea to be wary of rushing into mixing substances, especially when they’re mind-enhancing or mood-changing. But it’s even more important to not deal with one drug by adding another one to it, when a better policy is probably to examine possible alternatives to the problematic medicine that produces bad side effects.
The mainstream medical profession seems to like using multiple drugs, a drug to ward off the side effects of another drug, then more drugs to deal with the side effects of that drug…on and on it goes. So some people transfer that concept over into the realm of natural plant preparations.
What happens is you make the effects profile more complex. You might have a negative reaction. Was it the kratom you started taking? Or is the medicine with bad side effects resisting the action of the kratom and hurling your system into turmoil and confusion?
Our bodies are complicated, delicate chemical laboratories. We must be very careful what we put into them, especially on a long term basis. We should not add new substances to our system willy-nilly, with total disregard to potential reactions. We need to learn about our bodies and how to administer solutions to the problems it may have.
In any specific case, it’s difficult to judge the suitability of using kratom as a “cure” for symptoms caused by some other medicine. It just doesn’t make much sense to try to mask or disguise a negative symptom. It seems more reasonable to pay close attention to the troubling effects of the medicine at hand.
Are there dietary ways to deal with bad side effects? Should you eat food or drink milk prior to taking that medicine. Should you lie down or should you go for a walk after taking that medicine? Are there alternative medicines that you could take, which may not have negative side effects for you?
Before a person decides to start using kratom to overcome the nasty side effects of a prescribed medicine or treatment, they should ask their doctor about options, about alternatives, about other drugs that can be used, that don’t produce such negative effects, but still treat the medical problem adequately.
Kratom can do many things. It has wonderful powers. It offers fantastic benefits. Be sure to use it wisely and read articles on a new method before you commit yourself to it.
