I've tried Chameleon and Valyrian root tea blends before thinking they might make good sleep aids, but I've never had any luck with them. A lot people say they find those very relaxing, but I wasn't even catching a placebo effect.
So for a while I just assumed all this herbal tea bullshit I see in stores and pharmacies must be just a step above homeopathic products. They're probably pretty good if you like the taste of the herbal blends and find sipping a warm beverage relaxing in itself, but otherwise a waste of time. Clearly if they really worked they wouldn't be sold in large supermarket chains. Instead they'd be relegated to the weird, near grey market status that Kratom seems to exist in, right?
Today at the store I just happened to notice something very alarming. A box of Kava blend tea was the absolute one and only herbal tea variety on the shelf to include a warning asking you to consult your doctor before use, and stating that minors and pregnant women should not consume this product.
Well, that warning instantaneously lit up the junkie addict center of my brain like a Christmas tree, and I impulse bought two boxes. This might have major negative health consequences? Wow, must be the fucking good stuff. I got home and brewed six of them into a single mug of tea, and yep, this shit is psychoactive all right. Subtle, but definitely not placebo subtle. It quite honestly feels similar to a moderate dose of Gabapentin, and it's making me sleepy.
I sure wish I knew this before I most likely took 15 years off the lifespan of my kidneys by using 200mg of Diphenhydramine every night for years just to have a fighting chance at falling asleep more often than every two days.
Kratom is a mild partial opiate and can relieve pain, anxiety and depression, while also acting like a stimulant. Its not something that will knock you out, most people can function fine while on it, but it can give you a warm somewhat euphoric feeling. Inner peace, for a few hours, I guess.
People compare some of the effects to Adderall but ive never taken that so who knows. Small amounts help me focus, but i deal with a lot of physical and mental exhaustion due to my job, so i figured it helps me mentally by relieving those issues, but maybe i have some form of undiagnosed ADHD.
I've been taking it for a few years, and it basically allowed me to stop binge drinking, and then quit altogether. The anxiety you get when you're desperate for alcohol would be pretty overwhelming to me, but kratom drastically alleviated that, and the effect lasts for a day or two for me, and last year I just quit drinking outright.
Lots of potential for dependant, being an opiate, and it shres some side effects, so you should be careful about habitual use. Although whatever is in it doesn't seem to suppress the your basic body functions, so risk of passing out and suffocating is minimal unless you really go out of your way. Consuming a lethal amount is hard to do if you're just taking it in powder form, as you'd likely throw it back up. For this reason I would avoid extracts.
But, yeah, my health has improved tremendously since I've been able to stop drinking. For some people it doesn't work that way, but from what ive read a lot of people share my experience.