With all the negative misinformation floating around the internet about Kratom, I made a vow to show the world some of the positive and amazing changes it has made in the lives of kratom consumers. Kratom, a cousin of the coffee plant, is being used all over the world to improve the quality of life of people from all walks of life. This series tells the stories of these people. We are the faces of kratom, and our stories matter. Grab some coffee and let me share with you my hour with Chris. This is his kratom story.

R: This is Chris, and we’re going to be doing his kratom story, which is pretty incredible. So let’s go ahead and jump right into this. Chris, tell me a little bit about yourself.

C: I’m single. I worked 21 years in the transportation and logistics industry, the corporate office of a global transportation company. I became ill with a disease, in February of 2008, known as myalgic encephalomyelitis.

R: That is a BIG word!

C: It is a tongue twister (laughs). But to make it easier, it also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. If I refer to it from now on, I’ll just call it ME/CFS–a little bit easier to say.

The only reason I brought that up is I began to show symptoms in February of 2008 and was only able to work another couple of years before I got laid off. It was not until 2016 I was able to secure a diagnosis. It [ME/CFS] affects my thinking and energy levels. There’s a whole myriad of problems that the disease causes.

R: It’s my understanding that it is poorly understood and can take many years to be diagnosed?

C: Yes, it’s only taught at 6% of the medical schools. It was thought to be mostly in people’s heads until the last few years. I believe, however, in this past week that they just passed a test, a blood test that is in trials, that shows chronic fatigue syndrome is real.

R: That’s awesome. I saw that article, and that is really great. So, is this what led you to kratom? And how long has it been a part of your life?

C: Absolutely. It absolutely led me to kratom. I was very, very sick. And I was in bed, I don’t know, 22–23 hours a day at the time, in severe pain. Things that you used to be able to do, you no longer could. There’s a whole myriad of other symptoms, but it was the pain part [that led me to kratom]. I can’t explain how bad you feel. You feel just awful. I don’t know of any other word. It’s you just want to die all the time. You’re laying in bed, just hoping to die. That’s what it feels like.

R: So, it took everything from you?

C: That’s correct. It does take everything from you. So yes, that is what led me to kratom. I was browsing some chronic fatigue forums, looking for some answers. Because, when I was diagnosed in 2016 the doctor told me, “You have chronic fatigue, or ME/CFS, there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s no medication we can give you. You’ll probably never work again for the rest of your life.”

R: How did that feel when you heard those words?

C: It was nice knowing what I had, finally, because I had been going to various doctors in various fields for many, many years. And they had told me that nothing was wrong with me. Well, I knew there was something wrong with me. I did not want to just want to lay in bed all the time. It was not like I had a choice. But I knew there had to be some answer out there that might help me, even a little bit would be a huge win for me. So that’s what led me to start looking around. And in July of 2017, I’d come across some ME/CSF forums and someone mentioned kratom. And I thought, right, somebody telling me another leaf to take that I’m gonna eat it and feel better, yeah right. But you know, you get desperate, and I would do almost anything just to feel better.

R: When Western medicine or typical medicine fails us, it’s like, okay, what do I do now?

C: Right, absolutely.

R: First of all, were you surprised by the outcome? And secondly, do you use this to help with your pain signals?

C: Yes, if pain is the most important thing that take it for, a byproduct is my insomnia got better. I’ve had insomnia my whole life ever since I was a kid. And ME/CFS also causes insomnia. For whatever reason, when I started utilizing kratom, my pain immediately got better. And over a few months, my sleep returned back to normal. I could go to bed and sleep six or seven hours. Before when I was in pain, I would only be able to sleep 1–3 hours and then I would be woken up from the severity of the pain. And so you would just wake up, you’d be so exhausted, you fall asleep for an hour, maybe, and wake back up. And that’s how you just live your life, in between the horror of being awake and the praying that you fall asleep.

R: I completely understand. So, can you walk me through what a typical day in your life was before you found the tea [kratom]?

C: Yes, again, I was in bed 22–23 hours a day. I would only get up, in general, to go to the restroom or get something to eat, pretty much spending that the rest of day in bed. I had to move in with my family because once I lost my job in 2010, I lost my house, I lost my car, I lost everything I’ve worked for my whole life. I could not get up out of the bed. I knew I was losing everything. It’s a terrible feeling, knowing that everything that you’ve worked so hard for is crumbling down around you, and you can’t get up off the couch. I knew enough to know that my life was crumbling in front of me. And I just couldn’t move … I couldn’t get up.

But back to when I found the kratom. The first time, I ordered it off eBay believe it or not. After it came in the mail, I took it for the first time. And the pain that I had just disappeared! And not just disappeared, but it just faded from my body. It didn’t take it all the way down the first time and (it never took it ALL the way down). But it took it from, maybe, a nine to a two or three. And for me, all that was unbelievable. So that day, I got up out of the bed and went down to the garage and started straightening it up. And my mother came down and said, “What are you doing?” And I said, I just took this stuff and I feel a lot better. I had just been laying in bed for the last few years. I want to get up and do something! So I started straightening up, and I was down there for a couple hours. And she kept asking me over and over again, “Are you okay? Are you okay?” Because they weren’t used to seeing me do this.

R: I imagine that was pretty out of the ordinary!

C: So that was day one for me. That was July of 2017.

R: Seems like there is a pretty big difference in so your life, can you walk me through what your life is like today?

C: Sure. A couple of years have passed. I use it four times a day, taking it in the morning and about four to five hours in between, not just anytime throughout the day. It’s always measured in exact quantities, and it is part of my routine. I also take pharmaceuticals, vitamins, and other things from my doctors. But it is a main part of my health. If I had to get rid of all my supplements and medication and I could choose one to keep, kratom is the one that I would choose to keep. It is that important.

R: So needless to say if our federal government ever put a ban on it it would pretty much be devastating to you.

C: I really do not know what my life would be like. Yes, it would be a big problem if the government took that away from me. . . I’ve only stopped once for a couple days a few weeks ago, just to see what it’d be like to stop. I didn’t have any real issues being able to not take it but I didn’t feel great.

R: So I know that with everything that you take, there’s always a side effect. There’s a downfall in your life and your experience. What can you pinpoint that would be a downside with kratom, if any? And how do you avoid it?

C: I take a rather large amount compared to other people. I don’t know why, it’s just my size and my weight. I started off as a small amount, and I titrated up til the desired effect came. That’s how I knew what amount to use. And once I found that amount, that’s what I use. I haven’t really changed it now over two years. The only downside is at larger doses you could have withdrawals [if you stopped suddenly]. I never crave kratom, per se. I never . . . I would want it because my body starts telling me, “Hey, you’re in pain. You’re not feeling well.” If I was healed today, I probably would not take kratom … or I guess maybe a little bit for work or for some focus and energy. But definitely not the quantities I take today for for my well being. Besides that I see no other issues whatsoever. And I have spent hundreds and hundreds of hours studying it. It was not like I just picked something out. I did a lot of research. I spoke to a lot of people. I would say I spoke to hundreds of people online about it. It is an amazing plant, it truly is.

R:. It seems like these online forums and these online communities are really important to the people that are consumers of kratom.

C: Kratom is so important to me that when I heard Georgia last year was thinking about banning kratom, I went down to the courthouse. The AKA [American Kratom Association] told us that they were having hearings at the state capitol, and they wanted people to come down and testify in front of the the House. Well, I definitely went down there. I still don’t feel well. I don’t. I don’t want you all to get the idea that, you know, I took kratom and I’m out doing jumping jacks. I would say it has greatly improved my quality of life, not just by a small amount but by a large amount. Going down to the courthouse was a big deal for someone with my condition. Once I heard that Georgia was going to possibly take it from us, I went down and testified along with a number of other people. They heard both sides of the story. They heard from police officers and GBI; they heard from the people and they heard from doctors. After they weighed both sides, it passed the House in the initial vote. I believe it was 167 to 1 in favor. And then it passed the Senate 50 to 0 to move it forward. Then the Senate voted on it again, and it passed with flying colors. And, I believe about a week and a half ago, the governor signed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act for Georgia into law.

R: I saw! That is so amazing. Thank you so much for your advocacy within the kratom community.

C: I wasn’t just for me. I’m just one person. I was speaking for the thousands or maybe even tens of thousands of other people that were not able to make it down there or did not know about this hearing. It is not just here in Georgia but all around the United States that this is happening. I would not have taken that time out if it wasn’t that important to me. I just didn’t go down there because I had nothing better to do. I mean it was that important to me to testify in front of the court, which is something I also take very seriously.

R: How does all this negative misinformation that is out there make you feel, as someone who has had their life changed with kratom?

C: I wouldn’t have believed it. A couple years ago, before I started kratom, I just wouldn’t have believed it. I always thought that the governmental organizations were always on the side of the people. And maybe they still are but I’ve just seen blatant lies put out by the FDA. Where they said kratom had killed people. Then, when the media asked for them to provide proof they wouldn’t. They had to fight back and forth to get the information. Some of them were, like, a gunshot wound to the chest. The guy was shot, and they blamed it on kratom. Another guy fell out a window and wouldn’t go to the hospital. They blamed it on kratom. It was just tons of stories like that. It seemed convenient to blame just because they might have had some kratom in their system? Well, I don’t hear somebody blaming coffee because somebody had some coffee in their system. And by the way, I wanted to say that kratom is a member of the evergreen family, not a member of the poppy and opioid family. It’s a cousin to the coffee plant. So, I mean, I don’t see them testing people for caffeine when they have an accident, going, “Oh, you had caffeine in your system, must be the cause.”

Look, if I owned a pharmaceutical company, I would be fighting to keep this out. If that was my job, that’s what I would be doing. I really think it can help that many people, and that’s why they’re fighting so hard.

R: Many people will paint Kratom advocates as having anti-pharma or anti-establishment sentiments. You do not seem against big pharma in the broad sense, do you?

C: I have a problem with somebody not telling the truth. I have no problem against [pharmaceutical] drugs if they help you. I take a number of drugs that do help me. If there is a viable natural substance that takes care of my problem, as opposed to taking a pill, I would have no problem taking it. But, I know I’m not just a natural person. I do take vitamins, which I believe that the FDA fought very hard against in the 90s and told how all these people are going to die and the vitamins are going to kill people. I believe it’s the same playbook that you saw in the 90s with them trying to keep vitamins and supplements off the market.

R: What would you say you have gained in your life by having kratom in your toolkit?

C: I’m having to live with my family, which is very difficult for me. At my age I should be helping my elderly parents, not my elderly parents helping me. That is the hardest thing that I have to deal with. I’m still very sick. I mean, you may see me up here talking to you, but I still am very sick. What kratom gives me is that it helps me to be able to get up and move around, help my parents around the house, and do things in some way to give back to them for what they’re doing for me. And that helps. That helps me feel better. I just want to give back for the sacrifice that they’re giving to me. And that’s what kratom helps me do.

R: That is powerful.

I want to thank Chris B for his time and for sharing his story. The kratom community thanks you.

For more information on kratom or to donate to the American Kratom Association visit the website HERE.

Ready to jump into kratom advocacy? Get your Advocacy Toolkit HERE

For more information on ME/CFS and what you can do to help visit ME Action website.