I discovered Kratom about 7-8 months ago during a desperate attempt to regain control of my life after researching its potential ability at assisting people struggling with Opiate addiction. Opiate addiction, something I have been battling since the age of 19, which developed very rapidly after a 14-day stay in the hospital, in which the strong pain killer Dilaudid was administered IV every 3 hours for the entire duration (which was my first experience with Opiates), while also taking home a 30-day supply of Percocet (Oxycodone), and was ultimately diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. The speed in which the Opiates took hold and an addiction began was incredible.

It began controlling every aspect of my life, and without any Opiates, I had no life, except that of suffering beyond measure, the notorious Opiate withdrawal. After about two years, I decided I needed to make a real effort to get clean, because my life was beginning to become completely unmanageable due to my addiction. I heard about the drug Suboxone, a relatively new drug at the time, which apparently was having reasonably good success in treating Opiate addiction, so I jumped at the chance to begin Suboxone therapy when the opportunity presented itself. At first, it was amazing, with Suboxone I finally felt like I did before my addiction, but of course, there was an enormous catch.

Suboxone, the brand name of the drug used to treat Opiate addiction and withdrawal is made up of 75-80% Buprenorphine, which itself is a partial Opiate receptor agonist giving it its ability to ease withdrawal symptoms and cravings, while also boasting a fairly significant half-life. So of course I knew this chemically engineered pharmaceutical was going to be no different than the others in terms of physical dependence, but now instead of calling my dealer, I called my doctor. I would literally walk into his house, hand him $250 cash in exchange for my script. No counseling at all, and most of the time he didn’t even ask how things have been going addiction wise. So, I’m sure you can guess my life was still completely dictated by drugs, except the only difference this time is that it was completely legal.

After being on Suboxone for 2+ years, I decided being a slave to that drug needed to end. The withdrawal from Suboxone was beyond intense, and not just that, the withdrawal period was much longer lasting than Heroin or Oxycodone. This I believe was due to the half-life of Buprenorphine, which is anywhere from 24-42 hours. Ultimately, I ended up in the psych ward due to not sleeping for over 17 days during my withdrawal from Suboxone, an experience I will never forget. I did however, finally get off Suboxone, but my addiction was far from over.

Unfortunately, the battle to get through the acute withdrawal phase is the easy part, the hard part is staying clean. Admittedly, I have been failing at this for the past 5-6 years. I would have brief periods of time in which I was clean which never lasted, I always ended up using again, which of course, negatively affected the quality of my life substantially. I first heard of Kratom a couple years ago after researching legal remedies for Opiate addiction and withdrawal, but I never took it seriously, although I wish I would have, which ended up being one of those things you only end up seeing in retrospect.

Anyways, as stated in the beginning, it was my desperation that compelled me to give it a try, as I had nothing to lose after nearly losing 10 years of my life to a relentless Opiate addiction. When I received my Kratom, I followed a simple recipe online to prepare it as a tea, and the day I drank the most disgusting flavored tea I’ve ever tasted, was the day I finally recaptured my life!

Since then, about 8 months ago I have been able to stay off Opiates entirely, which I’m very proud to announce is the single longest time span that I’ve been clean in the past 10 years! The most amazing part is; I have actually gotten to the point that I don’t even use/need Kratom every day. The changes in my life, as I’m sure you can imagine, have been significant and drastic in amazing ways, and I am never looking back. I love this plant!

Chris was born and raised in Ohio into a small but tight-knit family. He knew he liked learning about technology and how things work, so naturally he found myself in the IT support world. Chris now works as Cisco Network Analyst and loves his job. At Cisco, he’s responsible for keeping an enterprise level network up, and functioning properly.