Kratom Studies: Can Kratom Help with Alcohol Withdrawal?

According to Talbott Recovery, more than 15 million people have an alcohol-use disorder in the United States in 2018. Of these individuals, many of them do not seek treatment for their disorder, which is extremely problematic because their prolonged disorder can have many harmful effects to their health, their loved ones, and their overall life.

Many people choose to not seek treatment for their alcohol abuse for multiple reasons, including anywhere from the inability to find the finances to support their treatment to the inability to find the support that they need. Because of this, some people seek home remedies or other internet advice to find other effective ways to help rid their bodies of alcohol and cure their alcoholism.

Kratom is classified as one of those effective resources that can not only help with alcohol withdrawal, but it’s also capable of providing your body with a wide range of health benefits. This article provides you with information on using kratom for alcohol withdrawal, since it gives you information regarding what kratom is, the health benefits of the substance, the effects of mixing kratom and alcohol, as well as information about alcohol addiction and withdrawal, and information about how kratom may be beneficial for individuals that have alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

What is Kratom?

Kratom is defined as a tropical tree that’s derived from forests located in Southeast Asia. The leaves on the tropical tree are capable of having psychotropic effects. It may also be referred to as Biak, Ketum, Kakuam, Thom, or even Ithang. It can easily be ordered on the Internet since it’s not classified as an illegal substance. 

Kratom is also classified as a substance that’s capable of affecting your brain. More specifically, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, Kratom contains mitragynine and 7-a-hydroxymitragynine. Both of these elements are responsible for interacting with opioid receptors that are in your brain. During this interaction, these elements are then responsible for producing sedation, pleasure, and they can even decrease the amount of pain that your body feels.

In addition to that, these elements in Kratom are capable of producing stimulant effects, which then results in your body having an increased amount of energy, alertness, and it can even increase your inclination to be social with others around you.

How is kratom consumed?

Kratom can be consumed in a variety of ways, such as in a pill or capsule form, in a powder mixture, and even in the form of an extract. Many people are known to even simply chew on the leaves of the plant, or even eating them as they are either alone or in their food.

Aside from those methods, according to WebMD, most people are that have alcohol-use disorders are recommended to brew the leaves into a tea, which then creates Kratom into a liquid drink. This is recommended for individuals that have alcohol withdrawal because they’re more inclined to drink a liquid that resembles alcohol, so drinking a liquid can be more helpful in preventing the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Kratom Health Benefits

According to the Renegade Pharmacist, not only does Kratom have the ability to provide affected individuals with relief from the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, but the substance is also capable of giving your body a variety of health benefits.

Pain relief

Kratom has elements called alkaloids, which are classified as organic compounds found in plants that have physiological effects on our bodies. Because of this, alkaloids are capable of providing our bodies with relief from pain that ranges anywhere from mild to moderate pain.

Fighting off fatigue

Kratom has the ability to promote blood circulation in your body, and it can even increase the levels of oxygen in your blood. Because of this, it’s able to boost your metabolic processes and prevent you from getting tired for longer periods of time.

Decreases inflammation

Kratom contains the element known as mitragynine, which is responsible for decreasing inflammation overall in your body. By having the ability to decrease inflammation in your body, Kratom is able to then promote your body’s healing process when it’s damaged, and it can even decrease the amount of redness, pain, and swelling that occurs as a result of damage done to your body.

Calming effects

Kratom contains elements that are capable of releasing endorphins and serotonin from your brain into the rest of your body, so it’s able to provide you with calming effects. More specifically, Kratom can increase your overall mood and sense of well-being, it can decrease the amount of anxiety and stress that you may experience from time to time, and it’s even capable of decreasing depressed mindsets.

Increases your focus

Not only can Kratom create calming effects on your body, but it can also increase your focus and your productivity. For instance, it’s able to allow you to work harder for longer periods of time, and it can increase your attention span since it calms your mind to focus on one thing at a time.

Overcoming other kinds of addictions

Kratom not only can reduce the symptoms associated with overcoming alcohol addiction, but it can also help you overcome a variety of other addictions as well. The substance is responsible for activating the body's opiate receptors in the brain. As it activates them, Kratom’s elements help to bond with the receptors and reduce the severity of the addiction symptoms it craves.

Not only that, but Kratom is also able to curb the negative symptoms that come along with a variety of other addictions. More specifically, Kratom can reduce symptoms of substance-abuse withdrawal like vomiting, cramps, nausea, pain, and even anxiety.

The Effects of Mixing Alcohol and Kratom​

If you’ve consumed alcohol to the point of intoxication, then you’re most likely well aware of its powerful effects. Given the intense effects of alcohol, mixing the substance with Kratom has the ability to provide not only long-lasting but also dangerous effects. More specifically, mixing alcohol with Kratom can be dangerous because it’s capable of impairing your coordination and motor skills.

According to Kratom Crazy, both of the substances together are not highly recommended because alcohol is known to reverse the positive effects that Kratom gives your body. Not only that, but mixing the two can even lead to many negative side effects for your body, like headaches, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and you may even have a hangover from the two substances.

Kratom’s Doses

Even though it’s dangerous and not recommended for you to mix both alcohol and Kratom together, some previous users report that consuming different doses of Kratom while also consuming alcohol can provide your body with varying results. You may find this information helpful if you’re addicted to alcohol and are attempting to stop drinking by consuming Kratom for its ability to overcome addictions.

Mixing alcohol with low doses of Kratom can give you mood-enhancing effects. It can provide stimulation and can even give you an overall positive experience. According to Kratom Plants, mixing low doses of Kratom with alcohol can give you mixed feelings of your well-being and relaxation. Even at low doses, Kratom’s positive benefits can be overcome by alcohol, so it’s not able to give you the ability to overcome your addiction if they’re consumed together.

In moderate doses, Kratom reacts with alcohol and provides you with more of a negative experience than at low doses. You may experience negative side effects from the mixture, like vomiting, dizziness, nausea, stomachache, and even lethargy. The positive health benefits of Kratom are definitely overcome by alcohol when the two are mixed at moderate doses.

When mixed at high doses, Kratom provides you with extremely negative effects. Not only does mixing the two at high doses takeaway Kratom’s ability to give you any positive health benefits, but it’s even probable that you will experience overwhelming harmful effects from the mixture. You will experience side effects like severe nausea, faintness, dizziness, headaches, bad hangovers, and you’ll even experience symptoms that are similar to those of overdosing. Because of this, mixing alcohol and Kratom together at high doses is not highly recommended.

Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Kratom

The process of alcohol withdrawal can sometimes be lengthy and bumpy, depending on how long the affected individual has been addicted to alcohol. So there may be points in time where they may have consumed Kratom and alcohol at the same time, which is dangerous and not recommended.

According to Kratom Plants, alcohol acts as a depressant, so it’s able to prevent the Central Nervous System from acting as it’s supposed to. More specifically, alcohol is able to block the signals that come from your nerve receptors to your brain. On the other hand, Kratom acts as more of an antidepressant, a sedative, and a stimulant. It’s classified as herbal supplement that activates your opioid receptors. When these two substances mix together and interact with each other, the body is confused and the process can be extremely risky.

Kratom’s Side Effects

Even though Kratom can provide you with a variety of positive health benefits for your body, it’s also possible that the substance has side effects. According to WebMD, the side effects that an individual may experience after consuming Kratom differ according to the amount of Kratom that they’ve consumed, what other substances they’ve consumed with Kratom, as well as other individual factors. Overall, the most common side effects that most individuals experience as a result of using Kratom are:

• Muscle tremors

• Itching

• Sweating

• Dizziness

• Dry mouth

• Seizures

• Hallucinations

• Liver damage

What is Alcohol Addiction?

Alcoholism is classified as a form of alcohol abuse that typically includes an individual’s inability to control the amount of alcoholic drinking that they participate in. Affected individuals more generally become addicted to alcohol because of the feelings of pleasure that it creates.

More specifically, alcohol directly affects the pleasure and reward system that’s located in your brain. It is capable of manipulating your body’s pleasure and reward system by encouraging it to engage in acts that provide your body with more pleasure. As a result of this, your body is more inclined to commit acts that contribute to overall pleasurable behaviors.

According to DrugRehab.com, over a time span of continuously consuming alcohol and manipulating your pleasure and reward system, your body becomes addicted to alcohol because your brain is essentially chemically re-wired in order to crave the substance that causes this pleasure, which is alcohol.

Whether an individual becomes addicted to alcohol or not depends on a variety of different factors, such as their brain make-up. For instance, some individuals’ brains are more vulnerable to the effects that alcohol can provide them. This creates varying results regarding how long it takes for someone to become addicted to alcohol. There are also other varying causes that can affect how easily it is for someone to become addicted to alcohol. For instance, people with mental health disorders are more vulnerable to become addicted to alcohol. And there are other biological and social causes of alcohol addiction as well.

What Happens to Alcohol in your Body?

Even though the results may differ according to two different individuals regarding alcohol addiction, the results are relatively similar to what happens when we drink alcohol. Ultimately, when alcohol is consumed, it’s first broken down by your liver, just as all other liquid drinks are consumed. Their process conducted by the liver is basically responsible for getting rid of the alcohol in your system through disposing it outside of your body through your urine.

According to the Alcohol Rehab Guide, when you continue to drink alcohol in too short of a period of time, it begins to be too much for your liver’s process to break down at such a quick rate. As a result of this, other portions of your body begin to absorb the extra alcohol in your system that your liver is unable to secrete. When this remaining alcohol begins to affect your brain, that’s when the feelings of intoxication start. When impacting your brain, alcohol impairs your cognitive function and your motor skills, which mostly results in effects like slurred speech, difficulty walking, and memory problems.

Since alcohol addiction involves your brain and body being chemically re-wired to crave alcoholic drinks, it becomes extremely difficult for your body to get accustomed to not consuming alcohol anymore. Sometimes it’s so difficult that someone is individually unable to effectively stop drinking alcohol on their own, so they require additional treatment and support.

What is Alcohol Withdrawal?

Alcohol withdrawal is classified as a process in which your body is transitioning from being chemically-dependent upon alcohol to becoming independent again. Since your body is chemically-dependent upon alcohol when you’re addicted, suddenly taking away this chemical that your body has become dependent on results in a variety of negative effects. According to the Alcohol Rehab Guide, during the process of alcohol withdrawal, your body is essentially trying to figure out what chemicals it’s missing, and this process leads to painful side effects.

Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

According to WebMD, the severity of the symptoms that you may experience while going through a withdrawal of alcohol depend on a wide variety of factors, such as the frequency that you drank alcohol, the amount of alcohol consumed in a certain time frame, the length of time you spent drinking alcohol altogether, your personal medical history, and even your current health conditions before, during, and after drinking alcohol. But the majority of individuals that are addicted to alcohol and that stop consuming alcohol suddenly will most likely experience side effects similar to the following.

• Headaches

• Anxiety and agitation

• Nausea and vomiting

• Shaking and hand tremors

• Disorientation

• High blood pressure

• Insomnia

• High fever and excessive sweating

• Seizures

• Delirium tremens

Ways to Lessen the Symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal

Since there are different strains of Kratom available on the market, it can be difficult to find the right strain for your body. Red strains are able to produce stimulation easily, while green strains produce effects that are moderate in stimulation. On the other hand, white strains of Kratom are responsible for producing more relaxing effects, so they’re more effective in reducing the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.

Furthermore, according to Kratom Guides, you’re recommended to consume Kratom in the form of tinctures, extracts, and teas for relieving the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. More specifically, Kratom Guides recommends that you consume Maeng Da, Classic Red Bali, or White Borneo Mitra. All of these specific strains of Kratom are most recommended for consumption in the form of tea as well since alcoholics are more inclined to drink alcoholic beverages.

Personal Experiences with Using Kratom for Alcohol Withdrawal

 Since the studies regarding the substance of Kratom are not largely diverse yet, many people go by other people’s personal experiences with the substance in order to understand how the source will affect their bodies.

According to Kratom Crazy, one individual reported that using Kratom for alcohol withdrawal made them addicted to Kratom instead of alcohol. But others respond to this statement by saying that they would much rather be addicted to Kratom than alcohol, given its health benefits.

Furthermore, according to Kratom Guides, one blogger claimed that when using Kratom for their alcohol withdrawals, they forgot about the worries and anxiety that’s associated with alcohol withdrawal. Not only that, but they could focus more, were more confident and social, slept better at night, and they even experienced no hangovers from the substance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Kratom addictive?

There is a low potential for addiction and dependence when it comes to Kratom, and it also does not affect the health of your kidneys or liver as much as alcohol does. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Kratom technically has effects like opioids, since it may cause insomnia and aggression. But when taken as directed and recommended, addiction should not be a worry.

What precautions should I take when using Kratom?

According to Mayo Clinic, you’re not advised to consume only one strain of Kratom for a long period of time, and you should refrain from consuming the substance with other drugs. Additionally, you should not consume the substance if you have a health disorder, like renal disorder or cardiovascular disorder.