@comma there is cost and risk from ordering over seas. For one you certainly can get scammed or get bunk product. It happens and will continue to happen. It's not everyone and every time but it does happen.
Also It is cheaper but you don't know what your going to get without testing it. I never trust labs from over seas. Only labs from the US. A lot of powder will transfer between vendors over seas 4-5 times before it comes to the US. So it is best to find a vendor that is working with a farmer for consistency and look for batches as that will be your closest way to finding concistency. You want vendors with gmp facilities as many smaller vendors in the US are working out of their house. It's not unsafe, but it's not preferred and should be avoided if possible.
@comma Hi Comma Tommy! I’m Laurie. 56 and found kratom following opiate detox for 12 days. I couldn’t afford the habit once I couldn’t get prescriptions. I have several health issues that my Dr has validated, but the diagnostic name doesn’t exist, so I don’t qualify for disability. Chronic physical pain includes mostly severe muscle spasms on my butt and down into the pirafomis muscles in my legs.
I have been using kratom since 2015. I’ve never wanted a pill or a drink of alcohol since.
The main thing I cannot stress enough is what @patrickc said about LESS IS MORE. That includes the “stocking up”. While nobody wants to have to pay more for less leaf (powder), it’s important to NOT buy a kilo to ‘just be done’ with the hassles of shopping when you are just getting started. Having a great price on a kilo of leaf that does not work well for you is NOT a savings. Only after you have tried a sample package from a couple of vendors would it THEN be recommended for bulk buying. Even then, I have to rotate my kratom supplier/vendor as well as strain type fairly frequently, so I have hardly ever shopped by kilo. Once during the great BanMania scare of 2016 when everyone was stocking up as a precaution - and I have bought ONLY 2 since. I still have some of ALL OF THEM. And it’s ALL good product still!
Anyway, I have not been measuring on a scale like I should. I’ve been using 1.5 level teaspoons per use, repeated as necessary, all of these years. More is not helpful (!!!!) and less is not as helpful as it CAN be. But it took a lot of mistakes over the years.
My recommendation matches what is already posted here. I do not recommend shopping directly with Indonesian sources. Lot’s of product gets confiscated at the border for no reason and you can’t get it released, along with the other reasons already given. While nobody wants to pay retail, paying a fair price is well worth it. Kratom only gets so good, so buying expensive kratom doesn’t assure strength or anything, either. Word of mouth recommendations are the best I have found for vendor choosing and I’m not sure of the policy about vendor naming on this app/website. I’ll refrain from making suggestions for now…
I use red strains almost exclusively. They are known for pain relieving and relaxing properties. They usually do not relax my mind, so I don’t use kratom near bedtime or I will lie there thinking for hours. White vein is popular for the energetic buzz often associated with the color. White also has more mitragynine alkaloids, but I still don’t get more relief because of it! Green strains are a happy medium between the white and red. Don’t bother with golds, yellow, pink, black, brown, etc for now. That is for LATER in the kratom journey.
@laurie thanks guys I've got to talk to the plant man now can or is there a site with all venders
@guywithtrees Thanks for your help and can I get samples of your different products so I can try it to see if it works for me
@comma Of course, let me see what I can do for you. Can you pm me or email me your address.
@comma here’s an overwhelming sized reference guide : https://www.ilk.co/approved-vendors.html
But @guywithtrees will be hooking you up to start (being the sponsor / supplier of this website).
I hope y’all don’t mind a “yellow pages” post for reference here. Lemme know if that’s not cool please.@I hope y’all don’t mind a “yellow pages” post for reference here. Lemme know if that’s not cool please.@Comma I’m so glad you took this route. You very well may find more reason to live longer! And gain the strength to give it a good try! I sure hope so. I’m not far and neither are the guys here if you should get stuck starting your kratom journey. LESS IS MORE. MORE IS NAUSEA. Can’t stress that enough.
Cannot wait to hear when you’ve got your starter package from @guywithtrees. He has some wonderfully helpful products, I assure you.
@Laurie
@laurie Thanks again for your time and help I hope the person you talked to will send prices too
@laurie One more question what are the yellow pages ( phone book???)
@patrickc I would love to hear your recipe and methods in your pressure cooker. Such as how much powder leaf with how much water and how long do you cook. I really want to start drinking more tea than the way I'm doing it now
@comma yes yellow pages is a phone book! OMG kids!! Back in the old days, we used to meet up on MySpace before FACEBOOK was born and everywhere you went, there were CD’s (computer disks) from AOL (America OnLine. Some people still have emails with @AOL.com!) for learning how to DIAL IN to the internet!
@laurie lmao don't feel to old I was on myspace too. Aol Aim MSN
Lol @guywithtrees, you must have been like 10. I was married and had kids when those started.
@patrickc I would love to hear your recipe and methods in your pressure cooker. Such as how much powder leaf with how much water and how long do you cook. I really want to start drinking more tea than the way I'm doing it now
Here is what I sent to the UF research team
The regular tea method is 4c of boiling water with 4t of leaves, stir @5 minutes while the water is boiling. I've tried different measurements of tea leaves, water and boiling time, but this method gives me a mild cup of tea. I use honey for the bitterness. No lemon juice is used.
For the pressure cooker I use 6q of water with 1 1/3c of tea leaves @18 minutes using the ‘PRESSURE COOKER” button on the Instapot with a HIGH setting. The method is in the trial stages. My first attempt was 8q with 3c of leaves @18 minutes, but I found the tea too strong. No lemon juice is used.
One item to note is that the Instapot will continue cooking even when it goes in to “warm” mode. The pot is still under pressure and from what I have researched online, it keeps 10.15 to 11.6 PSI @63-78C. This is a factor to consider if you do not turn off the Instapot and release the pressure after the 18 minutes.
I tried the “red bubble Kratom” method, which is using powder with lemon juice, but this process was laborious and required attention to the freezing and defrosting of the water to capture the “red bubble”. This process gives a reliable, concentrated product.
Based on the “red bubble Kratom” method I would assume that lemon juice should be added to a bowl, along with the dried leaves. Maybe a pestle and mortar could be utilized to break down the leaves with the lemon juice, allowing for a shorter time in the pressure cooker. I’ll need to experiment with this process.
I tried to use powder with instant cocoa powder for tea, but the powder is inconsistent with quality. The effects were stronger and quicker; I didn’t care for the anxiousness and sweaty palms. Powder works best in pill form.
I'd like to point out to any one new, DO NOT BUY KRATOM FROM 7-11 or CircleK or any other quickie mart. That stuff is not Kratom. It is usually a mix of Kratom with some other herbal substances and there is no quality control. The people you see dying from Kratom use are people using this shit. And this is the shit that is giving Kratom a bad name in the media. I've been fighting these dumb reporters who aren't doing their homework. They basically see a story and pump it out to their viewers/readers to pump up their numbers. It's a serious case of "oh no, it's another Reefer Madness".
Like @Laurie said, you need to figure out what you need, order some samples, then test it out. It might take you some time to figure out what works for you. I'm using green leaf mainly. I like cycling on and off every few weeks, using it only when I need it or if I'm going on a long walk, like 10 miles. Then I really need it.
@Comma I'm sad to hear about your condition. I hope you find an answer to your pain management.
I agree with you, @Patrickc !
Scary for our community. I wish big vendors would quit pumping out “kratom shots” all over the place. They need to remove the word kratom altogether because that stuff is altogether and absolutely adulterated and different and has very little in common with the leaf we love and rely on..
@patrickc cool post on different ways to use the leaf safely. I’ve been having to cut my kratom powder use for some kidney tests. 24 hr pee collection all day today and tonight. I started cutting back last night and pulled out my stem n vein because previous experience has shown a slight affect in my kidneys (my creatinine number is one digit over normal). Today I put some kratom tea bags I got as a sample into a decanter and set it out in the sun this morning. By lunchtime, I had excellent tea. I used that and stem n vein all day, with a few minuscule amounts of kratom.
The tea has been a seriously different experience. More impairing than I would’ve liked.. I don’t require additives like honey or lemon or anything. Kratom makes a nice tea. In my opinion. I added frequent water drinking including extra electrolytes due to the surprising dehydration that can occur from drinking kratom. I liked the simple tea process of putting kratom in a jar that has a strainer. Super no-brainer.
I’ll be taking the pee jug in (not the jar of tea) tomorrow morning.
Wishing everyone had a wee bit better day! I’ll come back and report on my creatinine results. It will likely be FINE or WAY WORSE LOL
@patrickc cool post on different ways to use the leaf safely. I’ve been having to cut my kratom powder use for some kidney tests. 24 hr pee collection all day today and tonight. I started cutting back last night and pulled out my stem n vein because previous experience has shown a slight affect in my kidneys (my creatinine number is one digit over normal). Today I put some kratom tea bags I got as a sample into a decanter and set it out in the sun this morning. By lunchtime, I had excellent tea. I used that and stem n vein all day, with a few minuscule amounts of kratom.
The tea has been a seriously different experience. More impairing than I would’ve liked.. I don’t require additives like honey or lemon or anything. Kratom makes a nice tea. In my opinion. I added frequent water drinking including extra electrolytes due to the surprising dehydration that can occur from drinking kratom. I liked the simple tea process of putting kratom in a jar that has a strainer. Super no-brainer.
I’ll be taking the pee jug in (not the jar of tea) tomorrow morning.
Wishing everyone had a wee bit better day! I’ll come back and report on my creatinine results. It will likely be FINE or WAY WORSE LOL
I agree about the dehydration issue, but I find it is the same with anything I drink now. I'm 99.999999% water all the time. I don't drink anything else except for maybe a beer when there is a celebration. I find that eating right and eating healthy has improved my life 100 fold.
I too had kidney issues last year, I had stones, but I found out that I had some other issues.
I limit my tea to my worst days, like today, but I've been getting better by eliminating stuff from my diet.
When I go on a really long walk, 7-10 miles, I always drink my tea before I go. It is extremely helpful in preventing pain in my feet and legs.
I keep with the green vein leaf because it provides a balance between both worlds.
I like that fresh leaves have a swift effect on my pain, but tea is so much easier to store.
@patrickc thanks for your concern you guys seem to care more than the doctors I've been seeing for years I can't believe what they do when you don't or will not have a procedure done or take the drugs they subscribe (everyone knows they get kickbacks) I'm going to do whatever it takes where I don't have to see another doctor ever
@peteypyro She looks fantastic! I'll have to snap you a pic when it is light out. Looks a lot like yours there. Not fully back but still some solid new growth.they are producing new leaves which are the perfect size for cuttings.
Spring sprang finally
@laurie @patrickc I got my pee results back and my kidneys are fine except for low sodium. Still related to my kratom tea consumption, maybe. I’m trying to continue with tea more often, but not solely. Using stem n vein to assist in a wean to get my use lower altogether, ALONG WITH PROPER DIET. I’m finally doing that, but I had no appetite on kratom pee jug day.
Thank you for the support in this group AND in DISCORD!