Hi I'm new to the group.  Signed up last night and was still unsure if I was 'signed on' until I just received a message of acceptance from AKA.  I live in Virginia; I believe I noticed the 'origin' location of AKA is in Haymarket, Va. (?)  As such, I also read that Kratom is legal in Virginia so that's a good start.  Well, anyway, I have been taking Oxycodone every month since 2003 (8 joint surgeries in 15 years).  My rheumatologist didn't feel there was much 'problem' until about 18 months ago when he scurried to reduce my dosage from160 mg per day down to 10 mg currently.  I have a strong feeling this is about his job security rather than my well-being.  (sarcasm)  I still experience restless-leg syndrome at night which disrupts sleep.  A friend suggested a try Kratom.  I have read a great deal about this plant, starting 3 days ago when I purchased a small quantity from an online company which appears to be legitimate.  Now I am waiting for the package to be shipped.  Any tips you may feel you would like to share?  I HAVE read the 'usual' precautions about starting with 1 or 2 grams (still learning about gram measurements…) etcetera.  I saw "toss and wash" mentioned, and I have a good idea of what that entails.  I do not wish to drink huge amounts of any beverage to dispense the Kratom, as my stomach gets full very quickly.  What is the most advantageous method to ingest small amounts of Kratom powder or extract (purchased a little of both) without copious amounts of fluid? Thank you for your assistance.

T&W is the best method if you can master it. Once mastered, it only takes a couple gulps of juice….OJ or juice is much easier than water imo. Reverse T&W is the best way....juice in first (held in back of throat, then leaf, then more juice). Harder to master, but best way imo. BIG WARNING: I would not use extracts if I was you. If you have the discipline to only use it once or twice a month as a treat, that is fine, but that's not what usually happens. Plain leaf Kratom is healthy and has improved the lives of many, but extracts are just like Oxy and will give you the same problems as Rx pills and lead to bad things. Plus, if you use extracts frequently, then plain leaf will become useless to you. You will get nothing from it if you use extracts. Do yourself a favor and ditch the extracts. PL will take care of the RLS, extracts will also take care of it temporarily, then you'll get RLS from the extracts. Trust me, extracts are NOT good for you. FYI....I was taking about 280mg of Oxy daily and I quit using only PL kratom and made it just fine. Extracts are expensive, totally kill your tolerance and will lead to the same issues as Oxy....do yourself a favor and don't use it....especially as a newbie. Just my two cents.... P.S. I'm also in VA (originally Richmond, and now Northern Va), so welcome neighbor!

just like biz said, AVOID EXTRACTS, TINCTURES AND ENHANCED products. reverse TnW is what i've been doing forever. same as biz said. i did like the capsules in the beginning and i still do. i would make them myself. if you need help with good vendors PM me or biz kratom will def take your RLS away and should you decide to stop the Rx pills, kratom will allow you to come off with no withdrawals from the pills. truly fascinating plant

As tempting as enhanced leaf is I have never tried it, nor will I. I love my PL as it is, and thanks to this forum I avoided tolerance almost completely. Some of the best advice I got here was not so much constantly switching strains, but using different vendors daily. So as an example, I have a few reds and a couple greens from 3 different vendors. ( so 15 'different') I prefer a mix of 2 part red and one part green for my dose so it easy to keep switching up strains. I have a gram scale so can premix several doses in small condiment cups with lids ( 10 for a dollar) and then know how much I am using, and can conveniently pop one open, drop it into my shaker with liquid, shake it, and toss it back. I also keep a journal on what and when and how it effected my pain. ( meh face, sad face, happy face) lol Good luck and welcome!

@'Laurie HL': > Hi I'm new to the group.  Signed up last night and was still unsure if I was 'signed on' until I just received a message of acceptance from AKA.  I live in Virginia; I believe I noticed the 'origin' location of AKA is in Haymarket, Va. (?)  As such, I also read that Kratom is legal in Virginia so that's a good start.  Well, anyway, I have been taking Oxycodone every month since 2003 (8 joint surgeries in 15 years).  My rheumatologist didn't feel there was much 'problem' until about 18 months ago when he scurried to reduce my dosage from160 mg per day down to 10 mg currently.  I have a strong feeling this is about his job security rather than my well-being.  (sarcasm)  I still experience restless-leg syndrome at night which disrupts sleep.  A friend suggested a try Kratom.  I have read a great deal about this plant, starting 3 days ago when I purchased a small quantity from an online company which appears to be legitimate.  Now I am waiting for the package to be shipped.  Any tips you may feel you would like to share?  I HAVE read the 'usual' precautions about starting with 1 or 2 grams (still learning about gram measurements…) etcetera.  I saw "toss and wash" mentioned, and I have a good idea of what that entails.  I do not wish to drink huge amounts of any beverage to dispense the Kratom, as my stomach gets full very quickly.  What is the most advantageous method to ingest small amounts of Kratom powder or extract (purchased a little of both) without copious amounts of fluid? > > Thank you for your assistance. > > Hi! > > Some people do not mind the taste so the toss and wash will work for them. I personally cannot stand the taste!! Even mixing it with chocolate almond milk (the only milk that does not foam up when put in a vitamin shaker with Kratom) The best method yet is to order oblate discs on Amazon. They are clear edible films that you wrap the kratom in and swallow whole! No taste! I stll like to use OJ when swallowing these! I hope it helps!

@'Ripley': > As tempting as enhanced leaf is I have never tried it, nor will I. I love my PL as it is, and thanks to this forum I avoided tolerance almost completely. Some of the best advice I got here was not so much constantly switching strains, but using different vendors daily. So as an example, I have a few reds and a couple greens from 3 different vendors. ( so 15 'different') I prefer a mix of 2 part red and one part green for my dose so it easy to keep switching up strains. I have a gram scale so can premix several doses in small condiment cups with lids ( 10 for a dollar) and then know how much I am using, and can conveniently pop one open, drop it into my shaker with liquid, shake it, and toss it back. I also keep a journal on what and when and how it effected my pain. ( meh face, sad face, happy face) lol > Good luck and welcome! i tried every enhanced product imaginable including the impossible to find and OG UEI. although they have their place they aren't as good as some hype it up. Plain leaf is the way to go. i have a lot of extracts that i just don't use nor will i. plain leaf offers everything you need. avoid the extracts. luckily i never got hooked on them as i experimented for a few days and realized it wasn't for me. i only have so much due to the ban scare 2 years ago. we just all stocked up with everything and anything we could.  damn FDA bastards were about to turn millions of people into criminals overnight. we were all so scared of having to go back to prescription drugs that we opted to hoard whatever we could out of fear. F*CKING BASTARDS

@'Laurie HL': > Hi I'm new to the group.  Signed up last night and was still unsure if I was 'signed on' until I just received a message of acceptance from AKA.  I live in Virginia; I believe I noticed the 'origin' location of AKA is in Haymarket, Va. (?)  As such, I also read that Kratom is legal in Virginia so that's a good start.  Well, anyway, I have been taking Oxycodone every month since 2003 (8 joint surgeries in 15 years).  My rheumatologist didn't feel there was much 'problem' until about 18 months ago when he scurried to reduce my dosage from160 mg per day down to 10 mg currently.  I have a strong feeling this is about his job security rather than my well-being.  (sarcasm)  I still experience restless-leg syndrome at night which disrupts sleep.  A friend suggested a try Kratom.  I have read a great deal about this plant, starting 3 days ago when I purchased a small quantity from an online company which appears to be legitimate.  Now I am waiting for the package to be shipped.  Any tips you may feel you would like to share?  I HAVE read the 'usual' precautions about starting with 1 or 2 grams (still learning about gram measurements…) etcetera.  I saw "toss and wash" mentioned, and I have a good idea of what that entails.  I do not wish to drink huge amounts of any beverage to dispense the Kratom, as my stomach gets full very quickly.  What is the most advantageous method to ingest small amounts of Kratom powder or extract (purchased a little of both) without copious amounts of fluid? > > Thank you for your assistance. Hello Laurie & a big welcome to the forum  :welcomewave: You have received a lot of very excellent advice, Laurie & I really hope that you are receptive to what you have been told. I am going to add my no vote to using any of the 3 "E", extract, enriched or enhanced. If you stick to PL (Plain Leaf) I can assure you that you will be glad you did. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, ok?