Commenting again, mainly to bump up the topic, since I just read a few posts from some years ago regarding intractable pain. Kratom is good stuff and helps a lot of people. It's natural, and legal in most states. Anyone who'd like to know more can PM me. (PS I'm not a vendor of the stuff, just trying to help)

I noted from Shingles 7/2013 evolving into PHN by Drinking mostly / only water along with recommended daily amount 8 glasses daily , my upper branch Trigeminal Nerve Pain has DECREASED substantially in just 4 short days so far . DEHYDRATION without a doubt prolonged and worsened both Pain & Condition . Try it .

After my horrid night last night, I've gone ahead and purchased a small quantity to see if it will help when I'm flaring.

I'm not one to like feeling "altered," so it will be interesting to see how I react.

Janie, I hope it helps you and think it likely will. For me anyway there's no altered/psychotropic drug feeling. Look forward to your reaction!

There were lots of strains to choose from, so after a bunch of reading, I selected one that seemed most often referenced for help with pain.

One of the concerns I have is what I'm reading that in small dosage, it acts as a stimulant. Do you find that to be the case? That would not be helpful.

Janie, they do say (whoever they are) that smaller doses are more stimulating and that might be true, but I haven't experimented in that way. I got myself a kitchen scale and after some experimenting found that a dose of 5 grams works just right for me. This is about a rounded teaspoon plus a bit more (dependent on the strain and therefore the density).

I began with a dose of a teaspoon leveled off. So you might begin that way and see how it affects you. So they say (them again!), the red strains are more sedating, the greens and whites more energetic. I'm not sure I find that to be the case though. For me it's mainly which vendors and strains are more potent.

My guess is you'll soon find your sweet spot. I hope you like this miracle substance as much as I do!

Thanks for all the feedback.

I will definitely have to play around with dosage, so thanks for the tips. I don't have a whole lot of experience with opioids, but have taken them after ortho surgeries. I seem to remember just sleeping a lot. That would be a desirable effect from this since I'm looking for help at night.

I did get a red strain Indonesian after some reading, and also just found this nice page:

http://ensobotanicals.com/kratom/


Strains for Pain

The primary reason kratom is so effective for pain are it’s two primary painkilling alkaloids: Mitragynine, and 7-OH-mitragynine. Which have agonist activity at mu and delta opiod receptors, effectively dampening the body’s perception of pain. As a result, those who are looking for pain relief from kratom have had best effects with strains high in these two alkaloids.

Leaf alkaloid content can vary from plant to plant, and from strain to strain, however, there are a few strains which seem to be the most effective for pain overall. The most popular strains for this purpose are:

Strains

Borneo
Indo
Maeng Da
Bali

Preferred Vein Color

Red

Dosage

Moderate/High

That's where I started and a year later I was up to 25g.

Article in the NYT (1/3/16). It is addictive....and expensive. Article noted some users going on (or back) to heroin, because it is much cheaper. Batches are highly variable, and, of course, not tested for purity. Maybe cheaper, safer and easier to go to prescribed opiates if this level of pain relief is necessary.

Kratom basically targets the opiod receptors and will feel very similar to many opioids and also has some of the same drawbacks. I'd do some research. Having said that I love the stuff and now still use it for really bad days. Using it on occasion is very safe IMO and no worries about addiction. I'd say you could easily use it once or three times a week without addiction of any kind.

Kratom is dose and quality dependent. I buy from Phytoextractum and their quality is excellent. Keep trying larger doses if you are not getting results. Empty stomach also is important. It comes on fairly fast though so that's great. I also like the Malay form but they also have extracts that are killer potent. Some forms are better for pain than others, some are more energizing. Be careful with these very potent extracts as addiction can be more of an issue. And if you take a lot take a laxative. Like the traditional opioids this causes constipation, just not as severe. And there is more but you can PM me if you have questions. If I can find my pms that is. lol