Like any psychoactive substance, your body will eventually get used to Kratom. There is no danger in it. It’s just how the body naturally reacts to it. However, Kratom tolerance becomes dangerous when you keep increasing each dose to continue experiencing its effects. If you’re not careful, your high doses could eventually lead to Kratom dependence.
It is for this reason you have to keep your tolerance to Kratom at the minimum. Doing so will help you maintain low doses while still experiencing its benefits.
Here are some of the ways that you can do to manage Kratom tolerance:
1. Keep a Schedule and Stick to It
Ideally, you should avoid using Kratom for recreation or pleasure if you want to avoid dependence and manage tolerance. This is also why you have to follow a schedule to avoid using it whenever you just feel like taking a dose.
Having a schedule can help you establish whether or not you’re taking just the right amount and at the right frequency. With a schedule, you can easily tell if you’re taking too much.
With a schedule, you can also determine if the effects are declining. To effectively keep track of its effects, the next tip will help.
2. Journal Your Use and Its Effects
Your body reacts uniquely towards different foods, ingredients, and stimuli. Following this thought, it is only right that your reaction to Kratom is different from those who take the same strain and dosage as you do.
It’s for this reason that you must be aware of your body’s reactions while taking kratom. Record these reactions on a notebook or a note-taking app on your smartphone.
Every dose of Kratom you take should be recorded. For each dose that you take, take note of the date, Kratom strain, dosage amount, and your experience of its effects.
This record can help you determine the lowest dosage for you to experience the desired effects. You would use this as your minimum daily dose and as a benchmark to determine if its effects are diminishing.
Of course, you would eventually increase the dose when this happens. But, with this record, you would know the amount that you should go back to eventually after a clean break or tapering your dose.
3. Use Different Kratom Strains
Your body can eventually become accustomed to one type of Kratom strain that its effects are no longer the same. This is called the stagnant strain syndrome. To remedy this, you would have to space your dose for one strain with a dose of another.
Your journal should also help as you can keep track of a strain’s effects. If the benefits of a strain do not justify the high dosage needed for effects to materialize, it could be time to replace it with a new strain for the mean time.
However, keep in mind that strain rotation would not alleviate overall tolerance of Kratom. You would need to incorporate other ways of managing tolerance to properly use the plant.
4. Properly Space Your Doses
Your body would adapt faster when your Kratom doses are spaced closely between each one. It is advisable to have a minimum of six hours between your doses. Having a more frequent intake could increase the chances of developing Kratom dependence.
Keep each dose at the minimum amount that can provide your intended benefits. In this way, you’re not using more than you need and have less of the plant’s chemicals circulating in your system on average.
Aside from managing tolerance, spacing your doses is a good way to see if you’re developing any dependence in using the plant. If you experience any signs of withdrawal between two doses scheduled six to twelve hours apart, you might have already developed it.
5. Use Magnesium to Help Manage Kratom Tolerance
Magnesium enhances the pain-killing effects derived from interactions on your opioid receptors. This can aid in improving the benefits of Kratom for those taking it for chronic and acute pain while decreasing the needed dose.
Studies have shown that this is due to magnesium being a NMDA antagonist. These receptor antagonists have been shown to reduce central hypersensitivity and opioid tolerance.
To boost your magnesium intake, you can increase your consumption of whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and green leafy vegetables. You can also take magnesium supplements in the form of magnesium bisglycinate, which is the most bioavailable form of the mineral.
6. Periodically Decrease Your Dose
One way that has been proven to reduce tolerance and dependence of opioids (like Kratom) is by reducing its daily intake.
This is done by reducing your daily dose to 50 to 75 percent of your benchmark dose. You can do this by reducing the number of your doses in a day or by reducing the amount in each dose.
If you experience cravings or any symptom, you might have to taper your dose at a more manageable amount. What is important is that you can bring down your intake to half of your benchmark for at least a week.
7. Take Regular Breaks From Kratom
The best way to reduce your body’s familiarity from Kratom is by taking a break from it. You can stop taking your doses for three to seven consecutive days after a few months of taking it.
However, proper care should be done when you plan to take a break from your schedule. Physical withdrawal symptoms can manifest for those who are moderately to severely dependent on Kratom. These symptoms include muscle pain and spasms, sleeping difficulties, watery eyes, runny nose, hot flashes, decreased appetite, fever, and diarrhea.
The withdrawal symptoms would start around six to twelve hours after taking the last dose. The symptoms would gradually increase and peak at two to three days after the last dose. Individuals who are heavily dependent on Kratom can experience withdrawal symptoms for up to a week. If you experience any of the symptoms, you might have an easier time by gradually reducing each dose on your schedule.
Keep this in mind, withdrawal from Kratom is similar to caffeine in intensity and duration. Kratom dependence is similar to caffeine dependence since the plants are related. You can reduce each dose for one to two weeks and reduce it again for the same amount of time until you stop taking it completely.
Difficult but Necessary
Kratom has great benefits for those seeking to substitute or wean off opioid medications. But, these benefits require that you’re careful with how you consume it to avoid developing kratom tolerance.
Some of the ways suggested in this article can be a hassle at times. But, to manage tolerance and to prevent dependence, these difficulties are just a necessary part of Kratom use.