Kratom Benefit Testimonials You Won't See On TV

Kratom benefit testimonials need to be heard because there is an important story that the major Media aren't telling Americans. Hundreds of thousands of us are rejecting the dangers of pharmaceutical drugs and finding better relief from an herb -- a revolutionary development the "presstitute" media choose to ignore.

Millions of Americans suffer chronic pain, fatigue, and emotional distress for which medical doctors have no effective remedies. Oh, they have plenty of the strongest narcotics, tranquilizers, antidepressants and anxiolytics imaginable, but these pose many unpleasant side-effects, not the least of which is accidental death from overdose or fatal drug interactions.

A growing number of Americans have found kratom -- an herb which has been used for centuries in Southeast Asia as we use coffee, but also as a medicine for pain, diarrhea, anxiety, depression, and diabetes. Kratom has also been used as a substitute for opium and for breaking addiction to that drug.

Kratom Is Being Used Successfully as a D-I-Y Drug Abuse Rehab -- Isn't This Good News? (Not for pricey rehab clinics or the pharmaceutical companies that supply them with drugs!)

Kratom, which grows wild in the jungles of Thailand, was made illegal in that country in 1943, primarily because it was cutting into the Thai government's tax revenue from the sale of opium -- not because of any danger or other problem this herb was causing. (The DEA and FDA like to inform the public that kratom is illegal in Thailand, without telling us the reason why.)

Why I am Writing This Hub

I saw first-hand how pharmaceutical drugs destroyed my mother's health during the last 20 years of her life. She paid dearly for her trust that our family physician could find a drug that would ease her physical and mental pain caused by her stressful position with a big Miami law office.

Her faith in pharmaceutical remedies cost her health, her kind personality, and eventually, her mind. My father died from another legal, FDA-regulated drug that was popular with doctors in the 1960s: tobacco.

So, you could say I got a crash course at a young age in the failings of the U.S. health care standard methods of treating chronic diseases.

This anti-kratom campaign by the media, tacitly defending the pharmaceutical drug monopoly, motivates me to help kratom users tell their side of the story. The barrage of lies, innuendo, and guilt-by-association demands an answer.

The fight to keep kratom legal is an important step in preserving all Americans' freedom to choose our own health care.

The Demographics of Kratom Users

The numbers of Americans who use kratom are more than 500,000 and growing. The majority of these, contrary to sensational media reports, do not purchase their kratom at gas stations and smoke-shops. Their stories and reasons for using kratom are also quite different than the youths the TV news likes to feature as stereotypical kratom users.

Kratom appears to be mostly used by mature adults who have suffered injuries and chronic pain. They judiciously use kratom, as you will see by these testimonials. They are able to hold responsible positions and function at a normal level with kratom's help, where they could not function well (or at all) on Vicodin, Percocet, or Oxycontin.

A Manufactured Crisis to Draw Attention Away from the Real Crisis?

Recently, there has been a media campaign to spread lies and alarm about kratom. It has implied that kratom is more addictive than heroin. This would be hilarious to any heroin or Vicodin addict in its distortion of the truth. However, it is attracting young people to try this new substance the TV is calling a "legal high".

Once again the news media are being used for propaganda purposes, causing the exact problem they propose to warn us about.

The media are telling young people that there is an exciting new "drug" and even telling them where they can find it, while implying it may not be available much longer -- a more effective sales pitch would be hard to imagine.

Where is the Media coverage of the much larger segment of the population that is turning to kratom gratefully as an alternative to the deaths caused by Big Pharma's poisonous remedies? You won't see it on TV, where pharmaceutical drugs rule the airwaves.

Where is the relentless media coverage of the addiction and fatalities caused by accidental prescription opioid overdoses?

Where is the media coverage of suicides caused by the depression that comes from medicating PTSD with antidepressants? Veteran suicides and America's overdose fatalities are the real crisis, but they would implicate Big Pharma, so they don't get much airtime.

(Despite what the FDA/DEA and local news like to imply, kratom, by itself isn't fatal when one overdoes it -- unlike alcohol, acetaminophen, aspirin, and many other FDA-approved drugs.) This fact is studiously avoided by newscasters.

Truth Is the First Casualty in Any War

The truth about kratom -- like the truth about Saddam Hussein's mythical "weapons of mass destruction" -- is far different than what is being told us in TV news reports. Some group is trying to buy our consent to start another expensive, futile, and damaging "war" with disastrous consequences for the many Americans who quietly use kratom for their own benefit.

Will there be a War on Kratom?

Once again we are being motivated with lies and too little factual information about our alternatives. How has that turned out in the past?

Didn't we learn anything from the fiasco of imprisoning millions of users of another herb that has since been found to be medically useful?

The purpose of this Hub is to examine why the vast majority of kratom's fans use this herb, the benefits they receive, and what their lives were like before they discovered this plant.

If you've seen the TV news reports on this strange new "legal high", but you don't know anyone who uses kratom, I'd like to introduce you to some very ordinary people, who may be a lot like you.

Unlike what the TV spots tell you, these folks became addicted to prescription drugs given them by their doctor for legitimate reasons. (Prescription painkillers of the strength formerly reserved for dying cancer patients are now prescribed for back pain, for example.) These folks know all too well the unpleasant shortcomings of pharmaceutical drugs and, by many different paths, they arrived at kratom.

The story often starts with a car accident or a surgery that leaves the person in constant pain.

"I was in a car accident at age 18 and was given pain meds here and there for this and that, never on a reg basis though but whenever I took pain meds I felt better than ever. Fast forward to age 24, I had an operation on my throat and a doctor with a heavy hand for prescriptions gave me hundreds at a time for months. He began prescribing me Tramadol, 400 at a time. He told me they were as safe as Tylenol and kept me on them for at least 3 years and then he stopped, I am not sure why. He may have lost his practice.

I really did not know I was addicted but I do know I didn't feel good at all then, so I started doctor hopping -- Doctor shopping was still OK back then.

I did this for at least 8 years -- if it wasn't me, it was my sister. We always had a prescription. Until one day... NONE! That was when some one told me to do heroin while pain meds left my system. I had no idea they were one and the same. Within 3 days I was full blown addicted; within 6 months I was shooting; within a year I was spending 3 hundred a day just to feel ok.

I then went on the rehab path -- 8 of them. I failed every attempt so I went on to a huge dose of methadone -- 200 mg a day -- for 3 years, then slowly went down off of that because there was a new drug called suboxone. I took "subs" for at least 2 years, moved away from the town I grew up in, and left with a taper dose of suboxone. This was in 2005. THAT was hell.

After that I was in so much pain day to day I found a doctor that prescribed me 400 pills a month for pain until one day he was gone I checked into a rehab for 6 months that is where they convinced me I was a drug addict and taught me how to be sensible and this was also where antidepressants came in 2008. It was an experiment and NONE of them helped at all. They made me suicidal but they kept on with them. I also found pain meds where I was not supposed to and bought them when ever I could from whomever I could. In 2010, I remembered that a doctor told me in 2005 I had something called fibromyalgia. I carried myself to the doctor I see now and he put me on pain meds the legal way and I could not seem to get enough. I always ran out before the month was over. I was also prescribed all kinds of antidepressants that I kept trying to make work for me.

I was really sick of living this way. In 2011 I ran into a soldier who was injured while in Afghanistan and he told me how kratom saved him from 15 pills a day. I tried it and he was right...it helped. I started easing up on pain meds and no more antidepressants. I failed to list a slew of other medications I was on but I was on at least 6 pills for fibromyalgia, too.

It took me a while to find a good source of this plant but once I did, my entire life changed. I now look forward to getting up in the morning as before I wished I were dead. I was no good to anyone. I wish my kids had a mother that wasn't always sick, but at least they have a grandmother that is awesome to their kids.

It is just a shame I had to go through so much to find a cure from what ever this is that I might have...I am no longer looking for answers -- I found them in kratom....PLEASE don't take my sanity away." (Kim Jerue)

Another car-wreck induced search for healthy pain relief:

Lisa Masters Crotty: "I was in a crash 2 years ago. Was rear-ended (by a car going 65) and I still want to drive through red lights so I don't have to stop. I see vehicles come up behind me and have to seriously stop myself. My heart rate goes up and I start sweating and want to punch the gas pedal. I am a very bad rider as well.

People do not like having me as a passenger anymore. Sucks!! I guess it's because I saw him coming and had no way out. I could have gotten out and made it to the median but would have been hit by my own truck as that is where it ended up. Got hit from behind, bouncing up hit the car in front of me then bounced again hitting the median. Anyway, just saying Kratom helps me relax and I have even been able to enjoy a few rides.

I have been diagnosed with PTSD and tried the med's they gave me. Only problem is they
knocked me out for hours and I would not dare to drive on them. Would be worse than drunk driving.

Kratom also helps with my everyday pain that the doc's say I will have and I have to get used to but hey,....if I can move my head from side to side without it hurting after drinking a bit of tea, then I am going to do it. I am not a baby but I do not like being in constant pain. And I pray they just back off and leave this alone."

A Bad Back Surgery Leads to Percocet Addiction

Eddie Jennings' Story:
"Kratom has helped me kick a really bad percocet addiction, I was given the percs for legit pain -- "two steel rods in my back from scoliosis surgery" -- but it got out of control. Kratom helps with my pain as well as depression, awesome stuff, truly a godsend."

Roy Bot Got Run Over By a City Bus

"Well, I don't have any PTSD (I don't think?), but I was run over by a city bus and weaned myself off of Percocet from 20 pills a day. I live in CA so I tried CBD-heavy cannabis (legally), which worked to a degree, but I felt hazy and unproductive just like with the opiates (minus physical addiction). I wish I had Kratom when my pain was worse, it would have been very helpful. Of course it completely takes care of the pain I still have.

You want a list of side effects from Percocet?
• constipation/hemorroids
• feeling like a robot (not a Roy Bot), no emotions
• haziness and slow thought
• addiction - when you break a femur, you take a lot of pills in a day and then all of the sudden you can't stop
• physical withdrawal - itchiness, anxiousness, nausea, depression, anger, etc etc etc

Quite honestly, I am not conscious of any serious PTSD in my case. I shiver or jump a little every time a bus passes while I'm walking down the sidewalk and don't see it coming, so maybe that counts. I am also a "safety nazi" when I ride my bike now (I was riding my bike when I was hit). But I still ride. This happened 2 years ago. Since I broke my femur and tore a bunch of muscle tissue, there is a part of my muscle that fused to the bone. That makes the muscle get really tight which causes problems up and down my entire leg.

Normally I'm ok, but I go through random months at a time where pain is isolated to random part of my leg, ankle or foot. I live in SF (with no car) and walk everywhere, so about 2 grams of Kratom (green vein / maeng da / malay) will not only help with pain, but the extra energy helps me power through it.

What I like about the pain-killing effect is that I don't feel numb, instead it's like the pain just isn't there anymore. It is very ideal. With the cannabis, I felt, well, stoned! I think that helped take my mind off the pain, but it still hurt. And of course, it was hard to put the potato chips down and get off my couch.

I think something that helped me was to get back on my bike. To overcome the fear. It's a good thing to be a little more "alert." I also used meditation to overcome some mental symptoms that resulted from my crash -- that helped the most.

Everyone is different. I'm glad Kratom has helped (others) in that sense. That just makes it all the more a miracle plant!

Chemical Exposure and Lyme Disease Caused Mental/Emotional Issues for Army veteran:

I lost my whole family last year. My wife left with the kids to another state. They up and left me. She was tired of my temper and inability to get a job. I prayed to God for a way to simply survive and have a halfway decent life even though my brain has been mixed like scrambled eggs due to chemical exposure whilst in the Army and also contracting Lyme disease while in the Army. Both of these things happened in Korea.

I wanted something that could at least make me halfway normal and make me stop wanting to die or worse.. commit suicide. I have been suffering for over ten years. I got out in 1998.

I've lost jobs due to not being able to stabilize my moods and getting into fights (verbal and physical). I had my gallbladder taken out due to not processing food right.

I also went to school for nutrition and herbalism looking for answers. Kratom (especially maeng da) doesn't entirely give me all the strength I once had but it makes me feel normal
again and my energy levels are back. I am so thankful for kratom. Funny thing is I didn't learn about this in my traditional western herbal class. I went to the ethnobotanical store ( the one my teacher said to stay away from).

Thank God for kratom or ketum as I like to call it." (by Michael)

Anxiety Disorder Led to Alcohol Addiction, but Resolved with Kratom:

Daz' Story:

"In 2007 I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. The medicines simply did not help. I began drinking every day. I discovered kratom 3 weeks ago and, simply said, it has saved my life.

Now I've been sober 3 weeks. The longest in 6 years. Alcohol is poison; kratom is not. My panic attacks were every day so I drank them away with poison. Now I have kratom to ease the pain of my anxiety disorder."

Chronic Depression Helped by Kratom:

Kratom has been such an amazing tool for me in fighting my chronic depression, I cannot imagine being without it... (by Amy Coyle)

Diverticulitis and Back Pain:

"9 years ago at age 39 I was diagnosed with diverticulitis and degenerative disc diseases. Vicodin and surgery were prescribed and, though I declined surgery, I spent the next few years becoming hopelessly dependent on opiates, which quickly lost their effectiveness in treating my pain, but kept me desperately addicted and depressed.

At that time online pharmacies and doctors in Texas and Florida were pretty easily available to over-prescribe narcotics for people who could provide medical records electronically.

After many years, I realized that prescription pain medications were ruining my life. At about the same time, the online pill mills were being closed down by federal regulators.

At that time, I belonged to a support forum, where someone recommended Kratom. I quit all prescription pain medications, and began using Kratom to treat my back pain. To my great surprise, Kratom also seemed to vanquish all symptoms of my diverticulitis. I believe that this may be due to the fibrous content of the plant material among other properties.

Fast forward 7 years later, and I am happier and healthier than I was at anytime during my 30's. I drink much less alcohol, have quit smoking cigarettes, no longer take Zoloft, rarely am interested by cannabis, suffer much less back pain, and have no symptoms of diverticulitis, nor IBS.

I take 1-3 tablespoons of plain, unadulterated Mitragyna Speciosa most days, and often less. I have not needed to increase my dosage, and do not seem to have developed a tolerance to the effectiveness of this plant. It has been an amazing life saver to me, and to my ability to be an active member of my community, a husband and a father.

I have, during the past couple years, become aware that there is a coming tsunami of pressure mounting against this, and other natural remedies, from the powers that be.

Kratom does not get me "high" any more than coffee does. It has a long history of safe and medicinal use. I intend to do everything in my power to educate people, and their representatives, about these issues."

Sincerely, "Ed Hoy"

Final Kratom Benefit Testimonial

"Between Maeng Da Kratom and regular ol' benadryl, my pain is nearly under control - as best as it can be anyway, and way better than I ever thought it would be.

I'm 32, been married for 7 years, have a nearly 6 year old daughter with some health and developmental problems. We also have 3.5 year old twin girl. The twins were born only 26 months after our oldest, so I had 3 teeny babies (the twins were only 4.5 and 3.5 lbs when they left the hospital) in diapers, feedings, cribs, etc. all at once. Exhausting and non-stop - and really wore on my health. The twins woke up 27x a night or more for 4 months, then 10x a night until they were 12 months. Prematurity is hard enough on its own, double that, plus an older daughter who was (and still does) battling severe migraines and SPD, it was simultaneously the most unimaginably exhausting and blessed time of my life.

I was diagnosed at 14 (in 1996) with Fibromyalgia. Back then it was virtually unheard of and I was teased horribly for saying I actually had something wrong that wasn’t visible. As the years went on, I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, Severe Anxiety Disorder, TMJD, and in my mid-20's I started getting Hemiplegic Migraines (Complicated Migraines) with non-epileptic seizures. I also have severe muscle tension from lifting kids (my right shoulder is higher than the other just from muscle tension). I was also recently diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: Hypermobility Type.

So, basically I hurt. A LOT. Always. Sleeping hurts, but I'm always tired. I am on 2 rx for the seizures and migraines, a muscle relaxant (the only 1 of 8 I've tried that actually work), an antidepressant, and Vicodin as needed. I used to overneed, overuse, rely on Vicodin constantly. I seriously HURT ALL THE TIME and they were telling me to take Motrin and relax. Easy with 3 babies 2 and under! NOPE. I was starting to become addicted, but it was the only way I could even feel well enough to lift a kid anymore. When I started running out before my next appointment, I knew I was in trouble.

I googled natural pain relief, natural Vicodin, and Kratom came up. I debated ordering for a couple of weeks. We were living on a teacher's salary and sometimes didn't even make it every month, but I needed help. I eventually ordered and hid it from my husband for a couple of months. Eventually I told him because he could tell a difference in me, tell I wasn't hurting as much - I was smiling and laughing again, not crying myself to sleep. I went from literally moaning trying to stand up and crying for at least an hour every night, to now working full time from home (WAHM), schooling my oldest, and taking care of 2 toddlers and a kindergartener all day, all while also pretending to have a life beyond work and kids.

I am the head of Social Media Marketing for 2 different companies, assist 2 other people with managing their social media posts, and I work ad hoc another company for data entry and management. I feel incredibly lucky that I am able to work from home doing something I love and not having to bring the girls to daycare. I can work my own hours, which works great when you have so many chronic illnesses and a child with the same.

Two years ago, though suicide wasn't truly something I would have followed through with, not because of myself, but because of my girls and I didn’t want to do that to my wonderful and supportive husband, it was something I had contemplated for many months. I was just so exhausted and in so much pain that I needed an escape and had no way to do that. But then I miraculously found Kratom and it worked better than anything else I tried.

KRATOM SAVED MY LIFE. I cannot stress this enough. Every day isn't great, I still hurt a lot, and the days when it’s raining or storming of any sort I am in tears and swollen with the pain in my face, but it has taken down my pain enough that I can raise my babies, try to be a good wife, person and friend, and I never, ever miss work. I no longer feel the need to do something drastic to end my pain.

Because I stopped eating to try to help myself feel better (which I know isn’t at the bottom of a bag of Cheetos, but it is what I is), Kratom also helped me feel well enough to lose over 75 pounds and get nearly to the normal weight range out of the nearly morbidly obese area after having all the girls. Obesity and diabetes run in my family, and I know for a fact that Kratom indirectly saved my life from these problems, too.

I haven't really ever told my story because of the stigma of since it’s a natural pain reliever, Kratom = Marijuana, it's often referred to as "a legal high” especially since so many uneducated in its use that do not use Kratom for its true reasons (energy and pain relief). I just use it as my personal savior, but I have shared this amazing plant’s usefulness with a few friends who deal with chronic pain as well

Thanks for "listening". I'm glad I have a group that understands just how amazing this plant is and how it could save so many from so much harm (from medication, suicide, and more)!!

-- Thanks,Jessica

• Kratom Benefit Testimonials Need to be Considered
• Many FDA-approved Products Are Toxic and even Fatal if misused
• Some FDA-approved pharmaceuticals kill those who take them as prescribed!
• Why Is Kratom Singled Out When It Is Helping So Many and Shows Little Potential for Harm?
• Scare Campaigns Attract Drug Abusers -- Just What the Media Wants?
• The U.S. FDA Appears to Play Favorites to Protect Big Pharma's Turf

How can kratom be kept legally available to those who wish to use it? That is the big question on the mind of all kratom users.

I am aware that the importers of kratom and the retailers have employed lobbyists and attorneys to work something out. In due time -- perhaps very soon -- I will be briefed on developments on this front. I hope to pass that along in a future Hub.

In the meantime, I see an apparent loop-hole that has allowed marijuana to be used as a medicinal herb in many states -- with no FDA crackdown. Perhaps it was grandfathered in because of the precedent established by cannabis' use as a food ingredient in Alice B. Toklas' brownies in the 1930s. (Just kidding!)

I haven't read that marijuana/cannabis has been FDA approved for use. In fact, it is not. So, the FDA and other regulatory federal agencies are showing considerable restraint in staying out of the legality of medical marijuana in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Why can't the same stance be taken regarding kratom, mitragyna speciosa?

"FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation." That's what it says on the FDA Web site.

The irony of tobacco, Oxycontin, morphine, alcohol being legal, FDA-regulated products -- even though all are capable of being misused, causing serious injuries and fatalities -- and kratom being suspected of unspecified and untrue dangers -- is glaringly obvious. What does it take for the FDA and other regulatory/enforcement agencies to accept the wise use of this simple herb?

If we continue to be told that we are allowed only the option of pharmaceutical drugs for our pain -- even though they, over time, may make us feel like killing ourselves (and kratom does the opposite) -- let's stop talking about this being a "free" country.

One way or the other, kratom is equally deserving to be legally allowed to those who prefer it to any pharmaceutical remedy now available. If there exists an ounce of human compassion in our federal, state, and local laws and regulations, some allowance must be made so that responsible individuals retain the freedom to choose an herb rather than toxic chemicals for their mental and physical pain relief, stimulation, or other conditions as they see fit.

If cannabis can be accepted for its medicinal benefits, why not kratom?

That is the hope of the contributors of these Kratom Benefit Testimonials.

Thanks for reading our stories!

Kratom is safe at subchronic doses.

This research study mention that No Respiratory Depression was observed in testing kratom, contrary to what is often reported on TV news programs.