DOSE:

oral

Kratom

(ground / crushed)

I'd like to submit this report as a general warning for those who are also susceptible to nightmares, especially with regards to psychological trauma-related nightmares. Due to difficult life situations I have been suffering from extremely frequent nightmares since I was a teenager. However, I have noticed that they become less common and less intense when I'm doing better psychologically.

A few years ago, I tried kratom for the first time. I knew it was physically addictive but due to my poor mental health I decided I didn't care and started taking it daily. In general, it has had a neutral effect on my mental health and wellbeing: it is addictive, and I really can't go more than a day without it. But it has helped me through difficult times and helps with motivation through depression and anxiety.

A big problem kratom causes for me is when I take it right before sleep, or take a large / heavy dose in the evening and sleep somewhere afterwards. It's something I usually avoid but yesterday I thought it would be worth it and was instantly reminded of why I don't do this. The experience is pretty much the same every time, but for the sake of clarity, here is the timeline of what happens when I take kratom before sleep:

T: 0:00 I take a (relatively large for me, keep in mind the size of a dose is dependent on tolerance) dose.

T: 0:20 I feel the typical warm and happy-ish but slightly restless feeling that I associate with kratom. As usual, taking a larger dose gives me the urge to redose compulsively, which I normally don't experience with kratom. I go in for more.

T: 0:40 I've reached the point where I feel the urge to lay down, due to a feeling of tiredness and content apathy , coupled with a slight nausea. I go to bed.

The headspace for large doses of kratom (to me) is very bizarre and a little uncomfortable. At the higher dosages, the feeling of physical comfort actually turns into one of physical discomfort. There's a paradoxical feeling of comfort and tiredness, and stimulation and restlessness. When I close my eyes on higher dosages like this, I get very faint visual hallucinations, that range from abstract shapes and colors to more clearly pronounced scenes that are often dark and grim in themes and content. My memory from these experiences is always blurry, as part of the experience is spent nodding off in a semi-asleep state.

T: 4:00 - 6:00 As does every time I take kratom right before sleep, I awaken multiple times in the night (often with the need to drink because of feeling dehydrated, or to use the bathroom). Every time I awaken, I feel extremely cozy and tired. This makes it impossible to get up later when the morning comes.

T: 8:00 - 12:00 The morning after is always where things get very dark. I awaken multiple times, every time too tired to get myself out of bed despite my intentions. Every time I fall asleep, I get extremely vivid nightmares, which are so intense that I scream in my sleep and wake up screaming, in a panic. In this state I also get hypnopomic hallucinations, which means hallucinations that occur right when you wake up. Normally, this shows up as some kind of demon or creature (often the one from my nightmare) being fully visible in my room, that fades away over the course of about 10 seconds while I wake up more fully. This makes waking up horrifying and usually I need to close my eyes when it happens and just pray that the hallucination is gone by the time I open them.

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All in all this is meant as a warning to those who also suffer from intense nightmares. The experience described above is not an exception, it happens literally every time that I take kratom right before sleep.

My friends don't have this problem, and I personally think genetics have something to do with it: I have an uncle who had to take opioid pain medication for a few years, and every time he would take it at night he would get severe nightmares and often wake up screaming.

I can completely avoid this problem if I leave a few hours before my last dose and going to sleep.

Exp Year: 2021	ExpID: 115809
Gender: Female
Age at time of experience: 20
Published: Oct 8, 2021	Views: 693
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