How Long to Wait Between Kratom Doses?
Using kratom can be a great way to get your creative juices flowing, ready yourself up for a heavy workday, and even relax after long hours of working, depending on the strain you choose. Just like with any substance that alters your state of mind and energy levels, such as coffee or nicotine, you need to know how long to wait between your kratom doses. This is because while it can positively impact your mind and body, taking too much kratom too quickly can bring about some unintended side effects.
Of course, the wait between kratom doses depends on a variety of factors, such as the kratom strain you like, your kratom tolerance, and even other substances you take alongside it. Another important factor is the reason why you’re using kratom — relieving heavy pain may require higher doses taken less frequently, while smaller but frequent doses might be more useful if you’re using it for light but persistent pain.
If you’re at a loss regarding how to spread out your dosage of kratom, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll go over how long you should wait between kratom doses, how to avoid adverse effects, and what to do when you notice yourself developing tolerance to the substance.
Why Is Moderate Use of Kratom So Important?
Moderation is the golden rule, not only when it comes to using kratom but also other substances. If you take too much, you might feel overwhelmed and even develop an adverse reaction to your kratom dose. Take too little, on the other hand, and you won’t achieve the desired effects at all. Moderate dosage is a way to ensure that you enjoy kratom and its positive effects in exactly the way you’re meant to.
Tolerance Build-Up
If you start out with a high dosage of kratom and up the ante by ingesting more frequent doses, you’ll run the risk of developing a high tolerance to the substance very quickly. This will dwindle the effects of kratom, leading you to have to use more and more of the plant to get the benefits you want. After a while of this kind of usage, you might even develop an addiction, and mitigating withdrawal symptoms will be the only reason why you use kratom.
Tolerance build-up might seem innocent at first, but you need to be extremely wary of its perils — moderate your kratom use to save money, energy, and your own well-being.
Risk of Side Effects
The larger doses of kratom you take in, the bigger the risk of experiencing kratom’s side effects. They may include stomach discomfort and mood disorders. Kratom’s effects are the best when you take an optimum dosage and let it work its magic for at least a couple of hours.
If you use kratom for pain relief and you keep upping your doses because it’s not helping you, book an appointment with your physician. Kratom is not intended to treat any serious medical condition, and it might even make matters worse, depending on what it is that is causing you pain.
A Brief Guide to Dosing Kratom
Kratom is known for its therapeutic or euphoric effects, but you need to remember that it is also a strong substance that, if taken inappropriately, can be harmful. People frequently take kratom to treat opiate withdrawal symptoms, substitute coffee, or, in the case of red vein kratom, combat insomnia and sleeplessness more effectively. However, in order to feel the consistent effects of kratom, you should be taking the right kratom dosage for your experience level.
Basic Rules
If you’re a kratom beginner, your starting dosage should be small, even smaller than the dose recommended on the package. New kratom users frequently report feeling overwhelmed when using the substance. To avoid that, start with very low doses and gradually increase until you feel the desired kratom effects.
Instead of increasing the dosage to reap the benefits faster, try taking a low kratom dose on an empty stomach. Your body will metabolize the substance faster, and you won’t need to reach for more kratom powder or tea to get what you want out of it.
You could also experiment with different strains. Not feeling the desired effects is not always a matter of dosage. A lot of the time, taking kratom effectively is tied to the kratom strains you choose.
For example, white vein kratom helps you be more alert and keeps your mind sharp. While it serves as a great morning coffee substitute, it might not be the solution if you turn to kratom to sleep better. For that purpose, you should use red vein kratom.
Wait Time Between Kratom Doses
It really depends on your level of experience, but most kratom experts recommend that you wait out at least 12 hours between each dose of kratom, regardless of whether you drink it as tea, take kratom capsules, or use tinctures. Of course, if you use kratom to mitigate opioid withdrawal symptoms, taking small kratom doses every 12 hours might not cut it. In special scenarios such as this one, try limiting your usage to once every 6 hours. Doing it more frequently might lead you to switch from one addiction to another instead of successfully kicking the opiate habit.
Other Important Factors
The amount of time you need to take between doses of kratom is also affected by a variety of factors that don’t really have much to do with the dosage of the substance or your experience level. It is equally important to watch what you take your kratom with, as well as how you choose to ingest it. These are two factors that frequently get overlooked when debating how long to wait between kratom doses.
Kratom Potentiators
Certain fruits and substances are known as kratom potentiators, which means that they enhance the kratom effects, allowing you to take small doses that hit much harder than expected. Knowingly potentiating your kratom doses with these is a great way to use your kratom stash more economically. But if you’re unaware of what these potentiators are, you’re running the risk of overloading yourself. Here are some of the most common kratom potentiators:
- grapefruit juice (and other citruses)
- cayenne pepper
- chamomile tea
- any caffeinated beverage
- turmeric
- apple cider vinegar
If you take kratom alongside the substances mentioned above, we recommend that you wait for a bit longer than the recommended minimum of 6 hours before your next dose.
How You Take Kratom
Kratom alkaloids can be introduced into the human body in many different ways. Kratom powder is the most popular one, but there is also tea, as well as kratom tinctures. The latter ones are particularly tricky, as they are the most potent form of kratom products out there – be careful when measuring out your doses, and keep in mind that you really need much less of them to achieve the desired effects.
Final Thoughts
The kratom industry is booming right now. These plant-based dietary supplements are a great way to wean yourself off caffeine or more serious addictive substances, such as opiates. However, taking high doses regularly can lead to developing high kratom tolerance or even an addiction to this otherwise wonderful plant. This is why we recommend you moderate your usage based on the information we presented above.
Let us leave you with two final tips: keep a kratom journal to track your usage and understand the effects it is having on your mind and body and avoid taking kratom tinctures as a complete beginner. Good luck!
