Bad Reactions To Kava

[E_Chagnon]

Hello, all -

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've been a fan of kava for about 3 years now - this magical plant has done me so much good, and I am very thankful to this community and to the plant itself for helping me so much over the years. Recently, however, I've been getting odd reactions to my standard grog and am not sure what to do.

I had my first set of weird reactions about a year ago. 3 days in a row where kava induced muscle tension and anxiety. I stayed away from kava for about 6 months - and missed it a lot : ( - and then have been back on it for another 6. I got back on the kava and it was amazing, no issues - but within the past month I've been getting anxiety, muscle tension, and tingling in limbs again. Last night I got some shortness of breath, which was scary. This is super weird, and I don't know where to go or who to ask about this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I'd like to understand this and ideally get back to enjoying kava - it's the single best thing I've ever tried for anxiety management and also productivity. Nothing like a bowl at the end of the night to relax and read with.

A bit of extra info:

• I used kava to help taper off of neurotin a while back, and the weird reactions started after that
• Strains are mostly loa waka + vula waka medium grind from KWK - have also gotten funky reactions from borogu and borongoru. Doses are between 6-8 TBSP med grind

 

[rapunzel]

That does sound weird and scary! My first thought is that the symptoms you describe don’t sound like common reactions to kava. Have you checked in with your doc to see if there is some other underlying health issue? Of course if the symptoms stop when you stop kava, that may be the unfortunate answer, though you have long stretches of time with positive kava experiences.

 

[chasemandingo]

My personal experience is that kava definitely effects endurance. The morning after a heavy kava session it would be much harder to complete my run. I would normally go 3.4 miles and sometimes it would hard to go 2.5 after a heavy session. By heavy I mean waking up still foggy from the kava the night before. I often yawn or sigh a lot on kava as well. I have had anxiety on kava before. I'm sure it is based on chemotype as kava normally makes me feel at peace. I am also usually cold on kava. So I know from experience that kava can make anxiety worse probably in someone who suffers from anxiety disorders.

 

[E_Chagnon]

Thanks a ton for the responses - I will keep playing around with this and see if it gets better. I am a little frustrated that multiple years of great experiences and a very wonderful relationship with the plant can shift to less-than-ideal reactions, but it is all good. Doctors don't know much about kava, unfortunately, so I would probably want to find an expert on kava, hence why I am here!