Dermopathy quiz

[xerarch]

Come on guys, if you measure your kava in teaspoons, of course you're not gonna get dermo

Sad to say, 2 teaspoons a day of micro was enough to give me dermo. And it was GHK's de-makafied micro, too. So now I won't drink kava for more than 2 consecutive days. Two days on, one or two days off seems to work. As long as I follow that schedule I can sometimes go wild and have THREE teaspoons a day!

 

[Paulie-Paul]

I got Fermi for the first time last week, I have been drinking Hiwa, it has a bit of a sour taste like old kava and was wondering if this was responsible. Took a couple if days off and all seems to be good now I'm drinking Boroguru.

 

[Paulie-Paul]

Dermi not fermi

 

[DirTJerz]

My dermo has been tolerable but constantly evolving (through the 6 months or so that I've been really into drinking this stuff). It's hard to make much sense of it, except to assume it's mostly due to volume being drunk. Right now I'm taking a break because the skin at the corners of my eyes is burning, making my eyes tear. I usually drink 8 Tbsp. daily of noble, mostly GHK kava, and I think the dermo really only flares when I indulge beyond that. On my body, I've had moderately dry skin, and the Amlactin seems to work well, beyond the burn. At one point my hands got so old looking that I was on the verge of getting gloves, but they've returned close to normal even through heavy use. I think the dermo has contributed to my chapped lips and nose (and eyes) during this cold season, and the only place I've noticed anything "scaly" was a pea-sized area under my nose. I hydrate well and have been moisturizing.

So I don't have too much insight to offer, but those are my experiences. I guess I'm in the same boat - I'll have to wait and see how quickly things clear up and what dose will keep it away.

 

[Crunked]

My dermo has been tolerable but constantly evolving (through the 6 months or so that I've been really into drinking this stuff). It's hard to make much sense of it, except to assume it's mostly due to volume being drunk. Right now I'm taking a break because the skin at the corners of my eyes is burning, making my eyes tear. I usually drink 8 Tbsp. daily of noble, mostly GHK kava, and I think the dermo really only flares when I indulge beyond that. On my body, I've had moderately dry skin, and the Amlactin seems to work well, beyond the burn.

What type of GHK do you use? Instant, micronized or ground root? If root, do you strain or toss 'n wash? Do you use room temp water or hot water?

 

[blindy107]

I seem to have better luck with Hawaiians and Tongans. Lighter kava to be specific. The heavy Vanuatuan root is more likely to bring the itch. I usually do the darker ones less often during a normal week.

I didn't even think about chapped lips being a sign of dermo! Mine have been tore up this last year. Coincidentally, that's when I start rooting.

 

[Deleted User01]

Just the tuday fro HKC. It ruined it for me. I never got Dermo from any other strain of micro. I'm sure I'd love Chris's noble micronized kavas, but it's more of a texture and memory thing for me now. If a tiny fiber makes it to the back of my throat when drinking I find it difficult not to immediately blow chunks.

I can do Micronized with no problem. But please don't make me eat a tablespoon of gooey, chunky, vomitty looking Oatmeal. That makes be wanna puke and I don't know why. The only other thing close to that was when I boiled kava and ended up with a thick, greasy grog. I wasn't going to waste it and it was a fight to keep it down.

 

[Deleted User01]

I seem to have better luck with Hawaiians and Tongans. Lighter kava to be specific. The heavy Vanuatuan root is more likely to bring the itch. I usually do the darker ones less often during a normal week.

Thanks @blindy107, you lent at least a little bit credence to my theory. I thought I read somewhere that the double bonded Kavalactones were more likely to bring on dermo. I think all Kavas can bring on dermo if you drink enough but the heavy ones seem to bring it on quicker. That's my theory and I'm stickin' to it.

 

[ApéroNoble]

@kavadude Tudei has given me the worst Dermo of my life. After I switched to all noble it did recede, however it has never entirely gone away. I just reduced my dose from 55 grams to 35 grams and it's helped a ton.

regarding Henry's post "50 higher efficacy of the combo passion flower / kava vs taken alone", I am interested to see if adding this powder in your mixes will enable you who have this problem to get the same benefits of higher dosed kava with less Dermo. I've ordered this organic passion flower powder as shown in the thread http://www.kavaforums.com/forum/thr...n-comparison-with-the-single-substances.4206/. If any of you wish me to send you free samples of this powder to add in your kava powder and will cover the shipping I will send it to you.

You who have PM'd me to order you a bag don't have to buy the whole bag if you wish to try it out first.

 

[kavadude]

Sad to say, 2 teaspoons a day of micro was enough to give me dermo. And it was GHK's de-makafied micro, too. So now I won't drink kava for more than 2 consecutive days. Two days on, one or two days off seems to work. As long as I follow that schedule I can sometimes go wild and have THREE teaspoons a day!

Are you sure it was kava dermopathy?

 

[Steve T]

Before I stopped drinking kava my skin was more wrinkly, slightly yellow tinted, and drier in some areas. Particularly my face and hands look like they aged 10 years. It started going away after 1-2 weeks. It can't be a good thing. I eat more than 5-8 tbsp of oats per day but it doesn't mean that my face doesn't start looking like oats.

I still have that tub of alpha hydroxy moisturizer I've been using on my hands every day, I forget who recommended that but it works. Dryness was never a huge issue for me. But I also completely avoided sediment. I wrote a kava prep guide of how to do that if it helps anyone.

 

[CentaurianSlug]

Which Is???

Natural Balance Kava Kava Root Extract 70 mg kavalactones - less that $10 for 60ct at WalMart.com Don't get your kava from WalMart. Had to try it at that price. Got painful rashes everywhere my clothes touched my skin.

 

[DirTJerz]

What type of GHK do you use? Instant, micronized or ground root? If root, do you strain or toss 'n wash? Do you use room temp water or hot water?

I have been trying pretty much every GHK kava I can, along with some others like nambawan, kavaboy, boronguru, and waka. Mostly strained med. grind in warm water, but I like the micro too. Perhaps my dermo symptoms will stabilize if I can stick with a favorite or two for a while.
Side note - my eyes and skin are better today, after 3 days off.

 

[HeadHodge]

I seem to get it more furiously with certain strains... Boroguru, Nambawan etc. And the cold definitely exacerbates it. I make between 6-8 tbs daily. The funny thing is that if I stop suddenly it seems to get worse before going away Howzat work?

Yeah, no shit right, I have the same issue? It seems kava hates you by giving you dermo when you use it, then it hates you even more when you stop.

 

[KavaGurl]

Yeah, no shit right, I have the same issue? It seems kava hates you by giving you dermo when you use it, then it hates you even more when you stop.

Exactly.. Annnd I just pick the lesser of two evils and keep on

 

[xerarch]

Are you sure it was kava dermopathy?

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, so I looked through the forum for other people's experiences & found several cases that presented the same way. I may never know definitively whether it was kava-related, but after a week of abstention I was good as new. Occasionally now I'll get dry, itchy eyes after drinking kava, but a Benadryl fixes that pretty quickly.

 

[TheKavaSociety]

@kavadude You might find this new paper interesting: "Kava dermopathy in Fiji: an acquired ichthyosis?" http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijd.12546/full

 

[kavadude]

Indeed I read it earlier. It does sound quite similar, unlike other previously suggested known dermatological issues (a quick google image search can disprove that kava dermopathy is at all related to niacin deficiency). Unfortunately, the treatment seems to be the same: put on some cream and deal with it. Fortunately, we have the benefit of cutting back or stopping and having it go away.

I was hoping to find the amount I could drink daily and not get it at all. I've cut back to like 6 tablespoons a day, I think I'm going to stop for awhile until this case goes away and then start again with that amount and see if it happens.