Kava Success Stories

[Steve Mariotti]

Because of a bad interaction I had with kava and alcohol, kava has completely pushed alcohol off my list of "fun things to do when I don't have to do anything else." It keeps it at bay, even though I've never had alcohol problems aside from the usual stuff like beer goggles, public embarassment, dehydration and hangovers that feel like a mule kicked me in the head four or five times before exploding in my mouth with a gut full of stinkweed.

 

[skatetheclouds]

@skatetheclouds. I can totally relate to what you said about alcohol. I love craft beers, single malt scotches, and good red wine. The only thing with all that is that alcohol makes me drunk. And being drunk as bad side effects like bringing up your anger, getting ugly with your wife, bad hangover the next day, fitful sleep, and so on. Now that I'm on kava, my alcohol consumption has gone down and so have the side effects. I still hoist a few on my non-kava days but I watch my consumption very carefully so I don't go over my limit.

Ya exactly what you said i love a good wine pairing, and scotch with my buddies! But its hard to stop at one or two. The ugliest i have ever been as a person is while being intoxicated. Ruining good friendships and relationships. Paying for it big time the next day with headaches and stomach issues.

 

[krazyforkava]

Kava has basically saved my life from anxiety and alcohol. A year ago, the path I was taking with my alcohol consumption was a road heading toward addiction but since I started kava I don't even like drinking anymore. I would much more prefer kava instead. Kava has also improved my anxiety to an extent that I thought would not be possible without prescription medication. I thank God I found this plant and a forum of people who genuinely care about kava and the people who consume it. Thank you all who make this forum possible and to the people who participate in it. It means a lot to someone like me, who loves kava and the culture it brings.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

Kava has been a real life changer for me too. The depressive inner monologue from a lifetime of anxiety-fueled depression has nearly gone away with regular (though not daily) kava drinking. It's given me a whole new lease on life where before I saw only frustration and dead ends. Now I see myriad possibilities and have a genuine desire to seek out new and novel situations.

 

[LoGun4340]

Time for me to write my success story. I have suffered from anxiety for some time and was recently diagnosed with degenerative disc disease (this name makes it sounds worse than it is) after being in pain for a couple years I went to the doctor and the x-ray showed my last disc to be 1/4 the size it should be. The pain comes and goes but when it's bad it's really bad, sometimes moving down my right leg. My doctor prescribed me a custom cream with a analgesic, muscle relaxer, cortisone and a couple others adding up to 6 active ingredients. While I trust my doctor and have a good relationship with him this sounded like something I did not want to do long term and It was also very expensive at something around $160 a month after insurance and it had to be applied 4 times daily and I was still in a lot of discomfort. I started taking grocery store Kava liquid caps looking for a herbal helper in nicotine cessation. I quit smoking cold turkey, never have I been able to do this with such ease and comfort. I had two different days where my anxiety was very high at work and I was very frustrated with co workers and had a cigarette on each occasion but I rallied mentally and with Kava at my side I never looked back, no more tobacco and no more nicotine. While going through this process I realized not only did I not want to smoke but I was less anxious and I had not noticed any back pain for almost a month. This combined with reading over and over that root powder was the way to go and my growing fascination with the lore and ritual of the traditional preparation method I ordered my first batch of Fijian Waka medium grind root powder. The effects were amazing, I almost always have great sleep now, my back is relaxed and pain free for such long periods of time it is much more manageable from a pain and mental perspective. My anxiety in situations were it is irrational or unwanted has all but vanished. I just can't say enough about this plant and the great people in the Kava community that come with it. Used responsibly this can and will help many people in many aspects of their lives. Also I must give a mention to Chris Allen from Gourmet Hawaiian Kava for making it a no brainer when I went to choose my first high quality Kava and for offering great customer service after I made my choice or offering his knowledge and suggestion when inquiring about future selections. Thank you Kava Forum community and Kap'm for making this such a great place to learn and visit with each other.

 

[Kava_Bob_40]

Way to go on the quitting smoking, Logun. It will be three years coming up for me on April 27th. Life feels much better without smoking and drinking alcohol. The first couple of weeks after quitting smoking is the worst, I think.

Kava has so many positive uses. Could kava be made into a cream I wonder? I'm guessing since there is anesthetic properties it sounds like a likely candidate?

 

[Steve Mariotti]

I'm really glad it's working for you @LoGun4340 . You describe my feelings about it as well. It's more or less completely zeroed my anxiety and social anxiety. Kind of amazing. Amaze-balls, even.

 

[Kava_Bob_40]

I recently introduced my past ex-girlfriend, now my girlfriend again, to kava. After she tried some of mine she wanted to buy some for herself and she did. She is really into it now. She hasn't been on psychotropics in a while. She said that the feeling from the kava so far has been a feeling of well being and she likes the effect of the calmness it provides.

 

[24601]

I'm new to the forums and posted a bit of my success story in my introduction, but I can elaborate here.
I've been drinking kava for about a month, starting infrequently and then increasing in regularity as I found the positive effects. I have suffered from anxiety my entire life, and I've been dealing with anorexia for 10 years. A few months ago I started my own business mixing and selling tea blends. To get the herbs I use in bulk, I found a supplier close to me geographically. One day while trying to think of new tea flavours, I was browsing her list of herbs (she lists the positive health benefits of everything she sells) and read her listing for kava. I felt like I had to try it. My first purchase was pieces of cut root, which I tried to make into a tea. It was unsuccessful, I felt no effects, but I kept trying, next time buying powdered root.

I'm still getting used to preparing the kava, I have a muslin bag and I put two tablespoons in the bag and then massage the bag in a cup of cold water for 10 minutes, and that seems to work most of the time - I seem to remember when I tried it with warm/hot water it might have worked a bit better so I'm going to try that again today and see. The effects are variable, sometimes more potent than others, even when using the same batch of kava.

The biggest success I have found since adding kava to my life is with the anorexia. I'm on a waiting list for treatment, and there was some messiness where the treatment centre lost my referral, and I was feeling pretty hopeless about improving, and then a friend died due to complications from her eating disorder which hit very close to home. But since I've began drinking kava more regularly, I find myself able to eat at least a little bit more, and even though I'm not gaining weight, I've managed to stall more weight loss. And while the eating disordered part of me is not happy about that, the kava part of me feels like things will happen as they are meant to happen, when they are meant to happen, and that I'll generally be ok, after all, I've made it this long.

The only problem I am having is the cost. I guess I need to shop around, maybe the close proximity and fast shipping of my current provider is too expensive and I could find it for cheaper elsewhere. The next time I have some spare cash, I'm going to try one of the more well known suppliers. I'm also thinking of purchasing some tincture from a health food store in my neighbourhood, just to see if that has any effect.

I guess the whole point of this is, I am glad to have found kava and a community of people who can guide me along my way. I really think I've found something that can change my life. I have been on benzos for the anxiety for about a year and I'm really hoping to finally taper off of them with the help of kava. The frequency that I'm drinking it has increased a lot lately, but I'm hoping to find a routine, maybe a cup or two of kava at night to wind down several times a week. I'm just in such turmoil right now that it's hard to resist something that makes life feel liveable again. I think kava can help me get my feet back under me, and then I can develop a routine for my kava consumption.

I really find the preparation of it soothing, too. Something about timing the 10 minutes and squeezing the bag under water and feeling the soft oily kava inside reminds me of being a kid and playing with sand at the beach.

Thank you all for being here.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

We're here for ya, man.

You may wish to look into Best Fiji Kava, which sells both waka (lateral root) and lawena (stump root) grinds of Fijian kava. Their pricing is VERY reasonable, and while their root isn't as strong as some of the other vendors, it's the real article, has clean effects and works just fine.

 

[Bwiggy]

@Schmedward - I've been using kava for a few months and am still trying to get the extraction down.
it seems I need a minimum of four tablespoons. I first soak it in warm water (not hot!) with a tblspn of coconut oil or other fat
I use a sonic cleaner for about 8 minutes then knead for 5 or 10.
I have a mix set aside of cashew milk, 1 tblspn lecithin, a dash of cayenne and a bit of ginger (if I have it) melding, and then I add it to the mix I drink - these help the body with digestion/absorption.
It's so great when I get the effects, but most of the time it's very mild. I want more reliable results. No one to blame but me.

 

[Pacifico]

So funny to read what you guys say about smoking. At the kava bar I go to, all of the patrons and employees smoke. (Or vape.)

 

[The Kap'n]

So funny to read what you guys say about smoking. At the kava bar I go to, all of the patrons and employees smoke. (Or vape.)

I noticed the same thing when I visited Noble Kava in Asheville, NC. Everyone was vaping something. I didn't see anyone actually smoking anything though as I think it's still illegal for bars that aren't 21 and up.

 

[Pacifico]

I noticed the same thing when I visited Noble Kava in Asheville, NC. Everyone was vaping something. I didn't see anyone actually smoking anything though as I think it's still illegal for bars that aren't 21 and up.

Yeah I am not really picky about smoke but I was bothered by the kava bar smelling like smokers. I know it might not make sense to some but I would almost prefer to walk into a smoky kava bar than to be caught off guard. I have a whole collection of vaping stuff that I tried out for awhile. I work with kids and I found myself feeling a bit weird telling them not to vape and vape myself. Kava seems to be included in the vaping and hookah culture when it comes to mainland (US) kava bars. Is it like every pizza joint serving chicken wings too? I don't know.

 

[JUNGLEJET]

@Ceraton's thread got me thinking. There is a thread on another forum I post on for CPAP machine users about success stories, how CPAP machines have changed your life and so on. So I thought it would be nice to have one here to collect them all in one place, to motivate newbies into giving kava a serious chance.

I'll go first. Since I started drinking kava instead of alcohol, I've lost about 65 pounds, going from obese to normal weight by BMI. I sleep better and I have less anxiety. My life has improved measurably since I started drinking kava.

How has kava changed your life for the better?

I just tried Kava Kava for the first time and thought I'd share my experience. First, I have been suffering from severe depression and anxiety for nearly four years - so bad in fact that I have been nearly incapacitated at times. I have been on almost every SSRI and SNRI along with the gamut of anxiolytics. None of them have produced any benefit with the modest exception of the anxiolytics but those came with many negative side effects and made the depression worse and barely took the edge off of the anxiety.

I have also tried a number of supplements with no effect. Recently I tried L-Theanine and was hopeful due to the many positive reviews....NOTHING. I also want to say that I am not at all prone to buying into hype and am immune to placebo effects. I need an elephant tranquilizer to feel anything at all. I suspect that I have an unusually stout physical constitution when it comes to medication.

So I searched the internet for anti anxiety supplements and was rather impressed with what I read about Kava as it was consistently at the top of the lists in terms of effectiveness. I picked up a bottle of Natural brand 200mg capsules and took my first one this afternoon. I am inclined to be cautious about my optimism as I want to make sure that this is not just in my head but all I can say is WOW. Within a half an hour I was beginning to feel more relaxed and an easing of depression. After an hour, I kid you not, I was feeling better than I can remember in literally YEARS. I have zero anxiety, zero depression. My emotional energy and sociability are at levels that I cannot recall.

I have no compulsion to take extra to feel even better which is completely abnormal for me as I am a recovering alcoholic/addict - seven months sober. I have a small amount of skepticism but it is fading rapidly as I become more and more convinced that I may have found the missing ingredient to my elusive chemistry. I will report again tomorrow with my experience. Years worth of misery and extreme frustration and one capsule erases that within an hour...I hope.

J

 

[verticity]

Huge collection of kava experiences.

Dude, we are more interested in your experience.
Oh, and linking to "drug" sites is frowned upon.

 

[Piper Methysticum]

I'm much more productive now. Kava has helped my go from 5-6 hours of sleep a night to 7-8 hours. This higher quality deep restful sleep has allowed me to take on each day charged up and ready. No more need for afternoon naps I get all of my sleep in one shot now so I can work harder and longer each day with much better focus throughout.

 

[Blippy5]

I don't know if I'm ready to say I a "success story" yet, I try not to call the results until it's decided. That said, I am a convert, and I enjoy the benefits of kava.

Kava has been a replacement for alcohol to me. I have lost a few extra pounds since starting. I enjoy kava more than I did alcohol, with less side effects. Alcohol was more of a depressant to me than I realized, it was also the culprit for my reoccurring heartburn.

Most of all- kava ensures me a restful night sleep. Which otherwise is only possible with a strong prescription.

 

[stonedape]

Kava saved me....I like many here have anxiety disorder and debilitating panic attacks that started to occur everyday after a chemical leak killed 4 coworkers in my job site. I knew my life was on the line every time I would suit up and what made it worse was knowing my brothers along side me were in the same boat and mathematically speaking it was inevitable a number of us would not make it back home to our families any given shift. I knew my mindset was not right for the tasks at hand and started to question mine being capable of fulfilling my duties and not putting others in harms way bc of my body's and brains inability to cope I would have panic attacks and anxiety that crippled me and seemed like heart attacks. After passing out a few times it was clear I needed time off and to seek help that of witch nobody seemed to understand or had answers for. Doctors want to prescribe pills and talk therapy both of which i'm not fond of. Searching for intelligence online I found kava and literally after the first cup I felt at peace with my situation on earth. Kava has allow me the freedom to restructure my thoughts and patterns so I can act towards a more peaceful life. Instead of being lost from events that I did not know could have such affects on the human body, ptsd and anxiety had me thinking death was actually a better option lol has me understanding better the situation of our fellow soldiers and wishing there was a better way. thanks greatly for the community and your support many blessings. P.s I am still worried about liver toxicity as I need kava daily for now anyways. I hope this was just a thing of the past due to bad harvesting issues but my anxiety has me fearful of that in this is the only hope I have found thus far.

 

[TidyMinion]

P.s I am still worried about liver toxicity as I need kava daily for now anyways. I hope this was just a thing of the past due to bad harvesting issues but my anxiety has me fearful of that in this is the only hope I have found thus far.

http://www.kavaforums.com/forum/forums/acetonic-test-discussion.96/

This is a really useful section to read up on some good folk doing some testing on samples here from many brands of kava. It's good information when considering the myriad of kava products available online and in local stores. Any kava you get should be genuinely "Noble" meaning it contains only the root parts of the plant that are appropriate for drinking. Additionally, kava root should really be the only ingredient. You'll see a trend here regarding those brands with tested, good Noble kava and the regularity of discussions/shout-outs regarding these brands in the forums. There's plenty of good kava out there (as is bad kava unfortunately), however, there's a ton of information at your disposal to really fine tune your experience here. keep diggin!