lapiseyed
Newbie
So I have a problem: I've had to quit drinking kava because it gives me terrible insomnia. A few shells in the afternoon will keep me up until four or five in the morning, with only low quality sleep after that.
Mind you, I'm not new to kava. I had my first shell of kava twenty years ago, but either my metabolism isn't what it used to be or I'm getting very different varietals than what I used to. I think the latter is more likely. I probably drank a lot of tudei over the years, because most kavas these days are more stimulating than coffee for me. In fact, I usually have to take a dump right after my first shell just like I would coffee.
Some kavas cause major insomnia, others are more manageable. I really liked BKH's Koniak and Fu'u, neither of which have been around for years sadly. This confused me, because they were at the opposite end of the spectra of effects and of intensity, the former strong and heavy, the former light and heady. That's made it hard to predict what kind of kavas I can drink. I've wasted hundreds and hundreds of dollars on kava trying to find something relaxing and not stimulating.
Unfortunately for me, if I had to guess, I'd say that I'm probably super-sensitive to kavain.
My favorite kavas (of the last five years) are:
BKH Fu'u: Quite palatable Tongan with delightful light euphoria, but expensive because it's low potency and very short acting. [246351] is the chemotype posted on this forum, but that seems strange. I've seen Judd call it [465213] elsewhere, which makes more sense to me.
BKH Koniak: Strong, but no next day effects. I remember liking it a lot (except for the intense pinene terpene profile), but it's been too long to remember clearly.
BKH 11 Year Waka: Very nice kava effects, just like I remember from back in the day, but a 50/50 chance of getting insomnia. [246531]
Not my favorites:
N@H Stone - Has nice effects, but even if it didn't give me insomnia more than half of the time, I don't think I could drink it often. [425631]
BKH Nambawan: Palatable, awesomely heady, but sadly way too stimulating. [423165]
BKH Nangol Noble: Like a not as nice Nambawan that tastes far worse with almost as much stimulation but also heavier in the body. [423561]
BKH Instant: Far too short acting to be able to get to a good level
BKH Ava Fagaloa: Very mild flavor and negligible effects
No opinion:
I tried BKH Boronguru [245613] in Portland, but due to jet lag I couldn't say whether or not they caused insomnia. While fine, neither were memorable.
GHK Nene - I can't remember much about, sadly. I think I liked it, but thought it was pretty light and somewhat weak perhaps? Seeing as I think I sought it out because of the kava insomnia and I didn't rebuy it, I suspect that even Nene kept me up at night. [463251]
Rather than flail around in the dark and continue to get kava kava that I can't drink, I thought I'd reach out for some expert advice. I doubt I'm the only person out there that gets insomnia and stimulation from awa, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?
I was thinking about going by chemotype, but I don't know if that will be predictive of having insomnia as a side-effect. 123456 doesn't tell us a lot about the ratios between the kavalactones present. I'm mostly going to find 42s or 24s, but what I likely need to know is just what percentage overall is 4. AFAIK, only N@H (and formerly GHK) have certificates of analysis publicly listed, and most vendors don't even list chemotypes. When they are, they aren't consistent, and even N@H's listed chemotypes don't match those in their posted COAs. On top of that, even kavas with the same chemotypes--let's say Mo'i and Nene--reportedly are at opposite ends of the stimulation spectrum. Before I make any more mistakes, I figured it would be best to just ask people in the know.
Mind you, I'm not new to kava. I had my first shell of kava twenty years ago, but either my metabolism isn't what it used to be or I'm getting very different varietals than what I used to. I think the latter is more likely. I probably drank a lot of tudei over the years, because most kavas these days are more stimulating than coffee for me. In fact, I usually have to take a dump right after my first shell just like I would coffee.
Some kavas cause major insomnia, others are more manageable. I really liked BKH's Koniak and Fu'u, neither of which have been around for years sadly. This confused me, because they were at the opposite end of the spectra of effects and of intensity, the former strong and heavy, the former light and heady. That's made it hard to predict what kind of kavas I can drink. I've wasted hundreds and hundreds of dollars on kava trying to find something relaxing and not stimulating.
Unfortunately for me, if I had to guess, I'd say that I'm probably super-sensitive to kavain.
My favorite kavas (of the last five years) are:
BKH Fu'u: Quite palatable Tongan with delightful light euphoria, but expensive because it's low potency and very short acting. [246351] is the chemotype posted on this forum, but that seems strange. I've seen Judd call it [465213] elsewhere, which makes more sense to me.
BKH Koniak: Strong, but no next day effects. I remember liking it a lot (except for the intense pinene terpene profile), but it's been too long to remember clearly.
BKH 11 Year Waka: Very nice kava effects, just like I remember from back in the day, but a 50/50 chance of getting insomnia. [246531]
Not my favorites:
N@H Stone - Has nice effects, but even if it didn't give me insomnia more than half of the time, I don't think I could drink it often. [425631]
BKH Nambawan: Palatable, awesomely heady, but sadly way too stimulating. [423165]
BKH Nangol Noble: Like a not as nice Nambawan that tastes far worse with almost as much stimulation but also heavier in the body. [423561]
BKH Instant: Far too short acting to be able to get to a good level
BKH Ava Fagaloa: Very mild flavor and negligible effects
No opinion:
I tried BKH Boronguru [245613] in Portland, but due to jet lag I couldn't say whether or not they caused insomnia. While fine, neither were memorable.
GHK Nene - I can't remember much about, sadly. I think I liked it, but thought it was pretty light and somewhat weak perhaps? Seeing as I think I sought it out because of the kava insomnia and I didn't rebuy it, I suspect that even Nene kept me up at night. [463251]
Rather than flail around in the dark and continue to get kava kava that I can't drink, I thought I'd reach out for some expert advice. I doubt I'm the only person out there that gets insomnia and stimulation from awa, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations?
I was thinking about going by chemotype, but I don't know if that will be predictive of having insomnia as a side-effect. 123456 doesn't tell us a lot about the ratios between the kavalactones present. I'm mostly going to find 42s or 24s, but what I likely need to know is just what percentage overall is 4. AFAIK, only N@H (and formerly GHK) have certificates of analysis publicly listed, and most vendors don't even list chemotypes. When they are, they aren't consistent, and even N@H's listed chemotypes don't match those in their posted COAs. On top of that, even kavas with the same chemotypes--let's say Mo'i and Nene--reportedly are at opposite ends of the stimulation spectrum. Before I make any more mistakes, I figured it would be best to just ask people in the know.
