Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Any valid reason that kava makes you vomit?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ligermeat

Ligermeat

Warm and Fuzzeh!
So last night I had probably the biggest kava session of my life, and pretty much got to the "dream zone" if you will. Then all of the sudden *bleugh!*, all of my stomach contents gushed from my mouth, including some juice, some cereal, and a half-digested burrito.

So what exactly causes kava nausea? Stomach irritation? Drop in blood pressure? Answered would be greatly appreciated.
 
verticity

verticity

I'm interested in things
I don't know exactly why kava can cause nausea, but I have found the following things can help prevent it:

- If I drink kava after eating I am much more likely to feel nauseous. Waiting a few hours after eating can help prevent nausea. (The kava is more potent that way, too)

- Dilution. If the kava is very concentrated and sludgy it is more likely to make me nauseated. Just add water.

- Don't drink too much root and space your shells.

- When I was sick with the stomach flu I had a lot of nausea with kava ("duh!"), so I stopped drinking it for a couple days. So this is probably common sense (not my strong suit) but if you have a stomach bug, lay off the kava.

I have almost never actually thrown up from kava (maybe once or twice?) And it was always from drinking too much after a meal.

If I do feel nauseated from kava, it helps just to like back in a comfortable chair, or to lie down. It seems that if I lean forward it gets worse.
 
Last edited:
Edward

Edward

Aluballin' in the UK
Kava Vendor
@Ligermeat sorry to hear you had that experience :-( . I can't answer the question as to why it happens but my best guess for what it is worth is that the liquid is harsh on your stomach and so upsets the lining of the stomach and also I believe kava starts to dehydrate you as soon as you drink it so if you don't rehydrate asap it can leave you feeling really ill. Just some theories.

In my experience, again for what it is worth, I have found that I can actually drink quite a lot of kava without being too ill as long as I space the shells out way more than recommended. I think everyone has to go through the learning phase and make themselves quite queasy when they first start to establish their boundaries or parameters shall we say. There have only been 3 times when I thought I might be about to be sick. Two were with instants and 1 with med grind. With the instants I was drinking bkh instant green and cream of Vanuatu from Paradise Kava. These are both strong kavas and on both occasions I drank 3 teaspoons (or about a tablespoon) then reloaded 30 to 40 mins after. The rush gave me an all over body tingling sensation that I would liken to an alcohol comedown where you know you are going to be sick. Not pleasant. On both occasions I wasn't actually sick but there was a good hour of wondering. With the med grind it was Fiji loa waka. I'd mixed up a batch and drank it too quickly leading to similar results. So in every case it was down to drinking too much too fast. Since I've worked out what went wrong I haven't had the same feeling again. If I'm going to go strong with big shells then leave at least an hour between shells.

The other type of "nausea" or more stomach upset that I get is if I have gone big but stretched my session to more shells. I can easily get to the point where I am feeling unwell, not necessarily nauseous as such but just unable to eat and not right. This usually happens on a weekend when I go for 3 shells rather than two.

So my routine is 2 shells during the week mixed pretty strong, chug and leave at least an hour between. On the weekend I can push it to 3 but be careful and note I may not be in the mood for food after. Works ok for me. I always get more nausea if I try to consume more than 3 shells and drink them too quickly.

Sorry for the epic, 11yr whacker (not a mispront) kicking in nicely! :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top