Fibromyalgia

[earth mother]

I am very new to this gift from mother earth. And this whole posting in forums for that matter I am reaching out to you folks who have much more experience/knowledge than I do about this herb. My fibro had stayed pretty manageable until a few months back. My body felt as if it were turning to stone and I was becoming desperate and ready to cave and go the big pharm route. Now I don't play well with big pharm, so I was feeling helpless and stuck. Out of desperation I just started a search on "herbs that help with muscle relaxation" and I am so grateful to the Universe that I stumbled across this gift. I have been able to find much relief, but I am now seeing that this vendor was a good starting point, but I am ready to venture out. So....I would Love some feed back on which strains/vendors the "vets" prefer as far as a muscle relaxant/pain killer

 

[kavadude]

It's great to hear that kava can help with such a serious condition.

What have you been drinking? My go to for muscle relaxation purposes is Boroguru from Bula Kava House. There are one or two kavas that are a little more potent, but Boroguru is the most cost effective I have found; you can always just use more of it.

For muscle relaxation, you'll want kavas high in dihydrokavain. You can evaluate them yourself by looking at the chemotype of the kava (should be available on the vendors website or with a google search) and making sure the number begins with a '4', which means it has a higher concentration of dihydrokavain than any other kavalactone.

 

[earth mother]

I actually haven't tried drinking it yet, but this was going to be my next step. The vendor that I ordered from---Kona Kava seems to not be a very popular one, but being so new I went in blind and just went for it. I couldn't take the pain any longer. I have been taking the new 84% caps, which are 30% along with 10 other relaxants and just tried the 55% paste. It seems to be helping for sure, but being a week in I have found that it is taking more and more to get the relaxation and euphoria. I went for the capsules, because I don't know the first thing about preparing it to drink, so I went with the no muss-no fuss approach. Now that I know it's potential I am ready to learn, which is why I am here. I wear many hats and I need to be able to wear them well. So again....Keep the feedback coming

 

[infraredz]

I echo kavadude's suggestion. Boroguru is my favorite for a heavier sort of body feeling which is how I describe the muscle relaxation. It's the best value for that sort of effect and is a staple of mine.

However, for pure pain, I've found that it's much harder to find one that helps with the actual pain. With FM, there are so many proposed hypotheses (and kava is so complex in it's mechanism of action) that it really depends on the actual pathological cause. I've found that some of the more 'heady' (as opposed to 'body') seem to sometimes be better for my pain which is much simpler, but the sensation of relief is in my head. Not sure if that makes sense, but my point is that especially with a complex condition like FM, you will find that certain strains work better than others. My guess is that you will find that the best muscle relaxant won't necessarily be the best for your pain, but no one can know since not only are both things are so complex- not to mention the fact that we all respond to everything differently.

Honestly, I would finish the extracts to get over the reverse tolerance, then start sampling different strains. Some vendors are even starting to roll out sample kits where you get a small amount of each kava they carry.

 

[earth mother]

Thank you both so much for the feedback thus far. I am looking into Boroguru, Are there any other strains that you would recommend??? For me, I guess more geared towards relaxant. Personally if my muscles are relaxed, I am pretty much pain free. Tension is where it stems, so if I can stay relaxed I am good

 

[infraredz]

Stone and Boroguru are the two best in my experience for that. Stone is basically over-priced Boroguru however, that being said, it is quite potent. To me (and others) though, it just doesn't make up for the increased price.

I would also recommend Melo Melo because it's less sedating and slightly more heady, but it still gives a very nice and mellow experience without being too heavy. I've found that I can't really drink Boroguru straight, other than for insomnia. I usually end up mixing it with something more cerebral to balance everything out.

 

[KavaGurl]

Welcome to the forum Earth Mother! I too have FM, but my story is a slightly reverse of yours. When I was diagnosed, I was of course thrown into the vortex of pain meds, along with the anxiety meds I was already on. For quite a few years it was a vicious cycle..take the meds..pains still there..take more meds..still can't function..doctor ups dose..pain seems to get worse..takes more meds...Evcntually it got to the point that I could not funtion mentally or physically anymore. I just got tired of being trapped in their clutches and getting nowhere. So, my journey began like yours. I discovered kava and it was a miracle! It enabled me to stop all pain and anxiety meds, and I've not looked back. My hope for you is that kava will save you the way it saved me. I'd have to agree with the guys here on Boroguru and add that if price isn't an issue, Nambawan also works well..and the two mixed together are even better!

 

[kavadude]

Thank you both so much for the feedback thus far. I am looking into Boroguru, Are there any other strains that you would recommend??? For me, I guess more geared towards relaxant. Personally if my muscles are relaxed, I am pretty much pain free. Tension is where it stems, so if I can stay relaxed I am good

There are lots of other strains of kava to try, but BKH Boroguru is almost the most potent and certainly the most cost effective muscle relaxant in my opinion. You'll probably find yourself throwing in a half-pound of this kava and that kava when you order your regular drinking kava anyway though.

 

[earth mother]

Wow, you are amazing souls!!!! Thank you all so much, really from the bottom of my being, much gratitude. At KavaGurl, I too was stuck in the pill-mill, for quite some time and when we found out about baby #2 on the way, I went off of all meds. After tiny man came I was able to cope and just do just fine with cannabis high in CBN's and CBD's, but the last flare that lasted over a few months, sadly that just wasn't enough anymore. So here I am. And it is right where I am supposed to be. I Truly know I went through that period of hell for a reason. I am a student as well, going into Social Work and am now gonna add some herbology courses, so I will be able to use these tools that Mother Earth has provided, as opposed to big pharm. I would Love to keep hearing feed back. And I understand if this question is loaded and no one wants to respond on the specific, BUT is there a vendor that is preferred for this specific strain(Boroguru)???

 

[kavadude]

Bula Kava House

 

[KavaGurl]

Yes! Bula Kava House for sure!

 

[Deleted User01]

Earth Mother, welcome to the forum and a big Bula! to KavaGurl for the perfect reply to Earth Mother's concerns. It never ceases to amaze me how the members here can relate to newcomer's unique concerns and instantly relate to them and give them comfort.

If you are interested in herbology, check out the web site for Medicine Hunter (if you haven't already). http://www.medicinehunter.com/
That site led me to experiment with various legal botanicals and eventually led me here.

 

[earth mother]

Thank you All so much, Deleted User01 I am going to check that site out. And I gotta say---a little overwhelmed at the sincere kindness from ya'll. Good Stuff!!! Love and Light All <3

 

[earth mother]

So, I know that I had spoken to a few of you about my husband ordering me some Kava before we had talked about what I had been learning from you all. He got it off of ebay, of all places. It is a 10:1 extract which is 100% root and Fiji Grown(description in ad), so there really wasn't much more info than that and when it came all it has on the bag was Fiji Grown 100% Kosher. Well needless to say I have been having Really good results. I know that I am new to all of this, but I do know how my body has been feeling and I must say I am very happy. I have been drinking a teaspoon with 8oz of water/juice 3-4x's a day. I started at 3x's and was fine. Friday I fell down our last few stairs. In the past that body trauma would have had me locked up like Fort Knox, but I just went to 4x's these past couple days and it took care of the migraine that tried to steal my Saturday and I had dance parties all weekend with my tinies. So...now I have written the vendor to find out the actual strain and chemotype to make sure it is a "noble kava". I am going to be ordering the Instant from BKH and try that as well. I know that once I get better with time management I will go to root powder, but for now I am gonna keep it simple and since I am getting what I need medicinally from instant I am calling it a definite Win I will let you all know what I find out and also how the Instant from BKH works. But I am one Happy momma Love and Light All <3

 

[Dustin]

Hi Earth Mother, I too have fibromyalgia, although I'm honestly beginning to suspect that it's chronic myofascial pain, which is similar and sometimes it's both happening. I've found that types that are high in DHM tend to actually increase my pain, although DHM is responsible for muscle relaxation. It's pretty weird. I know I always feel fine up until about an hour, which is when DHM and, I believe, DHK kick in. Also strains that are known to be high DHM make it worse, which led to conclude that DHM is the cause. I've ordered four strains which are supposed to be very low DHM and should start getting them tomorrow probably, so I'll give an update on the results. So basically, be very careful with high DHM strains. I'd go for headier kava strains, such as BKH's Melo Melo and Waka (Fiji Waka is generally high DHM because of the lateral root content [which is higher in DHM], but I've heard from numerous people that BKH's seems to be pretty low) or Kava by Rex's Tongan Pride. Also, someone recommended a Hawaiian strain from a company called Kavaboy. Anyways, Hawaiian and Tongan seem to be the ones to go for. It also sounds like Borogu, from Bula Kava House, might be Okay too. It's really a trial and error thing. K@ also helps, and I'm conflicted on whether to recommend this or not, because you can only take it occasionally. NO MORE than every other day AT MOST. Also, I may just have some sort of bad response/allergy to DHM, who knows...everyone is different. I'd be interested to hear about your results though! P.S., if it's Fijian then it should be a "noble kava". At least to my understanding it should be. Judging by other peoples (Kavagurl) results though, I either have chronic myofascial pain that doesn't respond too well to DHM, an allergy, or something's up with me...

 

[Dustin]

And yes, high CBD (the higher the better) is about the best there is for fibro. It was a Godsend for me...I've heard Blue Dream is excellent...don't have access to it where I live through. Mk-Ultra is really the best I can get (sorry if I broke some kind of site rule with that)

 

[Dustin]

Also, to my fibro girls, d-ribose and ubiquinol (better form of CoQ10) and creatine supplements help with the fibro fatigue and a good magnesium supplement (not oxide though, at the very least citrate and I prefer a chelated form) with calcium and vitamin D in equal amounts (600 mag and 600 calcium/D 2-3x daily) help with muscle pain some as well.