First incident of vomiting on kava

[Blomdor]

I am ashamed. I do not ever drink kava with the intention of getting excessively intoxicated in some way. It really is my preferred method of easing my nerves and body, combined with some good music and time with my dear brother. If I wanted to be intoxicated, I would drink alcohol. I feel as if I have abused this wonderful root in my incautious excess : (.

Trying to figure out what I did wrong. Too much kava? I actually used less root than usual, 2/3rds cup to two cups water or perhaps slightly less, but I did drink a second wash immediately afterwards. Perhaps the Boroguru/Nambawan blend is a bit harder on my stomach than most? I do seem to be more receptive to these kavas than others I have tried. There's the possibility that I was simply harboring a virus that decided to make its symptoms known an hour after drinking kava by pure coinkydink. One other thing that I am considering is the gritty black substance that I have been finding at the bottom of my grog lately...hopefully not some sign of a bad blender. I just got the thing.

Really just venting and wondering how common this is with other folks. My apologies. I feel bad about it. I'm doing a disservice to kava if I do not use it properly.

 

[wormwood]

There's no reason to feel bad about it. You took more than you intended to. Doesn't mean anything.

 

[yepimonfire]

Too much DHM. Don't be silly bro, there's no such thing as too much kava. Just be easy on dhm strains, it can induce nausea. If you plan on drinking a lot, either use high kavain or cut your dhm strains with it.

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2

 

[Deleted User01]

The only thing that I would add is to space out your shells every 10-20 minutes or so and let your system ease into the groove. At least you might get some early warning signs that your stomach is not agreeable today.

 

[violet]

@Blomdor No worries, I hope you weren't sick for too long. I've underestimated my kava in the past to the point of getting sick, nausea always disappeared after the upchuck though. I am still real susceptible to kava nausea, benadryl taken about a half hour before kava has been preventing it, but seriously increases the sedative effects. Now when I prep my kava, I always mix the second wash in with the first, take smaller shells than before, and space them apart about 30-40 minutes. No more surprises, and my sessions are a lot more relaxing now.

The gritty black stuff at the bottom of your grog is probably "sand," little bits of root bark that got ground in with the rest of the root. I mostly drink Boroguru and always have the sand in my cup/bowl.

 

[Deleted User01]

I also usually space them 30-40 minutes apart but I thought I could talk Blomdor into at least 10 minutes. Some people might be under time constraints whereas I start sipping at 2:30 and end at 5. When I do a shell, it is more like 3oz and not 4. But everyone has their technique. I don't do the spacing because of nausea, it's just something Judd at BKH recommended a long time ago and I took to it.

 

[kavadude]

I haven't thrown up kava in probably a year. The handful of times I have I can attribute it to one or more of the following
- Toss and wash
- Eating an offensive meal and following it up with kava. Last time it was a hamburger and fries then Koniak. What was I thinking!
- Not stirring up the sediment enough...if you are drinking the sediment and you let it settle at the bottom, the texture can really get you.
- Not spacing out the kava enough. I always at least half my kava and drink it about 15-30 minutes apart.
I don't do any of those things any more and I don't throw up or even get nausea from kava.

 

[KavaGurl]

Haven't upchucked yet..knock on wood..but I do have an evil gag reflex at times..usually it can be fought off by reminding myself.."Breathe Val...breathe!"

 

[Blomdor]

Huh. And here I've been chugging 16 to 24 ounces of strong grog at a time, all at once. It seemed appropriate to my caveman sensibilities.

So perhaps cutting it into several 6 or 8 ounce servings and waiting 15 or 30 minutes between them would help?

That's probably it, then, Violet. It only started showing up when I opened up my bag of Boroguru.

Thankee all muchly!

 

[The Kap'n]

I just posted over at at the Bula Kava House subforum, but man, this new boroguru is fine fine. I'm tempted to double up Fijian strainers on it. I have to admit it does cause a bit more stomach discomfort too. I get the burps that if I don't concentrate on heavily....could turn in to a little more than air.

 

[Blomdor]

It is, indeed. My single Fijian strainer still seems to let a significant amount of stuff through. Not the best tasting kava I've had thus far, for sure, but it does make me feel quite awesome if I can hold it down.

Man, this really caught me off guard. I'm known in my family for eating things no human being should...my coffee is nigh undrinkable for most people and I put ghost pepper on my sandwiches. Never underestimate the kava, I suppose.

 

[KavaGurl]

My Guru, Melo and new shell seem to be mia They should've been here Sat..and tracking kinda fell short so maaybe today will be my lucky day.

 

[Deactivated Account]

It happens...kava certainly ain't a 1972 hermitage. Very rarely it can backfire on me also if I have too much however I'm very aware these days of strengths & amounts thus I know my parameters as well as what I eat after.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Don't feel bad, I have been there before. It can happen if you have too much of the real strong kava, or if you have a little of the tudei kava, I have noticed that if I drink the tudei kava for a while then I will start to feel that way, if I keep it up then that is when the kava starts to tell me that is enough.
It can also happen if you drink too much of any kava. but thankfully it does not happen very often.
Aloha.

Chris

 

[AwaAshley]

I am ashamed. I do not ever drink kava with the intention of getting excessively intoxicated in some way. It really is my preferred method of easing my nerves and body, combined with some good music and time with my dear brother. If I wanted to be intoxicated, I would drink alcohol. I feel as if I have abused this wonderful root in my incautious excess : (.

Trying to figure out what I did wrong. Too much kava? I actually used less root than usual, 2/3rds cup to two cups water or perhaps slightly less, but I did drink a second wash immediately afterwards. Perhaps the Boroguru/Nambawan blend is a bit harder on my stomach than most? I do seem to be more receptive to these kavas than others I have tried. There's the possibility that I was simply harboring a virus that decided to make its symptoms known an hour after drinking kava by pure coinkydink. One other thing that I am considering is the gritty black substance that I have been finding at the bottom of my grog lately...hopefully not some sign of a bad blender. I just got the thing.

Really just venting and wondering how common this is with other folks. My apologies. I feel bad about it. I'm doing a disservice to kava if I do not use it properly.

Hey now it's ok! Been there done that. It's part of the learning experience. Be easy on yourself

 

[Blomdor]

Thankee, everybody! <3

My bro requested a late night gas station run last night, and as my van is currently out of commission it was going to be on...footish (I am paraplegic and use a wheelchair, but I've yet to find a better term for this activity than "walking"). He was alright with me getting a bit krunked beforehand, so I indulged in a bit of Boroguru. Not too much at all; less than two cups in total. It immediately produced a wave of slight nausea as it went down, but overall it was good stuff and as I went out the door I was feeling very good and relaxed.

Everything was amazing at first. The very air seemed more defined, more tangible as I passed through it. My thoughts were perfectly clear, as is always the case after drinking kava. The five or so blocks to the gas station were wonderful. However, as I browsed my vision began to blur; the world seemed to spin and my skull filled with a dizzying aura of numbness and sedation. A fairly powerful nausea soon followed, and by the time I departed for home I was making a conscious effort to keep my kava down. Every jostle and bump from pushing the chair over the curbs and broken sidewalks along the way brought up a mouthful of numbing acid. When I finally reached my house, I immediately climbed into the recliner and drifted off to sleep for the night.

This experience led me to believe that Boroguru simply does not agree with my stomach. However, I experimentally tossed and washed about 4 tablespoons of the raw root with a mug of orange juice this morning, and I do not feel any nausea whatsoever. I'm not sure what is causing it. It's obviously not sediment, and it shouldn't be the amount or the strength, either. Could be I was just sick, or perhaps it's physical activity that does it.

As an aside, I do not find toss and wash to be particularly more effective than traditional preparation. I will be sticking to the latter in the future, I think.

 

[violet]

@Blomdor I've been wondering if some of the nausea is motion related as well. I easily get severe motion sickness, and it seems that the more I move around when drinking kava the more touchy the nausea is. Watching TV after drinking kava bothers me too. The very rare times I can just sit and chill there's no nausea. Stopping and sitting or lying down makes the nausea subside if it is mild.

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

It could be the motion but I am not sure. Did you take any other meds. with the kava? There are other meds. that can compound the effect of kava. Aloha.

Chris

 

[ApéroNoble]

One question how do the Kava vendors ensure the purity of Kava from unwanted microorganisms etc. since it is not custom to heat it. I am sure pasteurizing it would kill the benefits. What are the steps? Thanks

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Hi Noueky, for me as a kava grower and processor I maintain high quality control standards, that is the first part. Kava does not need to be pasteurized but if it was it would not hurt the kavalactones that give us the effect. Kava has a antimycotic activity to it so that helps prevent the kava from being attacked by yeast, bacteria or fungi. This information comes from Hansell in his 1968 research. It was also brought out in the book "Kava The Pacific Elixor" by Dr. Lebot on page # 71.
There are some kava dealers that might not sell good kava so you do have to be aware. However the vendors here have a great track record of providing high quality kava. Feel free to ask me any other questions about kava. Aloha.

Chris