ZiRRuSH
Kava Curious
Greetings All! New to the forums and kava. I'm a recovered agoraphobe with panic disorder, was housebound once upon a time. Although it's all in the past, needless to say I still get the occasional panic attacks and constantly carry anxiety. All that being said, I've always stayed off the meds. Recently my anxiety levels had been increasing and starting to impact my day to day life again. I decided to look into kava and glad I gave it a shot. A few weeks back I ordered the Amazon stuff (wakacon) and gave it a go. I mixed fairly stout grog the first few days, and drank until I felt the effects each night (8tbsp to 4 cups). The buzz was less intense than I expected, I woke up the following day and my mind seamed to be going "slower"... initially I thought this was just a hangover type effect. I realized it was just the absence of racing thoughts and not any hangover. This encouraged me to continue with the kava as it was doing what I had hoped for and helping with the anxiety. The 4th night was when I was finally hit with a noticeable buzz from the kava that made me slow down and unable to finish my bowl. I began to mix less root and also looked into the better quality kava out there since I decided this was something worth seeing through. I ordered the sampler from BKH and 1/2lb of borogu. When it came in, I phased out the wakacon and began using the borogu. I didn't want to waste samples of the others until I knew my tolerance was stable. My technique got better at making the grog and my tolerance got down to were 3 or 4 tbsp of borogu to 2 or 3 cups or water was working well. I aim for a light buzz to know i'm getting my dose, but its the lasting effects that I search for. Once my tolerance felt stable, i broke into the other samples. Their Fu'u felt very mild, and almost entirely mental to me. Took note, would be a good morning or day time kava if the situation ever arose I suppose. Waka was so-so, fell into the "normal" stuff as far as my mind considered it. Nangol Noble was the first kava I tried that hit me with what i considered a real buzz. Then I tried the Nambawan and it hit me even harder. I went back to Borogu to double check it wasn't my body becoming more sensitive to the effects. Knowing it wasn't, I got a couple pounds of the Nambawan on the way.
Currently, every night I drink 3 tbsp kava to 2 cups of water (sometimes 2.5 or so if I want to stretch the bowl). But, 3 tbsp kava prepared well seams to be a good dose for me. Comfortable, get a small buzz, and the day after my mind is calm and sharp. The way I've been preparing my kava was originally entirely traditional and kneading for about 20 minutes until the root felt "rough" and would fall back to a powder rather than clumpy after giving it a good squeeze and shaking the filter bag a bit. Now, out of convenience after I make my grog every night I put 3 tbsp of kava into my magic bullet (personal blender cup), fill it with water, top off with a tsp of soy lecithin, blend it for a minute and toss it in the fridge to soak over night until i get home the next evening. When I get home, i pull the bullet out of the fridge, blend for a minute, dump it into the filter bag over the bowl, then knead it like normal. I don't believe it makes it any more potent, however it does lessen the amount of time I'm kneading the kava before it no longer has the muddy oily feel to it. Within 5-10 minutes of kneading it feels right and the grog is hitting me just as good as it was when I was kneading it for 20 minutes. Also, the colder drink feels a little less like throwing back a cup of water from a mud puddle. The taste hasn't bothered me at all, every variety has tasted like dirt... some just a little grittier, lol. The first few nights, the body buzz combined with my muscles relaxing messed with me a bit. Have a spot in my back that will hold stress to compensate for a rib that likes to misalign under my shoulder blade... the relaxation would cause my arm to feel funny from that and screwed with my head a bit, lol. Lets me know the chiropractor needs to push that mess back into place though.
Anyway, sorry for the essay... just figured I might as well explain my goals with kava and experience/approach for any critiques or advice. So far I'm very enthusiastic and expect to broaden my knowledge and experience with such a beneficial plant. Glad to on board at these forums and looking forward to the wealth of information to be gained from them : )
Currently, every night I drink 3 tbsp kava to 2 cups of water (sometimes 2.5 or so if I want to stretch the bowl). But, 3 tbsp kava prepared well seams to be a good dose for me. Comfortable, get a small buzz, and the day after my mind is calm and sharp. The way I've been preparing my kava was originally entirely traditional and kneading for about 20 minutes until the root felt "rough" and would fall back to a powder rather than clumpy after giving it a good squeeze and shaking the filter bag a bit. Now, out of convenience after I make my grog every night I put 3 tbsp of kava into my magic bullet (personal blender cup), fill it with water, top off with a tsp of soy lecithin, blend it for a minute and toss it in the fridge to soak over night until i get home the next evening. When I get home, i pull the bullet out of the fridge, blend for a minute, dump it into the filter bag over the bowl, then knead it like normal. I don't believe it makes it any more potent, however it does lessen the amount of time I'm kneading the kava before it no longer has the muddy oily feel to it. Within 5-10 minutes of kneading it feels right and the grog is hitting me just as good as it was when I was kneading it for 20 minutes. Also, the colder drink feels a little less like throwing back a cup of water from a mud puddle. The taste hasn't bothered me at all, every variety has tasted like dirt... some just a little grittier, lol. The first few nights, the body buzz combined with my muscles relaxing messed with me a bit. Have a spot in my back that will hold stress to compensate for a rib that likes to misalign under my shoulder blade... the relaxation would cause my arm to feel funny from that and screwed with my head a bit, lol. Lets me know the chiropractor needs to push that mess back into place though.
Anyway, sorry for the essay... just figured I might as well explain my goals with kava and experience/approach for any critiques or advice. So far I'm very enthusiastic and expect to broaden my knowledge and experience with such a beneficial plant. Glad to on board at these forums and looking forward to the wealth of information to be gained from them : )
