KarmaG's kava clearance

[kl.KarmaG]

Hey all, 
So my fears were confirmed the other night. It is now official: I am allergic to kava. It sucks but I'm dealing with it ok. Life has been really busy, so I really haven't had any time to relax and drink kava much anyway. 


So because I've now got lots of kava and can't drink it, I figured I'd offer it up to you all first. I'd like for it to go to a good home (smiley: happy). The only unopened bag of kava I have is a bag of Stone I bought from dan a few months back. The original date of purchase was Feb '12. I was saving it for a rainy day/special occassion so I never broke into it. It's a sealed 500g bag of N@H's Stone, been stored in a cool, dark, dry storage pantry at my house. Stone is fabled to be one of the strongest kavas, and it's usually not cheap so be aware of the potency potential of this stuff. I'll sell it for $38 including shipping and will throw in that really nice strainer bag that Adil at Paradise so generously sent me. Payment by Paypal only please and I will ship on a Mon, Wed, or Friday, whichever comes first depending upon payment. Send me a PM if interested.


I also have a bunch of opened kavas from KBRs line as well a a couple of pounds of a no-name Tongan that I never got around to trying aside from using in various kitchen extracting experiments. If anyone is interested, PM me and let me know. I won't bother with details since they're opened already. All my kava is stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark, storage pantry. It has its own shelf

 

[Dan]

Ugh, so sorry to hear about this KarmaG.

 

[kl.new2kava]

I'm really sorry to hear about your condition. Of all the things in this world to be allgeric to kava just seems like being flipped off by god. Wonder if it's the sketchy chemtrails in the sky, I'm pretty sure the government is up to devious shit with those.



Just out of curiousity which KBR strains do you have opened and how many lbs of opened but well stored kava do you have? Would there be a bulk discount for taking it all off your hands at once?



I really hope your condition clears in time.

 

[kl.KarmaG]

Yeah, it is a bit like getting flipped off by the big guy. Oh well, such is life. The offer above is for US only. Sorry guys. I don't want to be held responsible if the bag of unmarked brown powder gets confiscated by Customs. I'm really sorry, but I just don't want to have to worry about that, and I am the type of person that will worry (especially sans kava!).



Here's what I've got for kava goodies. I would be interested in doing a bulk sale if there's interest.



KBR: Isa/Tudei (almost full lb), Tongan Pride (probably around 1/2 lb), Vanuatu 3 (a little less than 1/2 lb)

No-Name Tongan: 2 lbs (short a few tablespoons, used for kitchen experiments/extracts)

N@H: Stone (500 g). sealed. see above



PM me. FYI, I will not be available for the next 24 hrs. Big exam to cram for now but I promise I will reply to everyone tomorrow evening.

 

[kavalover]

Damn. Really sorry to hear

 

[Paradise Kava]

I'm wondering which confirmed allergy you have to kava? Never heard of a case like yours. Please let us know and help us alert others in the future, if possible.

 

[kl.KarmaG]

I'm happy to provide an outline of my weird kava allergy and how I determined that this is indeed the cause of my swollen, itchy face and torso.
I haven't been to a doctor for this, but I have confirmed it sufficiently to myself to stop drinking something that I find very enjoyable. The first time it happened, I was drinking a new variety that was a very fine grind so I decided not to strain. About 4-5 hrs later, my face got bright red, mild-moderately swollen, and my torso became splotchy and itchy. No anaphylaxis signs so I wasn't very concerned, just very uncomfortable. It felt like an itchy sunburn but without the sun - everything hurt/itched. I treated it with diphenhydramine (oral) and hydrocortisone cream. I felt 70% improved in 24 hrs and close to 100% after 48. 
This first occurrence I wasn't sure what I was allergic to, just that I had a reaction to something. I waited about a week before trying kava again - this time an instant - and the same thing happened. Nothing else was similar between these two occasions, different kava, different supplier, different food, different water, etc. I was even in a different country! 
By now, I was beginning to believe that it was the kava causing the red, swollen, itchy reaction but I had to try yet again. This time I tried a different kava (strained well) from another supplier. I really wanted this to work so I was trying every different kava I could to see if it could be a particular variety or supplier, but this was not the case. Like clockwork, 5 hrs later my face blew up and I had a very itchy and uncomfortable weekend.
My last-ditch effort was to try the kava candy. I was thinking if I could eliminate ingesting a lot of kava and just take a small amount of the extracted stuff, I may do ok. Unfortunately, this was not what happened and I reacted to even a small amount of candy. Same symptoms as before and the only constant throughout every trial has been kava. 
I should also mention that the kava was drank on an empty stomach and the only snacks I usually eat are cheese and crackers, which I eat every night without incident. I also have not ever experienced a reaction like this to anything. I'm just not an allergic type of person.
It is a very strange case. I have heard of others getting the redness and itchiness from unstrained kava, but this seems to be a one-off and they're back enjoying it again a few days later. It's also strange that this happened out of the blue after drinking kava fairly regularly for 3+ years. But I guess just as people can grow out of allergies, some can grow into allergies as well. I haven't seen a doctor about it because I have a medical (veterinary) background and figure that I approached it with enough of a scientific method that I don't need to pay anyone to stick me with needles only to find out the same thing. 
If anyone has any other questions, I'm happy to answer them or if anyone who is a human doctor wants to chime in with advice or suggestions, that would be great too!

 

[mos3z]

Dude that sucks!

You have me so paranoid, I'm straining the crap out of my kava.

Kava has really changed my life for the better, I can't imagine if I had to stop it.

Maybe a longer time away from it like several months or a year would help?

Good luck.



I have really bad allergies to a ton of stuff, was getting allergy shots for a while. Could u possibly try a similar effect to allergy shots? Take a very small amount on a constant basis to allow your body to build up a tolerance to it?

 

[Ed!]

That sucks, KarmaG, sorry to hear it.



I'm still thinking that maybe your system just got too full of it, and eventually it will come back down. Kind of like Asian flush reaction, where drinking alcohol will give some people red blotchy rash. That happens just because there is more alcohol in the body than it's able to process from what I've gathered. I've also noticed that kava stays in your system much longer than alcohol, long after the noticeable effects are gone, and reverse tolerance probably wouldn't work if it wasn't residual in some way. That would make sense to me since it started when you didn't strain it, and you've been a long-time kava drinker.



Maybe stash some of that kava away in your freezer for down the road. You could try to do a fresh fruit and veggie juice cleanse to flush your system faster.



I really feel for you, that would be killer for me.

 

[kl.grudge]

I had a very similar reaction after consuming too much kava grounds and a lot of kava in general Rash, red face, itch, dry eyes etc. because I am bull headed I just kept drinking kava (strained) and at moderate amounts daily while keeping an eye on the rash. It slowly went away after about 4 days and hasn't returned despite daily moderate kava consumption. Do have minor dry eye and skin issues, though.

 

[ObiWan]

KarmaG, did you read my PM?

 

[Ozzyfan121]

That really sucks, Karma. I would recommend doing what Ed said—a fruit/vegetable cleanse. Or perhaps a week long fruitarian diet; I did that once a little over a year ago and that's still all my diet consists of. Perhaps you'd like it. I feel tremendously better overall. Have you tried taking some antihistamines beforehand? Or maybe honey? Some people say that daily honey helps with various allergies. I hope something works out for you!

 

[kl.NDG]

I am a human doctor, lol human doctor.
Try taking some certrizine before a candy or session. I would suggest diphenhydramine but the anti-cholinergic/histaminergic effects will make you sedated. However, this is end all speculation of allergy, if benedryl 30mins before doesn't stop it, then it is likely something else.
try certrizine hydrochloride initially, then benedryl if it doesn't dissipate, take 30 mins to one hour before kava consumption.
I see no obvious interaction, Benedryl is an SSRI however, while weak if you are on an SSRI, taking a moderate-high dose  (100plus) would probably be unwise along with the kava.

 

[The Kap'n]

I had to look it up. Certrizine = Brand name Zyrtec. Just for clarification in case one of us dismisses it by its chemical name.

 

[kl.KarmaG]

Maybe I didn't mention in my initial post, but I've tried both Benedryl and Zyrtec, but only after I began feeling the tightness and heat in my face (so after the reaction has started). Both seemed to knock it down a few notches. Benedryl worked a bit better in this respect and as long as I remembered to dose E 4hrs or so, I was ok, still a bit uncomfortable but better. Still, nothing takes care of it completely. It seems like I need to just wait 48 hrs every time before I feel 100%. Would it really make that much of a difference if I took it prior to my kava session?

 

[kl.NDG]

Yes it would make alot of difference. You see once histamine is dumped into circulation, blocking the H1 receptor will only quench the reaction, however, the vasodialation etc will take a while to come down. Preventing, the dumping of histamine in the first place by antagonising the H1 receptor should have a much stronger effect.
It's worth a shot, Also, if that didn't work a long abstinence could reduce the antibodies over time and you may get away with consuming it again.

 

[kl.lird]

Sorry to hear that karmag, (i'm new to the forum btw) I am interested in buying the Stone kava off you if your still selling it? Thanks and I hope you get better soon

 

[uuku pi]

This sounds like an allergy to cellulose . I am thinking it might be this. I have seen this in people who eat that new 4x the fiber bread. It has cellulose in high quantities. Very sad to think u can not have kava . so sorry

 

[Steve]

yea...really sorry.  what a bummer - thanks for sharing.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that some weird correlation with where you keep your kava + mold in corner is the cause and not kava itself.  Sounds like you have really ruled out everything.  ugh.

 

[mos3z]

I take Zyrtec and Benadryl every day with no reaction to kava just for reference