Kava and Mood: detailed description

[Blinkyrocket]

Hey, since my experiences with kava after the very first glowing experience have all been very bad I would like to know if everyone here has basically the OPPOSITE reactions.

The mental symptoms I had were as follows:

• Low to nonexistent motivation to do anything, or on better days would do easy stuff but things that I considered hard (doing the dishes.... Lol) I can't do at all because of lack of motivation.
• An apparent loss of imagination and ability to even think ahead or accurately remember details of the past, so sort of like brain fog I think.
• Lack of finding things interesting, lack of focus that might've been due to the lack of finding things interesting or its own thing or both. This was also akin to feeling "like a zombie". I remember craving something like caffeine to basically give me an "eye opening moment" which I recently realized I could more simply describe as a "rush". But of course caffeine has never made me feel good, only made me anxious and made my muscles tight and tense.
• Consistent induction of sleep a few hours after drinking the kava. I've seen research showing that sleep is depressogenic in people who are prone to depression. As if to resoundingly confirm this, I was deprived of sleep for 3-5 days not long ago and actually sometimes found myself experiencing profound euphoria, becoming incredibly interested in a picture of a mitochondrial membrane and some guys profile pic on some forum. I was so intensely interested with these pictures that it felt almost spiritual. Also, during sleep deprivation I had the most vivid imagination, I was incredibly hopeful for my future and motivated to keep staying alive til I see it come to fruition. It was fantastic, the sunlight had a sort of heavenly glow to it, which I found strange since I wouldn't have thought that a mere change in consciousness could change the brightness of lights unless that change in consciousness was of a psychedelic nature. Anyway...
• And more, but less important ones etc. I know none of you guys likely get depressed because of Kava but I also wonder if you don't experience these SYMPTOMS as well, you just don't call it depression (and it might not be, it might just be that I got depressed because of these symptoms rather than because of Kava itself) because you have other things in your life that make it fun and enjoyable.

 

[Go Krunk Yourself]

My motivation and ability to dream and function anymore is so reduced due to Anxiety in my life that Kava could not possibly make it worse. It's only been better so far, mildly better though. When I'm having really bad anxiety and I drink Kava it only helps a fraction, but I have yet to experience the effects you're talking about. Have you tried both heady and heavy kava's and from different vendors?

 

[Blinkyrocket]

My motivation and ability to dream and function anymore is so reduced due to Anxiety in my life that Kava could not possibly make it worse. It's only been better so far, mildly better though. When I'm having really bad anxiety and I drink Kava it only helps a fraction, but I have yet to experience the effects you're talking about. Have you tried both heady and heavy kava's and from different vendors?

I don't think I've tried a strong heady and that might be one of my problems. Who knows, I might do perfectly fine with something like Mo'i but mainly it's the fact that most people say the stimulation can sometimes invoke anxiety that has kept me from pulling the trigger on the strong heady strains.

Also, I wouldn't worry about having the effects I've had. I'm pretty sure I'm the first person in the history of Earth to have this array of effects that were possibly caused by Kava, lol. That's one reason why I'm making this thread, because my reaction was just so outlandish that I just simply cannot accept the simple answer that it was the Kava...

 

[Noname]

Yea I also have been feeling that way.. Maybe some kind of healing is taking place?

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Yea I also have been feeling that way.. Maybe some kind of healing is taking place?

Been feeling what way specifically?

 

[Noname]

I feel all the stuff you mentioned.. kava is healing and when the old energy comes out it can cause depression but im not sure thats what I think is happening

 

[Blinkyrocket]

I feel all the stuff you mentioned.. kava is healing and when the old energy comes out it can cause depression but im not sure thats what I think is happening

Do you mean that when the anxiety goes away you feel depressed? Cuz if you do then I totally agree. People who are constantly running on hyperactive HPA axis's will experience a hard, hard crash when they finally get their corticosterone/cortisol levels down to normal. Glucocorticoids can cause quite a bit of euphoria too by releasing dopamine so anything that lowers glucocorticoids potently and too quickly will likely cause a deep dysphoria like the one I experienced.

 

[Noname]

Yea there are times when kava just makes me more anxious. I'm anxious all day basically and kava never blasts my anxiety to outer Space it just reduces it. and sometimes kava just adds relaxation on top of the anxiety lol. Next day I feel less anxious but sometimes the next say I feel really fatigued and "foggy".. Today I feel pretty fked up adrenal fatigue kinda feeling but again I hear this is a sign of maybe cleaning up old energy before the spiritual awakening.

 

[Noname]

Today i feel abnormally tired foggy and brain Fog and by the looks of it it's gonna keep getting worse unless I stop drinking kava or maybe it's an on and off thing idk

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Well, the only way to find out is to stop taking it and see if your symptoms resolve. If not, it might be something else. I also have a theory that some people with irritable/inflammatory bowel syndrome might have sensitivities to things like kava that have lots of fibrous "sediment" in them. Kava probably releases a hefty amount of endotoxin in those of us who have these bowel syndromes. Endotoxin can cause "sickness behavior" and is a potent inducer of depression and anxiety. So, the question is how does one go about reducing their endotoxin response? The simplest solution might be to just not drink ANY sediment whatsoever even though all the good stuff is in it.

 

[Noname]

Yea I do have stomach problems.. I use a very thin sock to strain and I'm getting less of the bad effects. But for some reason past few days I've been feeling messed up

 

[Noname]

Another theory I have is that people who have weak livers take longer than others to detox body from kava the next day and so they get bad reactions because they are detoxing slower than others or not as effecient etc and have a "hangover" next day. So maybe people with weak livers won't be able to do daily kava sessions without getting bad effects

 

[Noname]

Another thing is maybe kava is opening doors for evil spirits to mess with you

 

[Noname]

Or getting so relaxed that it makes you anxious lol sorry for the 3 am rant

 

[Go Krunk Yourself]

It's light enough of a substance that psychosomatic effects and your own internal things can still "override" Kava. Theirs a reason they say to "listen" to the Kava. These aren't Xanax bars after all.

If that's true Blinkyrocket superfine strain should help no?

 

[Kojo Douglas]

@Blinkyrocket At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I have to honestly ask why you continue to drink Kava? I mean, you come in here every few months and talk about how Kava brings you all these problems. Sounds like maybe it's time for you and Kava to call it quits.

 

[Blinkyrocket]

@Blinkyrocket At the risk of sounding like a jerk, I have to honestly ask why you continue to drink Kava? I mean, you come in here every few months and talk about how Kava brings you all these problems. Sounds like maybe it's time for you and Kava to call it quits.

Because I had such a good reaction the first time, I can't accept that it's the Kava that caused my depression later on. I also can't reconcile with the fact that basically no-one else but noname seems to get these symptoms. I'm the king of causing psychosomatic symptoms on myself, Idk whether or not it's me making it happen or the Kava because to be honest I'm just as depressed when I'm not drinking Kava as when I am, the Kava just makes me realize it because each time I drink the Kava I hope and pray that it will feel as good as it did the first time and every time I feel nothing I feel so disappointed that that feeling of disappointment is enough to make me temporarily depressed. Plus, each time subsequently that I've tried Kava the experiences have gradually been getting better. And, I'm getting my depression treated, I've been taking Tianeptine.

Also, Idk why I didn't originally make the connection but when I sleep in the middle of the day for any significant period of time I get depressed. Each and every time I drank Kava, I would fall asleep a few hours later during the day. And, I didn't have scientific proof until now to prove what I've know for a long time already which is that sleep is depressogenic, so not only do you sleep a lot when you're depressed because you don't wanna get up and face the day but you also are possibly depressed (or significantly more depressed than you "should" be) because you sleep too much. This I have noticed in myself anyway to be very true. Specifically, it is REM sleep that is depressogenic. Apparently REM sleep is increased by Kava even when it doesn't increase sleep in any other way.

Oh yeah, more evidence for my theory that kava mainly makes me depressed through psychosomatic symptoms: When I took it during Phenibut withdrawals I noticed nothing, not a single change good or bad. I was too preoccupied with how Phenibut withdrawal was making me feel to focus on whether or not the Kava was making me feel depressed, in fact it was only a couple days after drinking kava that I was totally sleep deprived and for the first time in many years, felt naturally optimistic and had that energy that I've always felt deficient in.

 

[Deleted User01]

You cite lack of motivation. During the day and as I tire of all the BS around me, I totally lose motivation. Then I do a cup of Mo'i and get my motivation returns. At least enough to finish the day on a high note. I might add that I don't suffer from depression so we may have different chemotypes. As far as the memory thing, I noticed that too but I have always had a bad memory where as my wife can remember everything. Perhaps I had too much fun in the 70s. But I have to admit that I often fall into the trap of blaming Kava for all my ills when in fact there are a ton of other factors that are contributors. All in all, Kava has been good to me. If I need to remember something, I ask my wife: "Honey, have we ever eaten there?". Ok, then "Did we like it?". But again my bad memory is caused by a variety of factors including age and the fact that I don't care to remember anything anyway. Yeah, my give-a-shitter has been malfunctioning for years.

 

[Noname]

You need to stop that bs over the counter medicine it is literally poison

 

[Noname]

Blinky you seem like an interesting character.. Tell us more about yourself