Kava and Mood: detailed description

[Deleted User01]

You know @Blinkyrocket, you just described the way I feel today. I had 1 to many drinks (4 in all) and was punished with a hangover of sorts. I would much rather have a kava hangover which is what you are describing. Here is something to consider. How many shells/doses do you normally consume in a session? I'm also having a hard time totally wrapping my mind around what you say. Yes, Kava is a mild sedative and you may not feel like doing much but hitting the couch afterwards. The heady ones can keep you going a little longer but the others are beddy bye time. Like the Islanders did it at night and went home (not to do the dishes) but to crash. Are you talking about long term effects then?

 

[Noname]

Kava does irritate stomach and irritated stomach can mess you up mentally physically and even emotionally. Try drinking lemon juice. and hav yogurt after breakfast to improve stomach. Also kava in high doses can make you feel like shit maybe you hav a low tolerance try drinking less

 

[Blinkyrocket]

You know @Blinkyrocket, you just described the way I feel today. I had 1 to many drinks (4 in all) and was punished with a hangover of sorts. I would much rather have a kava hangover which is what you are describing. Here is something to consider. How many shells/doses do you normally consume in a session? I'm also having a hard time totally wrapping my mind around what you say. Yes, Kava is a mild sedative and you may not feel like doing much but hitting the couch afterwards. The heady ones can keep you going a little longer but the others are beddy bye time. Like the Islanders did it at night and went home (not to do the dishes) but to crash. Are you talking about long term effects then?

Some of them were long term effects and some were short term. I've gotten some of the same effects just by eating/drinking other things that irritate the gut. But, the part that seems like only Kava has ever done it is the part that feels like it has something to do with dopamine which is the part where things become uninteresting and I feel like a zombie that can't experience pleasure.

 

[Deleted User01]

Kava is not a cure all and we know that. It can help of course. In your case, sometimes it helps and sometimes it don't. Perhaps you could analyze the circumstances when it did help. There may be 2-3 things which you use to feel better and maybe each one as it's own extenuating circumstance and you need to figure that out. One more thing. It is true that when you come here you do so to complain. But we are a support group and we are good listeners by definition. I totally understand your disappointment that Kava isn't going to be the only solution for you but perhaps you will have multiple solutions in your golf bag and to match the circumstances. As I like to say, I'm not a Doctor by profession but I play one on the Kava Forums. Next patient please!

P.S. Talking about solutions and dopamine, exercise can generate some of that and it should be one of the clubs in your bag. Also, I like Pepto Bismol when I feel any upset coming on. It tastes good, it looks good, and it's not a "heavy drug". I keep a jar of it handy at all times.

 

[Noname]

Something that helped me is using a cheap thin sock as a strainer the bad effects went away but I continued doing this for a week or 2 and then bad effects came back.. I'm almost sure it has to do with kava irritating stomach which may cause inflammation and inflammation causes all kinds of funky stuff.. I still get great kava sessions even with a sock n less irritation because less fiber passes through the sock but the kava still hits nicely the same way it hit using a regular strainer

 

[Noname]

Maybe try kava candies or brownies or micro or concentrate

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Kava is not a cure all and we know that. It can help of course. In your case, sometimes it helps and sometimes it don't. Perhaps you could analyze the circumstances when it did help. There may be 2-3 things which you use to feel better and maybe each one as it's own extenuating circumstance and you need to figure that out. One more thing. It is true that when you come here you do so to complain. But we are a support group and we are good listeners by definition. I totally understand your disappointment that Kava isn't going to be the only solution for you but perhaps you will have multiple solutions in your golf bag and to match the circumstances. As I like to say, I'm not a Doctor by profession but I play one on the Kava Forums. Next patient please!

P.S. Talking about solutions and dopamine, exercise can generate some of that and it should be one of the clubs in your bag. Also, I like Pepto Bismol when I feel any upset coming on. It tastes good, it looks good, and it's not a "heavy drug". I keep a jar of it handy at all times.

Aww man, I know I've been trying to get on the exercise bandwagon for SO long. The problem is that for so long in my life I've been afraid of my own heartbeat! specifically when it's beating fast and I'm out of breath from exercise. So, I'm trying to go slow and build my exercise tolerance up to the point where I don't get out of breath as easy. I also should mention that the time Kava worked for me and felt good and was a phenomenal experience was when I was not depressed. So, I've been thinking that there might be a nuance of the effects of Kava where they work when you already feel good to make you feel even better but not so when you feel bad.

 

[Deleted User01]

Duuude, just go for a 30 minute walk in the park or around the neighborhood. I can't run anymore because I start to get hip pain and I'm smart enough to know that is a "warning shot" across by bow if not my brow. Find a place and a partner and go for a walk. It's pretty relaxing too. I dragged my wife around the neighborhood again this morning. Every morning it's the same thing, "Are we gonna go" I scream. She fishes for an excuse and I cut her off at the pass and she puts on her tennis. It's a battle for everyone. That's why they came up with the slogan, "Just do it". And that's is the story of where that slogan came from ... the Jman version.

 

[Kojo Douglas]

Yeah, I try to walk at least three miles a day. Otherwise I fall into a downward spiral of sloth-like existence.

 

[Delicate Drunk]

... 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.

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.

Which were you taking first the Tianeptine or the kava? Maybe the kava doesn't play well with Tianeptine, or you're getting increasing side effects from the Tianeptine, not the kava. Kava by itself is supposed be good to treat depression. Most of the pharmaceutical companies drugs suck and are mostly designed just to make a profit.

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Which were you taking first the Tianeptine or the kava? Maybe the kava doesn't play well with Tianeptine, or you're getting increasing side effects from the Tianeptine, not the kava. Kava by itself is supposed be good to treat depression. Most of the pharmaceutical companies drugs suck and are mostly designed just to make a profit.

I haven't been taking them in conjunction, I only started Tianeptine recently. The time I had a really strange, messed up experience with Kava was a pretty long while ago.

 

[Blinkyrocket]

It might've been associated with Rhodiola Rosea though..... Hadn't thought of that, it's apparently a strong enough MAO inhibitor to carry with it a warning about interactions. But that could just be for safety's sake.