Kava effects

[mos3z]

Hey everybody, Im new to kava but it has totally changed my life.
Im just curious, I have been having a strange experience where the same batch affects me different day to day.
I made a batch of black sands and one day it had a decent effect and the next day I got totally krunk.
Ive had it go the other way too, where the first day it was strong and the next day it barely effected me.
Does this happen to anyone else? any ideas why its not more consistent if it's the same batch?

 

[kl.CarolinaBC]

There are a bunch of factors that affect how a certain batch will hit you from day to day.  Some that I can think of right off the bat:

Your mood before you begin
How much you still need to get done that day-you can't really relax if you still have a bunch to do.
The setting-is it wild or calm?
How much food is in your stomach
How tired you are
Where you are on the whole reverse tolerance thing
Others substances in the bloodstream
And a bunch of other things I can't think of right now.......

 

[kl..]

I agree with a lot of what Carolina posted. For me the biggest impacts seem to be how much I have eaten and if I've matched my kava well to my moods. Some days, I seem to want a high kavain or more energetic and some days I kind of want to be hit over the head with a high DHM kava that will make me feel it in my body. If I don't match the kava to my moods, it doesn't lead to such a positive experience.

 

[mos3z]

Thanks guys, that helps.

Is kavain and DHM the different kinds of Kavalactones? Is there a list anywhere describing the different Kavalactones and their effects?

I'd like to understand them better.

I've tried about 6 different kinds so far and Black Sands and Stone have had the best results for me.

I'm looking for one for my anxiety and one for my back pain.

 

[kavalover]

Chart from kava by rex

I prefer heavy DHM kavas myself.

 

[mos3z]

Awesome, thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.
Has anyone started to make a list of which kava from the different companies contain which Kavalactones?

 

[kl.CarolinaBC]

Tell us what you are looking for and we'll point you to good vendors for whatever you need.  Think Vanuatu and PNG for high DHM content and Hawaii and Fiji for high kavain.  This is a weak general rule but I find it to be true much of the time.  Also kava stump (white creamey colored kava) is higher in kavain while the darker waka (lateral roots) tend to be higher in DHM.

 

[kl.new2kava]

Awesome, thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.
Has anyone started to make a list of which kava from the different companies contain which Kavalactones?

Bula Kava House lists their kavalactone profiles on their site. N@H does not but from experience I can say with near certainty that stone and chiefs are high DHM, especially stone which is one of the strongest kavas I've come across. KBR's tudei is high in DHM and van3 is high in kavain and low in DHM. Paradise kava has an isa which is like a tudei and would be very high in DHM and I've heard great reviews about it.

 

[mos3z]

Thanks guys. So far I'm blown away by kava, it really has changed my life.

I'm taking kava for two different reasons, extreme anxiety and stress, and a bad back injury.

For my back I've been taking Vicodin and flexeril for the last 7-8 years.

I tried kava and have been amazed how strong it is, it literally is a stronger muscle relaxer than flexeril and has also taken away my pain.

I have also had success with some kavas taking away my anxiety. I don't know that I can find one kava that will work for both, I'm fine if I can narrow it down to two. So far the best results I've had have been N@h Blacksands and Stone. For me Blacksands works about 60/40 anxiety/back pain. Stone didn't do much for my back but made me incredibly happy and completely took away my anxiety, it made me feel incredible.

The other ones I have tried are n@h chief jungle, which oddly had almost no effect on me, Paradise kava Hawaiian which was an ok effect, and I just took some png isa a couple hours ago, so far mostly anxiety but not back. I also have tried Realkava instant which works well. The two instant from N@h had barely any effect on me. I just ordered some N@h wow and whitesands since I heard they were stronger body effects.

Any other suggestions on what I should try?

 

[Prince Philip]

I think this should be on the warning labels of most kava:



WARNING: WILL MAKE YOUR MUSIC REALLY FUCKING AWESOME.

 

[kl.new2kava]

Any other suggestions on what I should try?

I'd staunchly advocate Bula Kava Houses boroguro as a solid high DHM strain and their fu'u as high kavain and low DHM strain, when their Vanatu black bag comes back stock up that shit is on fire. It's a shame N@H no longer has Solemon Islands kava, that stuff was the most crazy and unique kava I've come across. Try paradise's isa as that is a strong ass high DHM strain and Figi kava tends to be high kavain. Kava by Rex has a tudei which is good and DHM rich and their van3 is pretty good but they tend to have it sporadically. Oh yeah, definatly try BKH's instant green kava. 

EDIT: Try the kava kava candy as well from Ozia, awesome for on the go relaxation.

 

[kl.bsclement]

 Try the kava kava candy as well from Ozia, awesome for on the go relaxation.

I haven't tried kava kava candy. gonna check that out.
All I know kava is a sedative and muscle relaxant, maybe it can help depressed people. male health
 

 

[mos3z]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely check those out.

So I didn't have barely any reaction at all to n@h chief jungle or paradise png isa, does that mean DHM doesn't really affect me? Or could other high DHM strains affect me differently. I read how powerful those two were to most people but I took a lot of it and only mild muscle relaxation with no other effects. And the twoday thing was barely noticeable, just sort of mellow.

 

[kl.new2kava]

How long have you been drinking kava altogether? If your within your few first few weeks keep in mind that the you havn't worked through the reverse tolerance. It took me almost a month of regualr kava drinking to begin getting full effects from kava and then it became incredibly profound. I thought chiefs was pretty mild and stone was pretty much where it's at, but if paradise's isa didn't do anything I'd say it's your reverse tolerance hasn't come around yet. Give it some time, we all went through it.

 

[mos3z]

I've been taking high doses of pills for 6 months. I've been drinking for a month and a half now every day. Other kavas get me crazy krunk, but chiefs and png isa had no effect. I just tried Wow! Last night and 3 ounces got me wasted ( way more than I wanted)

Is it possible I've built up reverse tolerance for kavain strains but not DHM? Ive had strong reactions to 3-4 ounces of the following: black sands, wow, stone, Realkava instant, Paradise Hawaiian was medium reaction.

 

[kl..]

I haven't tried a lot of the kava's you've listed, but I was under the impression Wow and Stone had high DHM contents. I'm loving Stone right now, but it's effecting me the way high DHM kavas usually do. I haven't been able to find the chemotypes listed for Nakamal's products so I can't confirm that, but I'll bet someone else on here can. I don't know about the reverse tolerance stuff. I was one of those lucky people who felt the effects the first time I drank it. I can't say if they are stronger now because I'm drinking better kava, my prep is better, or if the tolerance has kicked in.

 

[kl.NDG]

I think your issue is confusing psychoactivity with effects. High kavain strains will have mind altering effects which trickle down, imo a better way to combat anxiety and muscular tension.
DHM and DHK have no real psychoactivity but are myorelaxants probably through voltage-gated channel inhibition, this can have neuroleptic like effects, ie slow the brain down but not real psychoactive effects.
I highly doubt reverse tolerance could take this long, especially for DHM, that should be the first to achieve results as it's half life is the longest.
perhaps you do not notice the effects or you simply equate mental status with effects. Or they simply were weak sauce.

 

[Buddhacide]

I think its also worth clarifying though that just because a kava is high in DHM doesnt mean it has no kavain in it. There should be some sort of pychoactive component to the experience. I just find the higher DHM ones are more relaxing and less edgy that "high kavain" strains. But they still tend to be heady imo. FWIW, i find kava to be very random in its effects. The same amount of the same kava can effect me very differently on different days, for reasons I have yet to understand. Also, there are kavas other people rave about that I have yet to have proper success with. In that same breath, I have other kavas that wreck me that do nothing to friends. Kava is just weird that way. I have one suggestion, try making a strong batch and drinking it in the morning. The times I have done it in the earlier parts of the day have really wrecked me. Again, no idea why. But give it a go and once you are feeling it, eat breakfast. Good luck.