Kava - makes me feel bad instead of good

[Bluesjunky]

I had some negative experiences with kava after I got my Vitamix--the Rolls Royce of blenders--last year. I quickly discovered that the blender was so powerful that straining the kava was optional--if you blended the kava on the highest setting it would be chopped almost as fine as the instant. My first thought was "Oh, how convenient. Now I don't have to deal with the freakin' mess that is straining this stuff." Paraphrasing here, of course Anyway, after a while, I started having kava hangovers for the first time, and these continued for a couple weeks before I realized they were probably related to this insanely powerful blender. So, back to straining and blending on a lower setting and order restored. As long I don't overdo it I usually have a very pleasant kava experience. If I do too much or don't properly strain, however, that's when I can run into that edgy kind of feeling you described. And if I don't feel well to begin with then I stay away, because I've tried that, too, and that usually doesn't equal a good time.

 

[rooty]

It's the soot, double up your filter.

 

[Mystic]

I had that edgy unpleasant feeling one night, and had less the next night and it was much better.

 

[Robert]

Yea, I can get this real bad. Sometimes kava seems more of a torture than anything. But sometimes it's great. I've found it's essential to really filter very well , and make much weaker brews. I've been into pUtting heavy whipping cream in my shells, this is HIGHLY recommended. I have been trying to figure this out for a while now as I used to post about it in the old forum and it seemed not a lot of others had this issue. My new theory is that for me K@ may have something to do with it, when I quit taking K@ kava was much more relaxing, don't know if your into the K@ thing or not. Haven't completely hacked this one yet. But taking other things with kava helps tremendously. Like passionflower, theanine, magnesium, velarien. Stuff like that. Last night I juiced a bunch of California poppies and took a shot of that with my kava. No edginess at all. These kinds of things mix VERY well with kava.

 

[Global Kava Exports]

I get this anxious feeling all the time. I am somehow relaxed but also anxious...I know that sounds weird but it's the best way I can describe it. Even drinking shells in Vanuatu used to give me that feeling

The fact is that I feel relaxed and healthy after the anxiety wears off and I feel good even into the next day so it is worth the hour or two of anxiety for me so I ca feel better in general.

I too am going to try some of the methods to reduce stress mentioned by people here. I used 100gm of Malekula last night with half litre of water. I made 3 glasses and drank them within the space of 45 minutes so I think spacing it out could help.

I think I am too greedy. I am drinking a glass before the first glass has even really fully kicked in.

 

[Idgie]

Ok, I know it has been a while, but I have been off experimenting..... holed up in a cave .... just me and my kava.
I had two 'off-kilter' experiments (kava did not feel good). BUT... I have also had some good experiences again!!! yea!!!!

Here's the thing - I know about the whole hydration thing. You would not BELIEVE how much water I drink during the day. However, it appears that I MUST chug a big ole glass (it's about 20-24 ounces) or water IMMEDIATELY before my session - and then I sip on a little lime-water during the session. I also still carefully 'space' out my shells. And very small amounts of kava. If I'm super hungry I will go ahead and have some of my apple. Doing this... I have had three (in a row) GOOD TIMES.
OMG you guys I really didn't expect this. But because so many of you good folks chimed in with suggestions, help, it made me think more about it, and try again. I really was ready to give somebody all my leftover kava (wow, I bet if you had known that you would not have helped - LOL)....

I bow down to the goodness of all the fine folk here at the kava forum. I truly appreciate each and everyone of the responders here. You are beautiful to me.

 

[HeadHodge]

I just now had a shiver of happiness!!!

 

[infraredz]

OMG you guys I really didn't expect this. But because so many of you good folks chimed in with suggestions, help, it made me think more about it, and try again. I really was ready to give somebody all my leftover kava (wow, I bet if you had known that you would not have helped - LOL)....

I bow down to the goodness of all the fine folk here at the kava forum. I truly appreciate each and everyone of the responders here. You are beautiful to me.

Awesome to hear your success and grateful thoughts for the community. I must say though, and I think I can speak for the everyone else, even if we had known about that, we would have still helped you.

Everyone here is so selfless, it's amazing.

 

[TidyMinion]

Ok, I know it has been a while, but I have been off experimenting..... holed up in a cave .... just me and my kava.
I had two 'off-kilter' experiments (kava did not feel good). BUT... I have also had some good experiences again!!! yea!!!!

Here's the thing - I know about the whole hydration thing. You would not BELIEVE how much water I drink during the day. However, it appears that I MUST chug a big ole glass (it's about 20-24 ounces) or water IMMEDIATELY before my session - and then I sip on a little lime-water during the session. I also still carefully 'space' out my shells. And very small amounts of kava. If I'm super hungry I will go ahead and have some of my apple. Doing this... I have had three (in a row) GOOD TIMES.
OMG you guys I really didn't expect this. But because so many of you good folks chimed in with suggestions, help, it made me think more about it, and try again. I really was ready to give somebody all my leftover kava (wow, I bet if you had known that you would not have helped - LOL)....

I bow down to the goodness of all the fine folk here at the kava forum. I truly appreciate each and everyone of the responders here. You are beautiful to me.

So something that's just very recently hopped on my radar regarding hydration. I drink a lot of water daily also but i still feel like i'm on the edge of dehydration some days. One thing about kava being a diuretic is that you also end up losing electrolytes in the process.

I haven't been good at keeping at this every day but i've been making a homemade gatorade that's good for fighting off those oncoming dehydration headaches - I used an empty gatorade bottle for since it was easy to cart around, I do half-bottle filtered water, rest of it with coconut water (or just use all filtered water), about 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt, squirt some lemon juice in there and shake it all up. Maybe add some sugar in there to also (it's better than the corn syrup in a lot of those type of drinks). Coconut water is great for restoring electrolytes so I try to keep that regular in my liquid intake.

You could add 100% fruit juice, honey, whatever just keep the sugar as natural as possible to avoid throwing your blood sugar level for a loop. Feeling adventurous? throw 3 TBSP chia seeds in the bottle and shake really well every now and then and leave it over night. Extra energy boost with chias!

 

[hotwired]

I just tried the King Solomon Hippo Kava and it gave me a jittery, lousy trip. I am a first time user and read about the "reverse tolerance" and the website says to only take 2-3 grams once. But I was getting anxious! I took one teaspoon rounded (2-3g) yesterday. NDE (no discernible effect). Then I got ahead of myself this morning. tsp 5 a.m. NDE. tsp 8 a.m. NDE. Finally big heaping tsp (not TBSP) at around 11. THAT was the kicker! Tense neck and shoulders, ringing ears, etc. I've since ordred some M'oi and some of that 70% paste. I'm thinking "heady" is not the way to go for me though. Anyone else try the Happy Hippo stuff? (I won't order from them again).

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Seriously electrolytes are key ... I buy those body armor drinks .. they have like 10 % coconut water and tons of vitamins and potassium ect. Way better than Gatorade but even Gatorade helps of I don't have anything else lmao

 

[kavadude]

I just tried the King Solomon Hippo Kava and it gave me a jittery, lousy trip. I am a first time user and read about the "reverse tolerance" and the website says to only take 2-3 grams once. But I was getting anxious! I took one teaspoon rounded (2-3g) yesterday. NDE (no discernible effect). Then I got ahead of myself this morning. tsp 5 a.m. NDE. tsp 8 a.m. NDE. Finally big heaping tsp (not TBSP) at around 11. THAT was the kicker! Tense neck and shoulders, ringing ears, etc. I've since ordred some M'oi and some of that 70% paste. I'm thinking "heady" is not the way to go for me though. Anyone else try the Happy Hippo stuff? (I won't order from them again).

I'm looking at their website. The picture looks exactly like K@; kava, other than maybe powerful CO2 extract, is not effective in teaspoon doses. Their website seems to suggest that it's an instant (dehydrated kava juice, they say), but it still would be unlikely that a few teaspoons over a few hours would do anything for you. A tablespoon of instant kava all at once is a good starting dose for me, personally, and would never get me to negative effects. That was probably K@.

 

[hotwired]

@kavadude - I hated to even think such a horrible thing about the HH company but you might have a point. However, I think maybe it was MIXED vs. PURE Ktm. -- The King Solomon Hippo Kava from Happy Hippo, did make my mouth numb though, leading me to believe that there is SOME kava in it. I just got some micronized vanuatu sample from kava kava r us and it's darker in color than the HH. I may have just "bumped up against" the reverse tolerance. I'm going to try micronized vanuatu now at 6.30 in the morning and see how that works ... thank you for your feedback. This is my first experience so I hope it's not like KTM where you have to get the dose and all other factors exactly exactly perfect to avoid a bad trip. I keep reading about kava being like a "liquid massage" in some cases (certain strains) and i'm looking forward to that. Thanks again!

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

Oddly enough it specifys that it's not K@ . But I don't understand how they could extract from a "live plant ". Lol unless they just get some root from the ground and gradually do it or something @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava you could prolly she'd more light as to whether this is possible

 

[Gourmet Hawaiian Kava]

Oddly enough it specifys that it's not K***** . But I don't understand how they could extract from a "live plant ". Lol unless they just get some root from the ground and gradually do it or something @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava you could prolly she'd more light as to whether this is possible

I am not sure what they are doing but I know that you can not make an extract from a live plant, when you damage the roots or stump then the plant will die. Let me know if you have any other questions, aloha.

Chris

 

[Zac Imiola (Herbalist)]

That's what I figured lol. Thanks @Gourmet Hawaiian Kava

 

[kilakila]

Unsavory topic for the morning but I'm feeling kinda weird and trying to pinpoint the cause:
Still on 1mg Valium (tapering)
Last week had 2 days worth of doxycycline but had to stop due to allergic reaction
Drink plenty of water, exercise regularly, eat healthy diet
Kava definitely helps with anxiety and I don't overdo it - definitely a lightweight
BUT
Last few days getting loose poops in the morning with obvious undigested food - yea disgustingly enough I did look!
Feel kinda spacey and unbalanced - not really dizzy though.
No stomach pain other than a bit of tenderness.
Micro moi and Solomon strains seem to make me feel worse and I barely had any.

Anyone had anything like this - particularly the loosey poopy? Can even just small amounts of kava cause this - especially with low dose of benzos?
Re-started probiotics in the hope this might help.
Meanwhile staying off all kava

 

[kavadude]

Micro could do that, but given that it's persisting I'd guess it has more to do with your valium/doxycycline problems.

 

[wormwood]

Here is my tale of woe: A few years ago I tried kava. It was very cool. I don't think I ever got 'krunked' even with massive amounts- but definitely got that feel good 'chill' vibe, everything is ok, it's cool, I'm calm, yea this is nice.
And so it went for a year or so of probably 4-7 times a week of kava usage.
Then... I just started feeling .... bad after kava. Not sure how to describe, but the exact OPPOSITE of what it used to feel like. Edgy, anxious, not good. Trust me, I repeated this experiment probably 100 times (no kidding - amazing what we will do to keep chasing that high). I am finally ready to just concede - this no longer works for me. Note- I took an EXTENDED break of 2-3 months with no kava at all (hoping that maybe I needed to reboot the matrix). Same effect when I tried again. I have tried different brands, types, instants, etc (good lord you should see my cabinet).... it all seems to have this same bad, no-good effect. Heavy kavain seem to be the worst, but I have tried the borogurus\borogu as well (different vendors, yes all the 'popular' vendors on this site), it is the same.
Obviously - I am an outlier. Has anyone else experienced this? Anybody you know experience this? I have heard of people quitting due to allergic (skin) reactions- is it possible I developed some other type of allergy that will never go away?
Just curious if anybody else has ever heard of this.

This has actually happened to me as well, except that I still get good benefits from using Kava. But its definitely not as good as it was in the beginning, theres no question about it.

 

[Deleted User01]

Loosey, I need to go poopy! Sorry, couldn't resist. Strong antibiotics can sometimes make me sicker than the original symptoms. I think you need to go cold turkey on everything and do a complete reset. Just drink lots of water and bland foods and see if things return to normal.