rebound anxiety?

[Deleted User01]

@Schmedward, I hear ya man. It is quite possible that you may need some time for the kava to assure you that everything is ok. However ... I don't like the heart palpitations. We classify kava as either being heady or uplifting or more sedating. Do both kinds of kava effect you this way? Do you get heart palpitations when you go out in the world without kava? Like I said, I don't like to see side effects and kava is a very potent drug and you never know if your system is going to react badly to it. One thing I would add, wait at least 30 minutes for the kava to settle into your system before going out. But you can't be doing kava if you are getting extra symptoms that you didn't have before. Anyway, just go easy and monitor your internal signs carefully and make sure any changes are for the good.

 

[24601]

oh yes, if anything I get more heart palpitations without the kava. It's definitely not new. I've only tried the kava from my Canadian vendor so far, and will likely switch over to the vendors here, I have an order in with GHK and I'm just waiting to see how long it takes to ship to Canada. The stuff I'm drinking now seems to be more heady than sedating, but I have nothing to compare it to yet. I will wait before going out after drinking kava too - I think I would be too nervous that I'd react poorly if I went out without waiting an hour or more first. Thanks for your concern. I will definitely monitor my internal symptoms and probably ask my doctor to check my liver function every so often since she's doing bloodwork anyway. I guess the thing I wonder is, would the kava interact badly with other symptoms of anorexia? I know it's best to drink kava on an empty stomach, so I don't suppose that's a problem, and my bloodwork is coming back fine, I'm getting weekly blood tests right now, so there's no problem there, but I wouldn't want potential malnutrition to be further aggravated by kava. The only potential problem I currently have according to my bloodwork is that I might be slightly dehydrated, but that's easily fixed. I'll take a break from the kava every little while to make sure everything is fine. As I said, the kava is really helping me with food, but I don't know all the ways it can affect a person.

 

[Deleted User01]

When it comes to eating and kava, I have funny symptoms myself. I get the munchies about an hour after kava. I always say that I eat more when things are going great and I eat less when things aren't going so great. Maybe the kava will have a calming effect on you and make you forget about your eating disorder. I have heard at least one member say that they act with more confidence when they under the calming effects of kava. Perhaps that might help you in the same manner with your anorexia. And remember ... I'm not a Kava Doctor ... I only play one on the kava forums.

 

[24601]

I'm thinking the kava I currently have is not the best quality, because it seems to give me a headache as it's wearing off. Is this common? (Sorry, not-kava-doctor ) I don't remember this happening before, so I'll see if it happens next time I drink this kava, but the gross tincture that did nothing also gave me a headache.

And my last muslin bag has split, so I'm either going to have to buy some stockings, or get handy with a needle and thread.

 

[Deleted User01]

On that headache thing. I can tell you one thing for sure. Have you ever made the mistake of drinking beer in the morning? Then early in the afternoon getting a headache? Well I have made that mistake and I think Kava can do that to ya if you drink it too early. I'm a daytimer and I'm getting ready for my first shell and it's close to 3:30PM. By the time I do my kava, finish work, work in the garden, and eat; the kava will start to wear off. By then, I will be safely on the couch and I will get no headache or irritability or bounce back anxiety. Just sweet dreams.

 

[Bert07]

If you take enough kava and have a pretty strong buzz going, it should last you all through the night. Peak effects can last on average 2-3 hours if you're taking enough. And then after that, the effects still linger for many hours afterward but not as strong.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

It will level off, @Schmedward, into a more predictable thing once you get over RT. It's a bit fits-and-starts at the beginning for some.

I suffer from depression as well and I take an SNRI for it. Kava helps me with depression a lot, considering that my depression is stoked by anxiety. And with the anxiety component nearly (almost) nulled out by the kava, my depressive mantras don't return. I've found it to be tremendously helpful keeping depression at bay.

As for rebound effects, I haven't noticed any. With the general kava relaxation and openness moving into my second day and coloring things. It's a nice benefit. The only problem I have is that my mornings are hard. Not because I'm groggy and feel hungover, but because I'm feeling sleepy but good and want to stay in bed too long. Once I get moving, all is well, it's just breaking the standstill that I've found hard.

 

[24601]

Thanks. I'm looking forward to it becoming more predictable. I guess I need to get used to the effects, as well. Better quality kava coming in the mail should help too, I think. I haven't found the effects move into the next day yet, or maybe I'm expecting too much. I hope once I get over RT it will help with my sleep, I tend to wake up around 4-6 AM right now, and I don't need to get up that early.

I think I will avoid kava in the daytime, and just have some in the afternoon or evening, except for the occasional day here and there. It will make my kava last longer, hopefully, and also I do still need to get things done. I just finished up my university undergrad (at age 31) so I've gone from writing papers and reading textbooks to suddenly having a lot of free time. I own my own business and I found I didn't get very much done yesterday. Kava is probably better used for me as a reward for completing my work instead of something I take and then try to work.

As for the anxiety, so far it's no better or worse than it was before. I will give it a few days though.

 

[24601]

So I've figured out that the anxiety, heart palpitations, nausea, and headache is actually benzo withdrawal. I'm on 1 mg of lorazepam a day, which I thought was a relatively small dose, so missing it would be no problem, and didn't bother to refill it before last weekend, which means I've been without my regular dose of lorazepam since Friday. I didn't think I'd have withdrawal symptoms but wow, I guess that's why I've felt increasingly like crap since the weekend. I've told my psychiatrist that I want to go off the lorazepam but we were going to wait until my life could better accommodate going off of it. I refilled the prescription today and took my usual dose and I can feel the symptoms receding a little bit. I feel so much better after an hour. Lesson learned: It's not a good idea to halfheartedly try to discontinue a medication without a doctor's backup. And even then, benzo withdrawal is really crappy. I'm not looking forward to going off it for real.

That said, I guess I'm going to have to slow down my kava consumption because I don't want to mix too much kava with lorazepam. Well, it will save me money.

 

[verticity]

Yeah, with benzos, you really need to taper gradually, with medical supervision. 1mg lorazepam is not a huge amount, but if you have been taking it for awhile, your body could be used to it. Kava may be helpful with withdrawal symptoms nonetheless.

 

[Steve Mariotti]

Kava is probably better used for me as a reward for completing my work instead of something I take and then try to work.

I use it to separate work brain from home brain. When I get home, I generally don't know what to do with myself because my energy level is very different. It takes me a while to downshift into the home part of the day. Kava helps me with that transition, and also prepares me for bed, as generally 5 hours later I need to turn in to get up for work.

I've been doing 2 heaping Tbsp. of medium grind with traditional prep these days, with 2 cups of water. I wish I could start a little bit earlier, but I try not to overdo it on the week nights.

As for the anxiety symptoms being from withdrawal, I'm sorry for that. Withdrawal can be miserable.

 

[24601]

Thanks. I've gone back on the 1 mg of lorazepam and the withdrawal symptoms have disappeared, which feels much better. I'll enlist my doctor's supervision when I finally do go off of it forever, maybe in a few months. I just found out that I'm probably starting a treatment program for anorexia soon, so now's not really a good time to deal with withdrawal. I'm also glad to figure out that it wasn't the kava causing the increased anxiety.

I think I've broken through the RT as well, it takes much less kava to satisfy me now. 2 tbsp in 8 oz of water, or 3-4 tablespoons put through 2 washes in 8 oz each is pretty good for the evening, maybe if I only do one wash I'll have another 8 oz mixture later, but I hit this nice, relaxed place, my mind feels clearer, and I find I don't need to chase it or heighten it like I did when I used to drink alcohol. It's just nice to be able to have a little bit and be satisfied, I tended to be an all or nothing guy when I was drinking. The perfect way to wind down in the evening, like you said, Steve.