Kratom lovers have acclaimed it for being a miracle herb, helping them in alleviating their mood and relaxing their mind; other users have also reported severe headaches after taking their kratom dosage.
Considering you are taking kratom to relieve pain, reduce anxiety, relax your mind and induce euphoria, then having all these benefits at the cost of headaches, this is actually counterproductive!
That is why we will help you to cope up with terrible kratom headaches.
So, finally, it is time to let the cat out of the bag.
Wait… For first-timers, let us shed light on some facts.
What Is Kratom?
Kratom is a herbal extract that comes from the leaves of an evergreen tree in the coffee family, typically grown in Southeast Asia.
The history of kratom dates back to hundreds of years in the past. Back then, it was primarily famous in Thailand, Malaysia and other parts of Southeast Asia.
It was used widely by labours in Thailand and Malaysia to improve their work productivity and relieve fatigue. It was also used in various socio-religious ceremonies.
Even today, kratom is the highlight of some ceremonies, music settings, and other recreational activities.
Kratom leaves are chewed, and dry powdered kratom is either swallowed or brewed as kratom tea and other beverages.
Kratom extracts can be used to make a liquid product. In the past, people preferred chewing the kratom leaves; but now, kratom is more commonly consumed in liquid and powdered form.
Let us not beat about the bush any longer
Does Kratom Cause Headaches?
Yes, using kratom indeed can cause headaches. However, this is not a ‘must happen’ and is quite relative.
The intensity varies among people and is dependant upon certain factors which we will discuss further in this article.
For your ease, let us list down the factors which cause Kratom headaches. This will help you to avoid them!
A few important factors which cause kratom headaches are:
- Dehydration
- Stress
- Poor sleep
- Bad quality kratom
- Overdosing your kratom intake
Now, let us discuss a few remedies to cope up with kratom headaches.
How To Cope with Terrible Kratom Headache?
There are quite a lot of ways to get rid of kratom headaches, and we have compiled a few of the best for you to cure and avoid your kratom headaches.
1) Keep Yourself Well-Hydrated
Drinking water has never harmed anyone!
Due to the diuretic property of kratom, it can lead to the loss of substantial amounts of water from the body.
This leads to dehydration which may cause severe headaches. The most simple and easiest way to counter this is by taking more water.
Even if you feel you are drinking a sufficient quantity of water, gulping some more will not harm you in any way.
2) Lower Your Kratom Dosage
The content of alkaloids, which is one of the major component responsible for the various effects of kratom, is affected by multiple environmental factors such as sunshine, harvesting time, and rainfall.
Kratom supplied by vendors may vary in potency and strength.
Also, the strength of kratom powder may differ not only from one seller to another, but also varies within the different individual batches produced by the same vendor.
This means, that although you may be taking the right dosage, the potency of the kratom powder is actually stronger, resulting in an overdose.
Therefore, you will have to be careful about the quality of kratom you buy. To play it safe, keep the dosage low to make sure you do not gulp on extra dosage.
Lowering dosage may be quite tricky for you in the beginning, considering you are accustomed to high dosage.
Nevertheless, re-adjusting your kratom dosage will provide you with relief from your kratom headaches.
3) Sleep Well and Try To Relax Yourself
Another simple way to cope up with your headaches is by sleeping well. Who doesn’t like a few extra hours of sleep?
If you are continually cutting your sleep hours, even kratom will not help you with your anxiety, depression, and most importantly, your headaches.
Try relaxing by taking a good bath, listening to soft music, doing yoga and any other technique by which you can relax your body.
4) Massage
People with migraines can vouch how massaging is a simple yet effective way of reducing your misery of headaches.
Try massaging the back of your neck and your shoulder muscles.
This will allow a better circulation and will also decrease muscle tension. This simple trick may end up reducing your kratom headache considerably.
Well, if you also want to avoid the headaches, so you can enjoy your kratom in the future without any tension then.
Don’t worry; we have a few tips which will help you avoiding kratom headaches.
How To Avoid Kratom Headaches?
1) Try Different Strains
The alkaloid content may vary from strain to strain and trying out different strains may do the trick for you.
Moreover, not all users feel the same effects from a particular strain. The same strain may have an entirely different effect on you than your fellow kratom user.
Therefore, it a good idea to try different strains and see which one best suits you, as you may be sensitive to a particular strain than the other ones.
It is highly recommended to reduce your usual dosage when you are trying a newer strain, as some strains are highly stimulating than the others.
Start low; go slow!
If you are a beginner, we would recommend you not to go for Maeng Da and Thai kratom, as both these strains are reported to cause muscle tension, ultimately resulting in headaches, especially among new users.
2) Switch To Any Different Form Of Kratom
How you are taking your kratom dosage may also have various effects on you.
Generally, kratom is taken in the form of powder (with water), or kratom capsules or as kratom tea.
Variations in the medium of intake, i.e. switching the way you are taking your kratom may as well do the trick.
If you are taking kratom powder or kratom capsules directly, intaking kratom by drinking kratom tea might resolve your headache problem.
3) Reduce Your Caffeine Intake
Excessive intake of caffeine may also trigger headaches considering that now in addition to caffeine, you are also taking kratom.
But what is the connection between caffeine and kratom?
Well, caffeine too, like kratom dehydrates you, and if you are taking both of them in a day in substantial quantity, you can guess the consequences. Point to note is that caffeine is not only found in coffee as one might assume.
Other beverages like some tea, coke, soda etc. also contain caffeine. Often caffeine is found in chocolates too.
Try cutting on your caffeine intake, preferably by substituting your caffeinated beverages with water.
4) Find A Pattern
In your battle against headaches, you will need to comprehend and acknowledge the causative factors. This way, you will be able to avoid the triggers which cause headaches in the first place.
How can you know the triggers?
The solution is simple, by keeping regular tabs on your activity, you can find the cause behind your headaches.
For this, you will need to keep a diary and whenever you experience such a headache, note down the kratom dosage and strain you took, also jot down if you took something else along with the kratom or if that day you had any altered routine, in other words, note all the possible factors that would have been the cause.
Finally, your headaches may be caused by factors other than kratom.
If your headaches persist, we strongly recommend you to consult a doctor, as regular headaches are not normal and maybe the symptoms of something serious. So watch out!
Conclusion
Kratom, for a long time, is used for therapeutic and recreational purposes. Many opioid addicts seek refuge by using kratom, as it can be used to avoid the symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
In the past, it was used to cure multiple common illnesses like diarrhoea, diabetes, fever, and pain. Today, its popularity is not limited just to Southeast Asia.
Kratom is widely used by people to relieve fatigue and pain, fight insomnia and depression, and for its miraculous relaxing and calming effects. Kratom is also sold as a treatment for panic attacks.
At higher doses, it reduces pain and may as well induce euphoria. At very high doses, it acts as a sedative, making users quiet, calm, and perhaps sleepy.
But be careful!
Well, it turns out that the side effects of kratom are not just limited to headaches, it can also cause nausea, constipation, dizziness, itching, depression, loss of appetite, and many other adverse effects.
Kratom has been reported to cause abnormal brain function when taken with prescription medicines.
This will cause severe headaches, and you will lose your ability to communicate.
So beware!
Though kratom, an all in one package, is sold as an energy booster, mood enhancer, pain reliever, and antidote for opioid withdrawal, it should be taken in a limited amount.
Its intake should immediately be discontinued if you feel any of the kratom adverse effects mentioned above. Try not to exceed the dosage.
Stay healthy, stay headache-free!