First timer with a couple questions

[BitMyPumpkin]

As a first timer I purchased some White Maeng Da for the mornings that I need a boost and some Red Maeng Da for the nights that I need to de-stress.

1. Do you find taking some red at night replaces the urge for a beer or two? My hope is to find something to rotate to. I drink a couple nights a week and only a couple drinks.
2. Do you find taking some white in the morning replaces the urge for coffee/soda/energy drink? Again, it would be nice to rotate away from the usual.
3. Is a teaspoon (2.6g) a reasonable starting point to feel energy or relaxation to the first two bullets above? (No tolerances to anything but alcohol and only slightly)
4. I purchased from Inland Botanicals. (About $20 per 100g) I know this is a really open question, but if you can answer it, what is a reasonable price for quality Kratom? Any time I search this vendor I mostly find posts with responses from them which kind of makes me suspicious. (But perhaps they're very customer oriented)

I will try other strains but this is where I ended up starting. And I apologize for the novice questions but I hope to contribute over time as I learn the ropes.

[beathappening]

1. Yes, kratom has helped me to quit drinking altogether.

2. White is nice in the morning, but I am a major caffeine addict and drink it all day.

3. I highly recommend buying a scale. You can find them very cheap, around $10. Measuring by teaspoon is notoriously inaccurate/inconsistent.

4. A kilo $60-85. 100g $9-20. An ounce no more than 5 or 6. Just my opinion here. Price depends on quality and other factors, it can fluctuate outside of these ranges.

[BitMyPumpkin]

1. Yes, kratom has helped me to quit drinking altogether.

2. White is nice in the morning, but I am a major caffeine addict and drink it all day.

3. I highly recommend buying a scale. You can find them very cheap, around $10. Measuring by teaspoon is notoriously inaccurate/inconsistent.

4. A kilo $60-85. 100g $9-20. An ounce no more than 5 or 6. Just my opinion here. Depends on quality and other factors.

Great answers, thank you.

[e_poison]

1. Yes, it will kill the urge for alcohol. I used to be a heavy drinker and kratom usually makes me not even want to look at alcohol.

2. Kratom actually gives me a sweet tooth and makes me want soda more. You won’t want to mix an energy drink with a good white strain. Might be too jittery. At least for me it is.

3. Dosing can be tricky. It takes a lot of trial and error. Everyone is so vastly different. 2.6g sounds reasonable for a first dose.

4. A quality kilo on average will run about $60-$90.

[BitMyPumpkin]

1. Yes, it will kill the urge for alcohol. I used to be a heavy drinker and kratom usually makes me not even want to look at alcohol.

2. Kratom actually gives me a sweet tooth and makes me want soda more. You won’t want to mix an energy drink with a good white strain. Might be too jittery. At least for me it is.

3. Dosing can be tricky. It takes a lot of trial and error. Everyone is so vastly different. 2.6g sounds reasonable for a first dose.

4. A quality kilo on average will run about $60-$90.

Thank you for the responses.

I'm not sure anything will kick my love of diet Dr. Pepper and nor do I want it to. It sounds like the $40 I paid for 200g was a bit high but I won't fuss over it for my first buy. Their kilos are $120.

[tfribourg69]

As a first timer I purchased some White Maeng Da for the mornings that I need a boost and some Red Maeng Da for the nights that I need to de-stress.

1. Do you find taking some red at night replaces the urge for a beer or two? My hope is to find something to rotate to. I drink a couple nights a week and only a couple drinks.
2. Do you find taking some white in the morning replaces the urge for coffee/soda/energy drink? Again, it would be nice to rotate away from the usual.
3. Is a teaspoon (2.6g) a reasonable starting point to feel energy or relaxation to the first two bullets above? (No tolerances to anything but alcohol and only slightly)
4. I purchased from Inland Botanicals. (About $20 per 100g) I know this is a really open question, but if you can answer it, what is a reasonable price for quality Kratom? Any time I search this vendor I mostly find posts with responses from them which kind of makes me suspicious. (But perhaps they're very customer oriented)

I will try other strains but this is where I ended up starting. And I apologize for the novice questions but I hope to contribute over time as I learn the ropes.

1- You will find kratom to be much more enjoyable

2- It can def replace caffeine, but the two synergize nicely, especially coffee

3- Get a scale lol. A teaspoon can weigh anywhere from 2-6 grams depending how it's ground. That said, Yes, ~~2.5 is where i tell everyone to start. Threshold for most

4- Reasonable is 3-5 / Oz , 10-15 / 100g , 60-100 / kilo etc.. Do not pay more than that unless it's from say, DG or KOG

[herbalhippie]

Don't drink, can't comment.

Definitely get a gram scale, they're around $15-20 at smoke shops. I like the AWS that weighs to .00
because I dose very low (.75 - 1 gram tops) and like to make blends with .25 of this and .35 of that.

I suggest to new users they start at 1 or 1 1/2 gram and work their way up by a half gram every 45 minutes. I know
the majority dose at 2 grams or more but there are some that get good effects at low doses. I'd definitely get
the wobbles at 2 grams.

$120 seems a bit high for a kilo, I don't think I'd go over $90 and it would have to be spectacular.

[BitMyPumpkin]

Thanks all. I picked up a scale for $9 on Amazon. I'll test it for accuracy first but it should be to 0.00 grams.

[BitMyPumpkin]

My scale hasn't arrived but the Kratom arrived today. I took a teaspoon this afternoon of the Red Maeng Da. I had a meal about an hour prior so I wasn't full but my stomach wasn't empty. After about 2 hours and no affects I decided to take another teaspoon. It took an hour (so 3 hours since the first dose) and I started to feel some affects. I felt a little warm and relaxed but probably not as much as even a prescribed dose of oxyocodone (no abuse) or a buzz on alcohol. I shouldn't have any tolerances. When the scale arrives I'll weigh 2 teaspoons to get the dosage. I'll try it on an empty stomach next time to perhaps get a better kick.

[e_poison]

My scale hasn't arrived but the Kratom arrived today. I took a teaspoon this afternoon of the Red Maeng Da. I had a meal about an hour prior so I wasn't full but my stomach wasn't empty. After about 2 hours and no affects I decided to take another teaspoon. It took an hour (so 3 hours since the first dose) and I started to feel some affects. I felt a little warm and relaxed but probably not as much as even a prescribed dose of oxyocodone (no abuse) or a buzz on alcohol. I shouldn't have any tolerances. When the scale arrives I'll weigh 2 teaspoons to get the dosage. I'll try it on an empty stomach next time to perhaps get a better kick.

You may have to try a few different strains before you find one that works with your body chemistry. Also, for me personally, I need 5g just to feel anything at all. Everyone is so vastly different that it may be tricky to find the strains/dosage that works, but once you do, it's awesome. I'd try it on a completely empty stomach, 4-5 hours after eating or first thing in the morning. It's also important to note, it won't give you a buzz like alcohol or oxy. It's a more subtle euphoria. Once you get your dosage right, you'll definitely know it's working.

[beathappening]

It takes a few tries for sure. Besides what e_poison said, I'd recommend picking a starting dose, and if it doesn't work, wait several hours then take the initial dose plus one gram. Then waiting another few hours, adding another gram to that (So you could start at 3g, wait four hours, if no effects take 4g, wait four hours, if nothing take 5g, and so forth.) It can be frustrating when you don't get the desired effects, but have patience.
I don't think stacking a gram every hour until you feel something is a good or accurate way to find your dose; the initial dose will begin to wear off as the new one begins to peak, and you won't know exactly where you should stop. This can also lead to taking too much which is uncomfortable and you'll have to start over anyway.

[herbalhippie]

It takes a few tries for sure. Besides what e_poison said, I'd recommend picking a starting dose, and if it doesn't work, wait several hours then take the initial dose plus one gram. Then waiting another few hours, adding another gram to that (So you could start at 3g, wait four hours, if no effects take 4g, wait four hours, if nothing take 5g, and so forth.) It can be frustrating when you don't get the desired effects, but have patience.
I don't think stacking a gram every hour until you feel something is a good or accurate way to find your dose; the initial dose will begin to wear off as the new one begins to peak, and you won't know exactly where you should stop. This can also lead to taking too much which is uncomfortable and you'll have to start over anyway.

That makes all kinds of sense. Maybe even wait longer than 4 hours between tries.

Thank you, beathappening.

[l5s1bgon]

My scale hasn't arrived but the Kratom arrived today. I took a teaspoon this afternoon of the Red Maeng Da. I had a meal about an hour prior so I wasn't full but my stomach wasn't empty. After about 2 hours and no affects I decided to take another teaspoon. It took an hour (so 3 hours since the first dose) and I started to feel some affects. I felt a little warm and relaxed but probably not as much as even a prescribed dose of oxyocodone (no abuse) or a buzz on alcohol. I shouldn't have any tolerances. When the scale arrives I'll weigh 2 teaspoons to get the dosage. I'll try it on an empty stomach next time to perhaps get a better kick.

Like others have said it takes trial and error to find the strains/colors/vendors that work best for you. But I'd also add that my very first dose was a little underwhelming. I definitely felt it but the next day I took the same dose (4.5g) of the same kratom and it blew my socks off. I have a friend who was also underwhelmed with the first dose but loved it the second time. Eating doesn't make much difference to me unless I have a very full stomach, then the effects are muted and delayed. Occasionally if I eat a little/moderate amount of food ~30 min after dosing it ramps up effects, presumably because eating stimulates digestion/metabolism. Good luck!

[BitMyPumpkin]

Yesterday's 2 teaspoons weighed in at about 4.6 grams. (2.3 grams each) About an hour or two after posting I began to feel some nausea. The affect also strengthened some. Some ginger tea helped but I can't say the experience was great. From experience, low prescribed doses of pain killers make me a little nausea so it may somewhat relate.

I'm going to try taking 3.5 grams in a few minutes of the same red maeng da. My stomach is mostly empty but I've had a few drinks tonight so that may change the affect a little.

Next time I'll keep my stomach completely empty and lower the dose. I'll try the white strain and later other strains. I was also sent "The Bulgarian" (blend of multiple strains) as an extra added sample so I'll try that too.

Thank you all. For such a new and smaller forum, I've really enjoyed the support!

EDIT: I decided to mix the 3.5 grams with 5 oz of 170 degree F water and a pack of sweetner. I did not bother straining it as I really enjoy the texture. I was introduced to Mate (energy type drink) which is a cup of crushed leaves, some sugar, water, and a straw so the flavor is not strange to me. In fact, I would love to try Kratom leaves in a similar manner since I have the Mate cup and straw.

[beathappening]

3.5g is good, but don't be afraid to go lower. You may get the same effects out of it, with less side effects and more importantly, lower tolerance.
Alcohol may make it more intense. You'll know if it's too much if you throw up, no big deal.
Crushed leaf, which is ideal for tea, is available from some vendors. I know Wot had a good sampler deal going on, maybe he can chime in here.
Tea's also good chilled.

[whiffypants]

It takes a few tries for sure. Besides what e_poison said, I'd recommend picking a starting dose, and if it doesn't work, wait several hours then take the initial dose plus one gram. Then waiting another few hours, adding another gram to that (So you could start at 3g, wait four hours, if no effects take 4g, wait four hours, if nothing take 5g, and so forth.) It can be frustrating when you don't get the desired effects, but have patience.
I don't think stacking a gram every hour until you feel something is a good or accurate way to find your dose; the initial dose will begin to wear off as the new one begins to peak, and you won't know exactly where you should stop. This can also lead to taking too much which is uncomfortable and you'll have to start over anyway.

Thanks for this. I've been working on a FAQ and I will add your "original dose +1g" method to it as an alternate strategy (only has the 1g per 30-45 minutes method now, agreed 1 hour is probably too long no matter what). I can't remove the 1g per 30-45 minutes, though, because some people have really low tolerance, and for them I'd like their first experience with kratom to not include seeing it twice... assuming they can still focus.

Great strategy, thanks!