Best Supplements and Nootropics For Kratom Withdrawal

In this post I’m going to cover many of the Nootropics and supplements that helped ease some of my Kratom withdrawal symptoms. Kratom withdrawal can be downright miserable especially during the first week, and I found it worthwhile to secure a few key supplements to help get you through.

I’m going to start off with a disclaimer – At best Nootropics and supplements will help minimally. They are far from a magic bullet and you’ll quickly find out many of them are either completely useless, or help just enough to justify the cost. They appear to be more effective in the later stages of withdrawal, but are nearly impotent during the acute stage except for some. If you want a sure-fire solution you’ll have to figure out how to get your hands on prescribed medications like Gabapentin or Clonidine, and some say low dose Naltrexone is also very effective for Kratom withdrawal (during the post acute stage only.)

• Kava Kava – Kava provided the most relief during the acute stages where restless legs prevented even small scraps of sleep. The key is to make the Kava very strong and prepare it the traditional way. Simply purchase high quality Kava, dump some into an old pair of panty hose or cloth strainer, and kneed the material into a bowl of warm water for 20 – 30 minutes. The solution should look like turd water and will have a high potency. Chug the mixture down, do not sip. Ideally you’ll take this concoction right before you plan on falling asleep. Alternatively for a really sedative experience you can make a bunch and drink 3 big cups over the course of an hour, which will surely sedate and relax. I will sometimes mix a small amount of coconut oil into the concoction. The added fat is said to release more Kavalactiones – the active component in Kava Kava.
•  Magnesium – I didn’t find magnesium helped much at all but I took it anyway because it does have a mild calming effect, and is of course a required mineral for many other processes in the body. It’s a foundational mineral I don’t think you should skip. Don’t expect a big response. Taking vitamins and minerals might not help with acute symptoms but they could certainly speed up the time it takes for you to recover. Some people do seem to have a big response to magnesium so I’d say it’s worth it.
• Epsom salt – You could easily skip the oral magnesium and just buy Epsom salt – otherwise known as Magnesium sulfate. Epsom salt is water soluble and typically used in the bath. Draw a very hot bath and dump a few cups into the water. With this method you absorb the Magnesium through the skin which can induce a stronger response compared to oral Magnesium. I found a hot Epsom salt bath combined with the Kava proved to be the most therapeutic protocol to alleviate the restlessness at night. While in the hot water you don’t feel restless at all so take as many as you think necessary. Some products can leave an oily residue so you may opt to shower afterwards. Be sure not to get any of the solution into your eyes because it burns, and doesn’t taste good either. If you don’t have a bath you can purchase a foot bath and soak your feet, or use any plain ol’ 5 gallon bucket.
• L-Theanine and Taurine – I used these for a while with almost no success until someone in my YouTube comments mentioned taking high doses of both. This completely changed the experience. Low doses are next to useless but high doses have a surprising sedative/relaxing effect. I took 1 Gram of L-Theanine and 5 grams of Taurine anytime I felt anxious or restless. Buy both in powder form and purchase a digital scale if you don’t have one. Buying in bulk saves you money. With the amount you need to take to reach therapeutic effects you’ll burn through your money in no time buying capsules.
• Agmatine – Helpful after the acute stage is over to manage Depression and anxiety. I also found it somewhat useful to reduce cravings. Lot’s of people use Agmatine alongside Kratom to reduce their tolerance and increase the effect of their dose – allowing you to take less Kratom with the same effects. On paper this could prove beneficial alongside a tapering program but personally I only found Agmatine reduced the euphoria of my doses, and didn’t necessarily make my doses stronger. Agmatine has an interesting anti-depressive effect and an ability to minimize negative emotion. It’s as if your thoughts don’t change but your reaction to them is measured and less heavy-handed. It’s a mild effect and I find myself using Agmatine to this day. I’ve found it therapeutic on days where it feels Depression is getting the best of me.
• NAC – This one is hard on the stomach for many but does have some implications for managing addiction and OCD. I have found it reduces cravings to both Kratom and Nicotine and reduces obsessive thoughts.
• Phenibut – I always hesitate to recommend Phenibut but I’d be dishonest to say it can’t help, especially during periods of Anhedonia and Depression. You’ll pay the price, but Phenibut reliably animates the carcass. I used Phenibut a couple days during my withdrawals to function at work. I try to default to just powering through but there were a few really hairy days where I had to function but couldn’t. Phenibut provides a significant boost in mood and makes you feel normal. After days or even weeks of feeling Depressed, I justified taking a small amount and I’d say it was worth it, even though yes I did experience a mild Phenibut withdrawal. Really potent stuff for anhedonia/Depression but useless for restless legs.
• Lemon Balm – Lemon Balm inhibits GABA transaminase, which breaks down GABA in your brain. Wonderful stuff and probably the most potent herbal sedative I’ve come across. Very calming, so calming I believe it induces a rebound anxiety after a long period of use similar to Kava. I like to use it alongside the Taurine and L-Theanine. Does seem to build tolerance fast.
• Vitamin C – Vitamin C is said to occupy opioid receptors in the brain and attenuate withdrawal from opioids. I thought this was interesting and I already had a massive bag of Ascorbic Acid. I took 5 grams thrice daily on the days leading up to my quit, and continued taking it for the first few days during withdrawal. I found it reduced the cold/flu like symptoms and I hardly sneezed at all which is one of my classic symptoms. Others have used the high dose vitamin C protocol to great success. Somewhat hard on the stomach.
• DLPA – DLPA supports the creation of energy related neurotransmitters. You’ll want these online so anything you can do to support the brain in the process is crucial. DLPA also blocks the activity of an enzyme that degrades your bodies own endogenous opioid system, so it can also help support the body in naturally managing pain. This is a good one for energy and has a slight stimulating effect. Best used during the post acute stage.
• Ashwagandha – I like certain Ashwagandha extracts like KSM-66 and Sensoril. They always provide a nice chill effect but I didn’t find them strong enough during my acute withdrawals. Could be useful in the post acute stage especially if anxiety is one of your main symptoms.
• Black Seed Oil – I began using this shortly after I entered into my post acute stage and found it provided a nice boost to mood. It also appears to reduce pain and functions as a potent anti-inflammatory. I found it to have surprisingly moderate psychoactive effects. I can’t quite put my finger on what it does to my brain but it seems to almost have a psychedelic feel at higher doses, like a high of sorts. Get the best quality you can afford.
• Coffee – I began drinking copious amounts of coffee after I quit Kratom. It seemed to tickle similar receptors and provided just enough boost to drag my carcass to work everyday. Not something you want to overdo especially if you feel irritable or on edge – it will reliably make these conditions worse. Small amounts can work wonders. Make sure you’re drinking coffee and not energy drinks. Whatever the case, I found only coffee alleviated the withdrawal while energy drinks or caffeine alone made them worse. They’re in the same family of plants so its not a stretch to say coffee functions at least somewhat similarly to Kratom.
• Piracetam – Piracetam is my favorite Nootropic but I’ve never found it to be helpful during drug withdrawals of any kind. In fact I find most Nootropics useless until withdrawal has subsided. With that said, during the post acute stage it reliably cleared the brain fog and functioned in the ways I expected, perhaps better. Get your hands on some if you can especially if you can’t shake the brain fog.

This should be sufficient to get you started. I’d also recommend a high quality electrolyte mix. Load up on the essentials like Zinc, Potassium, Magnesium, and B Vitamins. I tend to avoid multi vitamins.

If I had to do it over (and let’s hope not) I would have liked to get my hands on some Etifoxine and Emoxypine, both of which I found to be effective anxiolytics in the past. There is some merit to skipping supplements and jumping straight to the good stuff like Gabapentin and Clonidine. Some can’t do it without these drugs. My wife for instance has been through Kratom withdrawal before and refuses to do it without Gabapentin. Everybody is different. Had I had Gabapentin I would have used it for sure but I find it eerily similar to Phenibut, perhaps only lacking in the euphoric aspects. As a drug it will of course come with its own problems but I’d venture to say it’s okay to use for the first week assuming it doesn’t make you more Depressed – a common side effect. It will tend to exacerbate Depression and anxiety once you come off so that’s something to be aware of – not to mention the very real potential of addiction. You don’t want to trade one addiction for another.

The key to quitting Kratom is assuming you’ll deal with a moderate amount of pain and suffering for 30 days.

If you’d like to dive deeper I’d recommend my book which covers a lot more of the psychological aspects of quitting Kratom, and serves as a complete guide to quitting Kratom for good. It also includes my personal story using Kratom and coming to the reality that I had to quit at all costs.