I can't speak from a medical perspective but I can speak from personal experience. I was addicted to Tramadol (synthetic opiate) for about 3 years. Getting off was extremely difficult and I did it twice. I was very depressed and took Tramadol to get through days, and for the most part it worked. But I didn't like taking a drug, and my overseas pharmacy stopped carrying it, so I went off for good two years ago. It took a week of hell both times to get off it.

Then I learned about Kratom. I was surprised, I'd never heard of it before. So I first bought the powder, tried a little but didn't feel anything, so it sat in my cabinet for several months. Later, I tried it again, but took more of it this time and was amazed at how similar the effect was to Tramadol. I bought more, then found a supplier that encapsulates it so now I take 3 caps in the morning and sometimes more in the afternoon. The effect is great, but even more, I decided to go off it recently for about a week, and I had absolutely no withdrawal symptoms at all. Low doses provide energy and high doses make you drowsy so you have to test it at low doses to determine what works for you.

I have to say I never experienced pain relief from Tramadol even though it's marketed as a pain reliever, and the same is true for Kratom, for me anyway. I do, however, experience emotional pain relief from both, but Kratom is clearly much safer.

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