chronic pain relief

I hope this helps someone.

Over a decade ago I had an industrial accident. I got hit in the head with over 50# of steel from a height of 13' (no hard hat) and my neck has been the cause of my chronic pain ever since. I was lucky to be alive. I won't take opioids so that wasn't a consideration. Instead I've been taking 3 naproxin sodium (aka Aleve) tab's 2x per day. That just took the edge off of the pain and not much else. I stopped taking these a week ago and I've been pain free.

Enter Kratom. It's an herb from the far east. It's the dehydrated and powdered leaves of the kratom plant. I put it into OO capsules and in the morning I take 5 of them, then 3 in the afternoon and 3 before going to bed. The result? After over a decade of chronic pain, I'm largely pain free as I sit here and type. I've been pain free for the past week. I still know that something isn't quite right in the neck, but I have no pain. One side effect, I also have allergies and adult asthma. I cough a lot. In the past I controlled the coughing with cherry bark tincture. It works, but tastes horrible. One side effect of taking Kratom is that it suppresses the cough. A 2fer, I like that. It's also my indicator when the kratom is wearing off. I start coughing, and take my next 3 capsules. Kratom can be expensive, but it works. FWIW, I got mine from Kraken. Once you're a customer you'll get offers for substantial discounts.

The next pain reliever I don't have yet, but it's on the way. Soon I'll have dried wild lettuce. It's supposed to be an extremely powerful pain reliever. It has been compared to morphine in it's pain relieving power, but with absolutely no opioid side effects. Too, it won't set off a urine test. I'm really hoping it works. It's a native north American plant and you probably have it growing in your back yard if you have any wild land at all and don't live in a desert. I know I have it growing wild; I've seen it and never knew what it was. If it works I'll plant a crop of it to harvest eventually. Yes, it can be eaten like lettuce as well. Free pain relief with no side effects, and something that I have total control over beats any other type. But right now I'm buying the dried leaf. I paid $12/lb in bulk from AmeriHerb, where we buy a lot of our spices and herbs. I'll use it as a tea. If it works and I harvest my own crop I'll probably juice it and add enough alcohol to preserve it. Of course making a tincture or dehydration will also work.

Both Kratom and wild lettuce are taken orally.

Anyone wanting more information about these pain relievers, google and youtube are your friends.

Can one OD on them? I don't have that information. But anything can be abused. Dr. Oz did a segment on Kratom and one idiot child abused it and died. Children knowingly eat Tide pods also. My take away from the show was, don't abuse substances such as this and stay safe. Taken for pain and not a potential high is, I believe, safe.

Thanks for sharing this

I remember an old saying that rings true, "The dose makes the poison", meaning too much of just about anything can hurt you. All things (and herbs) in moderation...
Chronic pain has many side effects that can have many detrimental effects. I will look into it.

As long as I know folks are interested in this I'll keep it updated as info' comes in (as I experience it). I have really high hopes for the wild lettuce since I can grow it on site. If it works I'll plant a crop of it. I never deliberately planted a weed before. Seems strange to me to do so. My neighbor will think I'm crazy.

My dry wild lettuce should be here this week.

Yes, OSS, we're not immature kids looking for a high. Just for a substance to do a job. As long as we stick to that we're good.

The last time I was on opiates I mentioned my concerns to a co-worker and he gave me good advice... "As long as you take it for the pain you'll do OK. The problems happen when one takes them longer than that.". I tapered off of them as the pain allowed me to.

FWIW, that was long before I knew about kratom and wild lettuce.

OK, I have more info'.

Yesterday after getting the herb (dry wild lettuce) home I made a weak tea from some. It tasted pleasant and clearly had some value as a pain reliever. That night I made a stronger cup which was quite bitter, but tolerable. I drank it last night at about 8:30 and this morning at 11:00 I was still pain free. This mornings tea (taken after 11:00) was made a bit less strong as compared to last night. I put 1/2 cup of the herb in 40 ounces of boiling water. I'm leaving the herb in there until the tea is gone.

I will definitely keep this in my personal formulary. It works great! Pain relief and no narcotic side effects, because it's not a narcotic. I will definitely grow a crop of it this year.

Here is the page from my herbal book. The illustration is IMO useless for identification.

I have a real bad back...I've been considering buying a sauna and/or hot tub to relax my muscles for the past few months.

I hope it works for you Andrew!

Thanks for the information, Brian.
I may try this, at some point.
At the moment, I am taking some CBD capsules to help with pain from overuse of my body riding my bike to work most days and playing football (soccer) with younger guys and it is working extremely well with no negative effects.

Kratom is good stuff. I hope they don't outlaw it, which the big drug companies are pushing for.

I also highly recommend looking into taking Lithium. I take Lithium orotate, but you can look into what you think would be best. The reason is this: all pain is in your brain. If your brain is functioning without needed chemicals (of which Lithium is one), it will tend toward less-good activity. I have had incredible results from taking the NCI Advanced Research Dr. Hans Nieper Lithium Orotate Tablets, 120 mg. But like I said, do some research into it yourself and let your MD know.

Good info mr_drm. Thanks.

Personally I've been trying to move toward something that I can control from production to finished product. Hence my happiness when I found that the wild lettuce controls my pain. I can grow a crop of it if I want since it grows wild here at my AO and most everywhere in the USA as well. The benefit of controlling my own pain relief w/o outside interference is that no one knows except for the people reading this thread. The kratom worked fine, but it's from an outside source 1/2 a world away.

FWIW, I have backed off of the strength of the tea I'd been drinking. First I wanted to see if it would work. Now I'm down to 1/4 cup (slightly rounded) in 40 ounces of water. I'm also only taking two glasses of that per day. If I need more on any given day I have the option of taking more. I always stay about 12 hours, minimum, ahead on the tea. What I mean by that is that the wild lettuce looks like wood chips since the plant has a central seed stalk that is woody as it bolts. It takes considerable time for it to steep. So when I use the last glass of the tea I'll make another carafe of it and it has at least 12 hours to steep and cool down. I add some stevia to my glass as it's poured, but that probably isn't required at the strength I'm making it at now. Making 4 glasses at a time and drinking it cold or at room temp' makes taking it quite convenient.