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Kratom use offers a wide range of physical and psychological benefits. Whether you want to manage pain and muscle fatigue or reduce anxiety and lethargy, taking Kratom in safe and responsible doses can help. However, remember that your Kratom tolerance can develop and grow the more you ingest it.
When your Kratom tolerance increases, it means that you will need to ingest more of it to experience the same desirable effects that you once could with a smaller dose. This problem can grow exponentially, as many people continue taking more and more Kratom each time to experience the benefits they once could with a relatively small dose.
How Can We Help?
If you are worried that your tolerance to Kratom is becoming uncomfortably high, we are here to help you get back on track. Luckily, you can manage Kratom tolerance by practicing a few simple techniques.
Not only will we explain some of the most effective ways to manage and reduce your Kratom tolerance, but also the three main phases of Kratom tolerance, as this will help you recognize when you need to bring your tolerance back down.
To get things started, we will explain what causes increased Kratom tolerance.
What Causes an Increased Tolerance to Kratom?
The more often you take Kratom, the faster your body grows accustomed to the sensation to counteract the side effects. This is certainly not unique to Kratom. The body can build a tolerance to a wide range of substances and medications.
For example, coffee and tea drinkers will be familiar with how their tolerance to caffeine can grow and fluctuate depending on how often they drink their preferred morning beverage. Where one cup of coffee may have been enough to wake a person up in the morning, regularly drinking coffee could leave them needing two or three cups to experience the same energy boost.
Tolerance tends to build because the enzymes in the body begin metabolizing a substance faster as the cell receptors become more familiar with that substance. In other words, the more frequently you take Kratom, the more capable your body will be of recognizing, metabolizing, and ejecting it from your body.
While many physiological and genetic factors determine an individual’s base tolerance level, the more frequently you ingest Kratom, and the larger the doses, the more your Kratom tolerance will grow.
Strain Specific Tolerance
Building a tolerance to a substance is just a natural biological response to repeated ingestion. Note that tolerance can increase towards a specific strain as well as Kratom as a whole.
In the Kratom community, this is called the “Stagnant Strain Syndrome”. It occurs when someone takes a specific strain repeatedly over an extended period. Each Kratom strain contains a unique blend of alkaloids and other compounds, so the body can increase its tolerance to that specific strain.
You may notice you need to ingest a large dose of a strain you take regularly to experience any effects. You may also notice that it only takes a relatively small dose of another Kratom strain to experience its effects.
What are the Phases of Developing a Kratom Tolerance?
1. The Beginning Phase – When you first start taking Kratom, your body will have very little tolerance towards it and experience the effects very easily and with a small dose. This phase rarely lasts for long, as the body will begin building a tolerance quickly if you continue to ingest Kratom on even a semi-regular basis.
You may notice that your tolerance grows quickly during this phase, and you need to take a slightly higher dose every single time to achieve the beneficial effects you are looking for. This is natural, so you should not be overly concerned.
2. The Ideal Tolerance Level – This phase is often known as the sweet spot as it is when you have the ideal level of Kratom tolerance to enjoy your desired benefits without having to ingest an overly large dose.
You want some level of tolerance towards Kratom. If not, it is easy to take too much and feel some of the negative effects like nausea, insomnia, headaches, and more. However, you do not want your tolerance high enough that you constantly have to increase the amount you take to feel any effects.
3. The Snowball Effect Phase – If you are not careful about monitoring your tolerance, you can quickly find yourself in the phase where your tolerance is growing at an unsustainable rate. This phase takes its name from the “snowball effect”, where a problem compounds and grows larger each time you do it, just like a snowball growing larger as it rolls down a hill.
When your tolerance is high, you will keep taking more to enjoy the same benefits you once could with a small dose, making the problem worse and accelerating the rate at which your tolerance is growing. This is especially common with Kratom extracts.
What Can You Do to Manage Your Kratom Tolerance?
Now that you know a little bit more about Kratom tolerance and why it is important to keep it under control, we can highlight three of the most effective ways to keep your Kratom tolerance at a healthy and reasonable level:
Method 1: Taking a Scheduled Break
If you suspect that your tolerance to Kratom products is growing to an undesirable level, you should give your body a break. Similar to if Kratom is giving you constipation, taking some time off of Kratom will allow your body to reset its tolerance. The longer your break from Kratom or a specific Kratom strain, the lower your tolerance level will be when you revisit it.
Many people will schedule regular breaks throughout the year to keep their tolerance in check. While abstaining from Kratom altogether may seem difficult if you rely on it for pain relief or to help with anxiety, it is worth noting that even a short break can be incredibly effective. Consider taking a few days off of Kratom and see if it helps decrease your tolerance level.
This also applies to specific Kratom strains and especially Kratom extracts and “Enhanced” strains, which can increase your rate of tolerance significantly. Keep you use of Kratom extracts and enhanced powders to only occasional use regardless, and try taking a break from your preferred strain, as this will also help reset your tolerance to that specific type of Kratom.
Method 2: Practice Strain Rotation
Given that you can develop a tolerance to a specific Kratom strain, you can also keep your tolerance level under control by regularly switching to a different strain.
Kratom is available in Green, Red, and White Vein strains, and each of those strains will have a unique alkaloid composition. By switching strains rather than always taking the same one, you can prevent your tolerance from growing to an unhealthy or unsustainable level.
You can also mix strains to create Kratom blends, which helps if you strongly prefer one strain and do not want to give it up entirely. For example, if you took Red Maeng Da daily but were worried that your tolerance to it was growing too high, you could try a Red and Green Vein Maeng Da blend.
Within the three main Kratom strains, there are also regional varieties. Consider trying a Kratom leaf that is grown in another region as a way to prevent your tolerance for one specific type of Kratom from spiraling out of control.
Method 3: Supplement with Magnesium
Magnesium is a popular health supplement offering a range of anti-inflammatory and digestive benefits. Fortunately, taking magnesium can also help you reduce your Kratom tolerance.
Taking magnesium will help your body process and digest Kratom more efficiently, which means you will need less Kratom to experience the same effects. While dietary science is fairly complicated, magnesium enhances the biochemical reactions that help the body process and metabolize Kratom.
Many regular Kratom users find that taking a magnesium supplement roughly 30 minutes before they consume Kratom will also help their body have a stronger reaction to the Kratom. In other words, taking magnesium before taking Kratom can help a Kratom user feel the effects of ingestion more profoundly, which means they can consume less of it and still experience the same benefits they are looking for. See more Kratom potentiators here.
If you are considering a magnesium supplement to help reduce your Kratom tolerance, make sure that you are only consuming the recommended dietary allowance for your age and gender. Typically, this will be roughly 400 mg per day for adult men and closer to 300mg per day for women.
Final Words
There are some risks associated with developing a Kratom tolerance, not least of which is the risk of Kratom dependence, addiction, and significant Kratom withdrawal symptoms when you decide to stop. Taking massive quantities of Kratom can also significantly strain your liver.
To keep your Kratom tolerance safe or to prevent Kratom tolerance in the first place, we encourage you to practice scheduled breaks, limited use of Kratom extracts, strain rotation, and even magnesium supplementation. We also strongly encourage responsible Kratom dose control and the avoidance of “enhanced Kratom” and products that do not clearly state their Kratom content.
If you consume Kratom responsibly, it can be an incredibly beneficial and enjoyable substance that can help you live life to its fullest!
