I've seen a couple of case studies about single users using kratom to get off of stronger opioids, but no at-scale studies. But there is a reasonable amount of other literature relating to kratom and its primary alkaloids, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Of particular interest is that these alkaloids are G-protein-biased agonists of the mu-opioid receptor - which also do not recruit β-arrestin[1] following receptor activation. It is β-arrestin recruitment that is responsible for the main side effects of opiates - respiratory depression, constipation, histamine release and build up of tolerance (which is what leads to withdrawals upon cessation). This is a very big deal.
I am a kratom user myself, using it to treat bad neuropathic pain. I am prescribed opiates, but kratom doesn't space me out like they do, there is no respiratory depression, no apparent histamine release, the constipation is much less, and I've been at the same dose for over a year. Honestly, for me it's a wonderdrug.
I have actually have a condition that means I naturally release too much histamine, so I take a lot of antihistamines. When I take prescribed opioid drugs, e.g. tramadol, dihydrocodeine, mophine, the itching can be absolutely unbearable.
With kratom I don't notice much extra itching at all, but I suppose we all act differently to things.
Gabapentin is used for anti-seizure, I was prescribed it 25mg 3x per day. It definitely caused memory issues for me, I literally couldn't remember people's names. After taking it for a few weeks to ensure I wouldn't have another seizure, I was taken off of it. After about a day and a half it was entirely out of my system and I felt back to normal. Some people's results may vary, but I couldn't see doing any complex coding with that in my system.
Are you sure it wasn't either more than 25mg or a different drug? I'm not sure if doses that low are even used for humans (seems they are for pets), but certainly when prescribed for seizures daily doses would range from 300mg to several thousand mg.
I think you may be misremembering the medication. I take 1200mg of Gabaptentin/day for ulnar neuropathy; I don't think that 75mg would accomplish anything.
Yes, I've tried various drugs in the class, gabapentin, pregbalin and baclofen. Unfortunately I can't tolerate the side effects - they make me feel like I am drunk, so I can't work, drive, or generally live normally. It's annoying, because most evidence says these are the best drugs for neuropathic pain :(
Of particular interest is that these alkaloids are G-protein-biased agonists of the mu-opioid receptor - which also do not recruit β-arrestin[1] following receptor activation. It is β-arrestin recruitment that is responsible for the main side effects of opiates - respiratory depression, constipation, histamine release and build up of tolerance (which is what leads to withdrawals upon cessation). This is a very big deal.
I am a kratom user myself, using it to treat bad neuropathic pain. I am prescribed opiates, but kratom doesn't space me out like they do, there is no respiratory depression, no apparent histamine release, the constipation is much less, and I've been at the same dose for over a year. Honestly, for me it's a wonderdrug.
[1] http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.6b00360?journalCode...