First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

[Balls]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Hi, so... the web site times out - I'll have to watch that...

Here's my experience after 4 days - I'll try to make it a bit scientific to help others. Also I didn't realise this web site has its own regimes, this is just me, trying kudzu.

First of all, this is someone in their late thirties taking 50mg Sertraline a day for more than one year, 17 years heavy drinking on and off and having drunk 1.5 bottles of wine per night for at least 3 weeks, probably more.

On the first day I took 500mg at lunch and 500 mg with dinner. This is what this particular brand recommends on the label. My intention was to continue to have a night cap of 1 large glass of wine per night as an experiment.

It appeared to me that after the second tablet, my mood became elevated and I was slightly giggly, right at the time I should have been becoming tense and in need of drink. WHen it was time for my glass of wine, I definately drank slower and felt absolutely no need to keep on drinking. It didn't make me get drunk faster as one poster imagined to his dismay (LOL) but it was almost as if my mood was already raised, so there was nothing left for the drink to do.

I also noticed that hang over and widthdrawl symptoms from the previous nights were severely reduced. I also noticed some slightly hazy or scatty thinking although this was reduced on successive nights.

By the third night, I noticed some muscle writhing and contorting. This is one of the worst parts of alcohol widthdrawl for me. It still started despite the kudzu even though my mind was totaly calm and subdued. I was able to resist the urge to drink with ease and just observe my body STILL reacting to withdrawl which I found fascinating.

I was getting progressively more tired by the third and fourth evenings so I decided not to take the kudzu in the evening on the fourth night and believe this may have been a mistake. The kudzu I took at lunch time appears to have worn off (is there any point taking this at lunch anyway?) I gave in to a second large glass of wine (each about one third a bottle) and felt very guilty doing so, but still managed to go to bed at the end of it.

Today I am going to step up the kudzu back to 1000mg again. I am very pleased with progress so far. I am left with questions; will the early evening tiredness go away? Apart from that I am sleeping very well. Is the tirdness to do with reduced alcohol intake because I'm sure I've experienced that before? Will I climatise to kudzu and need higher dosages? I hope not? Anyway people - all is good, and I wish you all the best with it.

P.S. what will our government in Britain do for cash when we all discover kudzu?

[Balls]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

I've got so much energy today it's unbelievable.

[catbails]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

I'm new to the site and am going to try kudzu,I did order the Planetary kudzu from amazon but from reading this thread it would appear that the kudzu here is better so I'm going to order that also.I can compare the two and report my findings.
Balls,your post was very enlightening,which kind of kudzu are you using?
Also do you have to take it daily or just on those times when you know you are going to drink.I'm a binge drinker at the week end and sometimes mid week like I can go for 2/3 days AF but then its overpowering and I'll drink till I fall.
I'm so glad I found this site.

[Balls]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Hi catbails, the brand I tried was from Holland and Barrett in the UK. It is 500mg per tablet. This chain of stores normally are fairly good quality. I am a binge drinker also, I drink for depression, which I only get in the evenings, mostly when not drinking (obviously) LOL. I think this is why Kudzu has worked so well for me. I take it every day at the moment and the reason for this is that after such a long period of time drinking, my body craves drink after short periods of abstinence, and so continual kudzu is the right way for me. All the best.

[catbails]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Thanks for your reply balls,I think I'll just take it regulary 3 times daily.I also ordered from this site the 5-htp and true calm.I have L glut ordered from Amazon.
I'll take any little help I can get.
Good luck,catbails.

[beatle]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Well, this thread from 2007 got resurrected recently, and so I will report what happened to me with kudzu. I built up a tolerance for it and after a while it stopped working entirely. I couldn't increase my dose because it made me zonk out (even without alcohol) and gave me a hangover no matter what.

I can hardly recall all the different things I've tried since then, but nothing has ever worked for me for a long period of time.

--Antabuse: sort of works because you HAVE to stay sober, but it just makes the cravings worse, and the motivation to take it is close to zero.

-- other meds: Tegretol, benzos, ADs, SSRIs -- none of them worked and ADs/SSRIs made things so bad that, well, I'm lucky to be alive and I don't say that in jest.

--L-glut: doesn't do much for cravings (for me), but it's good for the body, so I have been a loyal customer for the past 4 years.

--Meditation: did little for me, despite a great commitment of time and belief. The MWO CDs gave me a laugh and also put me to sleep.

--Supplements: well, what can I say? I followed the "Seven Weeks to Sobriety" protocol to the T (and I was sober already). I couldn't wait to be done with it and prove that I was a failure again. I still take a huge amount of supplements, though, and believe in them with my heart, soul, and mind. My regime is just far more tailored specifically to me now, and the types of supplements I take are also very individual (I've done my research, and all supplements are not created equal.)

-- AA. Most people here know my views on this. I have only been to 3 meetings, in different places, but I did in fact read the Blue Bible and I have done a lot of research. While I understand AA provides a great deal of support and comrederie for many people, it is in essence a cult, and has a dismal success rate. I know personally many people who have achieved great success using AA, and some of them even attribute it to the AA regime. Most, however, admit it is the social aspect, the sharing with others and giving/getting support, that keeps them going to meetings. Their successes vary, but when they beat AL, they beat it another way than the 12 steps. For me, it could never be my way out. I don't do well with dogma and giving myself over to higher powers. But I encourage people to find every tool they can in their struggle, and if AA is a useful tool, use it.

But back to kudzu. I haven't taken it for a couple years, but am now considering supplementing my current approach with some kudzu installments.

Currently, I take large amounts of supplements, eat conscientiously well (vegetarian, whole foods) and take baclofen (technically a med, in reality a supplement).

[tantangra]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

I have been taking the reccomended supplements and powder as outlined in the My Way Out book. I have been sober for 4.5 months now and have been on the supplements the whole time. I didn't start on topamax or any other meds. The book has kudzu down for three caps a day, morning, noon and night, and that's how I've been taking them. I don't get a headache or a high from them. I just know that along with the other supps, they work for me. I am planning to reduce the supplements over the next few weeks, starting with vit B, since it seems to just go right through my system and out in my urine. I plan to continue taking the All One powder and the kudzu for at least a year and see how I go then.

Tant

[beagle]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

thanks for all that info beatle - very interesting.
i'm currently on kudzu 600mg twice daily but will up it as per tant's rate.
other supps for me include globe artichoke & Livertone + caps (Cabot health).
Nothing else for cravings. Topamax didn't work for me but was from a dodgy Indian supplier.
Never tried bac. why do you consider bac to be a supp not a med?

[Pride before Fall]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Interesting thread! I tried Topamax and Kudzu, didn't feel any difference in terms of cravings, just extra tired, so bagged them both. So far, so good with a self-hypnosis tape (not from here; I shopped around for a while. I'm not entirely sure it does anything beyond getting 'wired-high' me to relax, but that's probably a substantial chunk of the reason I drank) and a multivitamin.

Congrats on 5-1/2 months AL-free, Tant! Beatle, how long have you been sober?

Beagle, I've used Inhouse Drugstore for ADs in the past, and I trust them. It's a NZ-based operation. Inhouse Drugstore - Supplying a wide range of Prescription and Non-Prescription Medications Online including Propecia, Proscar, Uprima and Viagra

Pride

[francophonerobert]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

First Kudzu Experience

beatle;944017 wrote: Well, this thread from 2007 got resurrected recently, and so I will report what happened to me with kudzu. I built up a tolerance for it and after a while it stopped working entirely. I couldn't increase my dose because it made me zonk out (even without alcohol) and gave me a hangover no matter what.

I can hardly recall all the different things I've tried since then, but nothing has ever worked for me for a long period of time.

--Antabuse: sort of works because you HAVE to stay sober, but it just makes the cravings worse, and the motivation to take it is close to zero.

-- other meds: Tegretol, benzos, ADs, SSRIs -- none of them worked and ADs/SSRIs made things so bad that, well, I'm lucky to be alive and I don't say that in jest.

--L-glut: doesn't do much for cravings (for me), but it's good for the body, so I have been a loyal customer for the past 4 years.

--Meditation: did little for me, despite a great commitment of time and belief. The MWO CDs gave me a laugh and also put me to sleep.

--Supplements: well, what can I say? I followed the "Seven Weeks to Sobriety" protocol to the T (and I was sober already). I couldn't wait to be done with it and prove that I was a failure again. I still take a huge amount of supplements, though, and believe in them with my heart, soul, and mind. My regime is just far more tailored specifically to me now, and the types of supplements I take are also very individual (I've done my research, and all supplements are not created equal.)

-- AA. Most people here know my views on this. I have only been to 3 meetings, in different places, but I did in fact read the Blue Bible and I have done a lot of research. While I understand AA provides a great deal of support and comrederie for many people, it is in essence a cult, and has a dismal success rate. I know personally many people who have achieved great success using AA, and some of them even attribute it to the AA regime. Most, however, admit it is the social aspect, the sharing with others and giving/getting support, that keeps them going to meetings. Their successes vary, but when they beat AL, they beat it another way than the 12 steps. For me, it could never be my way out. I don't do well with dogma and giving myself over to higher powers. But I encourage people to find every tool they can in their struggle, and if AA is a useful tool, use it.

But back to kudzu. I haven't taken it for a couple years, but am now considering supplementing my current approach with some kudzu installments.

Currently, I take large amounts of supplements, eat conscientiously well (vegetarian, whole foods) and take baclofen (technically a med, in reality a supplement).

Hello, Beatle

I suppose the only question I have is are you on an abstinence-only program, or a moderation-only program? If it is the latter, are you having success with it? Are you not bing-drinking, for example, or are you drinking no more than 14 drinks per week? I am a binge drinker myself, and I am currently AF (day 21) but after day 30, I plan to drink three beers, with or without kudzu, and see how I feel the following morning, i.e., do I have a strong desire to drink that day. If I have a strong desire to drink that day, then I will go to an absinence-only program.

Robert

[beatle]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

beagle;944239 wrote: thanks for all that info beatle - very interesting...
Never tried bac. why do you consider bac to be a supp not a med?

baclofen is a synthetic version of a substance that is found in every living mammal.

Most vitamins and supplements are also synthetic versions of the "real thing" found in nature.

Vitamin, mineral, and other supplements are ingested to try and restore balance to the system.

As is baclofen.

The main difference here is the amounts of baclofen needed to obtain indifference to alcohol.

Many people take high doses of vitamins, far beyond recommendations... most people don't seem concerned about that.

[beatle]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

btw, I want to make it clear that kudzu does very little for me anymore, despite the beginning of this thread.

But, it helped me for a period, and I do believe it can help many dedicated people in their quest for sobriety.

[Ronker]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

beatle;944017 wrote: -- AA. Most people here know my views on this. I have only been to 3 meetings, in different places, but I did in fact read the Blue Bible ).

So whats the go with the 'blue bible' is it a good read / avail online?

Thanks

[beatle]

First Kudzu experience-- holy shit!

Sorry, I meant Big Book (which is the AA Bible). I have amended my original post to reflect this.

A.A. Big Book

Anyway, I also got a hard copy from a family member who is a diehard AA follower. I believe they pass it around freely. Maybe all it takes to get a hard copy is to go to an AA meeting. Or ask an AA follower.

Yes, it is a good read. Very different than the Bible, however. I enjoyed the stories, but not the dogma. It looks like diehard Christians don't like it. My impression is that they find it heretical.

"AA’s leaders and individual sponsors usurp the role God has ordained for church elders to shepherd and "feed the flock of God which is among you" (1 Peter 5:2)."

see:

How Alcoholics Anonymous Doctrines Compare with Scripture