Kratom Addiction Treatment in Los Angeles

Profound offers a safe, comfortable, healing environment for you to begin the process of recovery from addiction and co-occurring conditions.

Inclusive, Supportive Environment for All Clients

At Profound Treatment, we recognize the need for a treatment program that values, honors, and respects each client’s unique experiences. Your experiences have a direct impact on the underlying issues that contribute to your addiction and/or mental health. At Profound, we provide help for mental health and addiction disorders that are rooted in inclusive and supportive evidence-based care. What sets us apart as a comprehensive treatment center is our commitment to providing integrated care for all individuals, particularly those in underserved communities.

Understanding Kratom and How It Works

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), kratom, also known as Mitragyna speciosa, comes from the leaves of a tropical tree found in Southeast Asia. The leaves of the tropical evergreen tree contain two major psychoactive ingredients, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. These psychoactive ingredients can produce different effects based on the dosage.

With low doses, the use of kratom can produce stimulant effects, while higher doses can produce sedative effects. In addition to the effects of kratom at low doses and high doses, kratom leaves can lead to psychotic symptoms. The topical tree known by names like thang and biak has a long history in Southeast Asian countries.

Traditionally, kratom leaves have been used as a part of herbal medicine for a few centuries across the evergreen tree’s native countries in Southeast Asia, such as in Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia. As a part of traditional medicine and ceremonies, kratom leaves are chewed, crushed, and smoked, or brewed with tea. More modern versions of the consumption of kratom leaves have seen them placed into gel capsules as a supplement. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of Kratom in the United States as a supplement.

Many kratom users in the U.S. consume kratom products for medical use despite a lack of case reports or studies from scientists and healthcare providers. Some of the types of medical use that kratom users purport as beneficial from kratom include relief for chronic pain, pain related to opioid use disorder, anxiety, depression, and management of substance abuse withdrawal symptoms and cravings.

Additionally, kratom products have been sold in vitamin stores as a supplement to boost energy and lift your mood. It is reported that the effects of kratom at low doses increase alertness, physical energy, and talkativeness. In higher doses, kratom users report the effects of kratom contributes to reduced pain and anxiety, and increased calm.

Kratom has a long history as a natural supplement, yet its benefits, side effects, and other risk factors have not been properly studied. A lack of case reports, studies, or comprehensive reviews presents a growing concern about the use of kratom. The FDA and healthcare providers are concerned about the safety of kratom for medical use due to its addictive ingredients.

Why Kratom Can Become Addictive

The long-term use of kratom presents a risk for kratom dependence and kratom addiction. Developing substance use disorder (SUD) due to the use of kratom is associated with its chemical components. According to the Pain and Therapy Journal, the pharmacology of kratom research has identified more than 40 compounds in kratom.

However, only four of those 40-plus compounds are pharmacologically active: mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH- mitragynine), speciociliatine, and corynantheidine. Mitragynine is the most prevalent compound in kratom, which, when ingested, breaks down into the chemical 7-hydroxymitragynine. Both mitragynine and 7-OH-mitragynine target opioid receptors, which highlights a similar activation on the same receptors in the brain that are activated by known drugs with addictive properties like opioids.

Kratom Withdrawal and the Need for Detox

As noted in Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, kratom dependence highlights a physical dependence based on dosage, frequency, and duration of use. The pharmacology of kratom addiction is associated with kratom withdrawal symptoms after a day or more of disuse. Some kratom users report that their withdrawal symptoms have been mild, especially in comparison to opioid withdrawal symptoms.

However, research has shown greater withdrawal symptoms for kratom users who consume kratom at higher doses for an extended period.

Whether your kratom withdrawal symptoms are mild from use in low doses or significant from use in high doses, withdrawal symptoms can be uncomfortable and impact both the physical and psychological aspects.

The Role of Medical Detox and Supervision

Medical detox with around-the-clock supervision supports safe detoxification from the challenges of withdrawal symptoms. Whether you have challenges with alcohol addiction or a drug addiction like opiate or opioid addiction, detox is a crucial first step toward addiction treatment recovery. Through detoxification, you can clear your body of any substances in your system.

Additionally, detox helps with withdrawal symptoms and transitioning into a treatment program. Medical detox in particular offers medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to help with tapering off substances like kratom or opioid drugs. With the use of medication in medical detox, you or your loved one can receive medical support to safely control and alleviate uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous withdrawal symptoms of substance abuse.

At Profound Treatment, we offer medical detox in our kratom addiction treatment program to give you a stronger foundation for continuing care. Some of the treatment services you or a loved one can find in our medical detox include:

• 24/7 medical supervision from our experienced medical and clinical treatment team
• Medical monitoring for continuous observation of your physical and mental well-being throughout the detox process from highly trained care team members
• Psychological care to address and process the physically and emotionally taxing experience of detoxification
• Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to help you safely and comfortably manage your withdrawal symptoms

Kratom targets some of the same opioid receptors that are activated in opioid use disorder. Thus, common FDA-approved MAT medications for opioid withdrawal have been identified as effective off-label courses of treatment for kratom addiction and kratom withdrawal symptoms. Once you complete your medical detox program, you can start taking the necessary steps for whole-person healing in our inpatient treatment program.