DOSE:

4 g

smoked

Sceletium tortuosum

(daily)

BODY WEIGHT:

85 kg

I became interested in Kanna after reading about it and after seeing it for sale on a local website.

I have suffered from general anxiety disorder for the past 5 years. I tried several treatments including risperidone, mirtazapine, quetiapine, prozac, benzodiazepines, valerian root, passion flower, hops, lemon balm.. (list goes on).. but none of them offered a long term solution. The only thing that really worked for my anxiety were benzodiazepines, however as tolerance grows it looses its efficacy. I decided that I would try kanna to see if it had something to offer that these medications didn't.

I obtained 50 grams of dried kanna herb, smokers cut from a local website and was excited to give it a try. I began rolling a large joint's worth of kanna and proceeded to smoke it. My mindset before smoking was tense, a bit depressed and restless.

After the first few inhalations I started to feel an interesting buzz sensation around my head, a little like an electrical impulse, a little like when I am physically exerted and stand up quickly, it was not intense or uncomfortable. The sensation lasted for about 3 minutes and came in waves, roughly 30 seconds apart, lasting about 5 seconds per wave and faded by the time I had finished smoking.

There were no immediate effects felt after smoking the kanna. I didn't feel tired, excited, anxious or anything in particular. I began to wonder whether kanna was all about the small buzz.

Shortly afterwards I thought I would test my anxiety levels by doing something that would normally set it off. I went for a walk around the block with my boyfriend and it slowly dawned on me, the anxiety that I was usually plagued with had completely disappeared! I was not the least bit anxious, there was no tremor, no anxiety, no heart palpitations - Nothing!

Since this experience I have been smoking kanna daily, 1 large smoke in the morning and 1 large in the mid afternoon; as the anti-anxiety effects start to taper off after around 5 hours. I have been using it for over a month now and the effect is always the same, there appears to be no tolerance.

Effects Noticed:

Anti-Anxiety:

It is about as effective as a high dose of benzodiazepine without the drowsiness.

It also has an effect of making me a lot more social.

Analgesic:

It also seems effective at treating tension headaches, which my boyfriend suffers from regularly.

It rapidly alleviates tension headaches, however does not seem effective at treating other types of headaches.

Antidepressant:

After 2 weeks of using kanna daily, I noticed I was a lot happier, not just from the anti-anxiety effects but also I started laughing a lot more frequently and when I do, I sometimes can't stop myself!

Other:

There is a mild muscle relaxant property as well, movements appear smoother.

Addiction Potential:

I tried going a day without kanna and had no withdrawal symptoms, my anxiety did come back but it was no worse than it was before starting kanna. There were no cravings to smoke it nor any withdrawal symptoms.

Kanna has quickly become my favourite herb, it has given me a chance to live my life to the fullest, without fear and anxiety.

Exp Year: 2012	ExpID: 97466
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: 23
Published: Nov 24, 2016	Views: 5,285
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Sceletium tortuosum (179) : General (1), Retrospective / Summary (11), Therapeutic Intent or Outcome (49), Health Benefits (32), Various (28)