By Crystal Lindell<\/p>\n
I have some bad news for pain patients: 7-OH is the new pain reliever we\u2019ve been searching for.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s about as effective at treating pain as a mild opioid pain reliever, with almost no risk of an overdose if used wisely. And best of all, you can buy it the same way you buy alcohol and tobacco: Over-the-counter. No doctor or prescription required.<\/p>\n
So why is this bad news? Well, multiple government agencies are working on making 7-OH illegal, including the FDA<\/a>. Some states, like Florida<\/a>, have already banned it, while in California<\/a>, they\u2019re taking it off store shelves.<\/p>\n While those efforts would be benign if 7-OH was just another snake oil treatment, they quickly turn dire when we\u2019re talking about a substance that actually helps pain patients, many of whom have lost access to prescription opioids.<\/p>\n For those unfamiliar, 7-OH is short for 7-hydroxymitragynine, an alkaloid that occurs naturally in kratom in trace amounts. Some kratom vendors now sell concentrated versions of 7-OH to boost its potency as a pain reliever and mood enhancer.<\/p>\n One of my relatives credits 7-OH with giving him back the ability to play with his daughter. 7-OH has done for him what Advil never could: it helped his back pain so much that it allowed him to be a better father.<\/p>\n Another one of my friends credits 7-OH with allowing him to stay off street fentanyl. Seriously. It\u2019s that effective at treating his pain and alleviating long-term opioid withdrawal symptoms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Another friend of mine who has been living in constant fear of losing access to her prescription hydrocodone says 7-OH has eased those fears. Because she now knows that if the unthinkable happens, she will still have access to pain relief. 7-OH works really well at treating her pain and lifting her mood.\u00a0<\/p>\n While opioid pain relievers can cause drowsiness, many people report that 7-OH actually gives them a small burst of energy \u2013 just as kratom does.\u00a0<\/p>\n My friends have told me that a small dose of 7-OH works about as good as 5 mg of hydrocodone, while larger doses rival the effectiveness of oxycodone.<\/p>\n When taken alone, 7-OH also doesn\u2019t cause the same respiratory depression that large doses of opioids can, which means it doesn\u2019t carry the same risk of overdose. Most deaths<\/a> attributed to 7-OH actually involve other substances, such as alcohol or street drugs.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are definitely downsides to 7-OH though.\u00a0<\/p>\n One is that it does cause physical dependence pretty rapidly, especially if you take 7-OH on a regular basis. So, if you try to stop taking it abruptly, you may feel more irritable, have trouble sleeping, and you may have other symptoms like a restless leg. The best way to deal with that is to slowly taper off it if you want to stop using it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Second, a lack of regulations around 7-OH also means that you may have to trial and error your way into finding a reliable brand you can trust. For example, some brands put additives in the tablets that cause bad headaches, and some brands don\u2019t put as much 7-OH into their tablets as they claim, making them ineffective.<\/p>\n