PlainPill

Kratom vs THC for anxiety

Short answer: For anxiety, more users report improvement with Kratom — 91% of 108 reports, versus 33% of 96 for THC.

Kratom has 18 meta-analyses and 5 randomized trials on PubMed; THC has 249 and 488.

Based on 568 reports about Kratom and 434 about THC. Not medical advice.

Kratom
Substance
THC
Substance
Users say it helped46%helped335 reports · high confidence26%helped295 reports · high confidence
Verdict
Mixed
Mixed
ResearchBResearch: ModerateAResearch: Strong
Meta-analyses / RCTs18 / 5249 / 488
Mainly used for
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
91% (108)33% (96)
Mood
% reporting improvement
87% (142)64% (58)
Sleep
% reporting improvement
75% (12)59% (95)
Energy
% reporting improvement
84% (88)56% (16)
Focus
% reporting improvement
77% (44)38% (40)
Common side effectswithdrawal, dependence, addiction, toleranceanxiety, brain fog, vivid dreams, paranoia
Typical dose reported4 g / 2x daily7 mg / once a week
Kratom
Latest review conclusion

Based on our analysis, patients using <20 g of kratom/d could be initiated on opioid agonist therapy with 4/1 mg-8/2 mg buprenorphine-naloxone/d, while patients using kratom doses >40 g/d could be initiated with 12/3 mg-16/4 mg of buprenorphine-naloxone/day.

J Addict Med, 2021 ↗
What a user said
“Green or white Kratom powder. My productivity and overall mood have skyrocketed. I dose 4 grams once per day and it’s worked wonders.”
Full Kratom profile →
THC
Latest review conclusion

Cannabis use was also associated with increased relapse rates, more hospitalizations and pronounced positive symptoms in psychotic patients. We make recommendations about the type of research that is required to better characterize the relationship between cannabis use and the development and outcomes of psychosis.

Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 2020 ↗
What a user said
“once a week I smoke a little weed before the gym (sativa Pre-roll sour diesel from medmen) and it actually made me feel normal.”
Full THC profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate