Kratom and sexual life

In the discussion forums about kratom, there is always someone who asks the question again: does kratom have any effects on sex? It is very difficult for us to make conclusive statements about sex and kratom since each person has their own particularities regarding libido and sexuality development during all stages of their life. Beyond the personal, there are no conclusive studies on what effects on sex might be considered most common after kratom ingestion.

What brings some light to this discussion are personal stories that help us understand that, in fact, it seems that kratom, in general, does not radically change the sex life of its users. In the most popular forum about the plant with almost 120.000 members, on the social network Reddit, there are different statements of effects generated by Mitragyna speciosa in both men and women: increased or decreased libido depending on the person. There is no definitive pattern.

“Some men use kratom to treat premature ejaculation.”

However, among men there seems to be a consensus: kratom slows ejaculation. Just as in many antidepressant medications and other substances that alter serotonin levels or synapses in our nervous system, Mitragyna speciosa often increases the time it takes for a man to reach orgasm. Because of this, there are cases of men using kratom to treat premature ejaculation. What some may find to be a problem, others find to be the solution.

Possessing alkaloids that are agonists of two of the opioid receptors we possess in our nervous system (Mu [μ] and Delta [δ]), it is not uncommon for the Southeast Asian plant to have effects on the sex lives of some users, since most central nervous system depressants and psychotropic substances (those capable of inhibiting pain and improving mood, as kratom does) also tend to have effects on the libido and orgasm of a considerable portion of their users.

It is worth remembering that kratom is not an opioid, and although it interacts with two of the opioid receptors we have, it does not induce addiction or respiratory depression, euphoria and tolerance development in the same way, as it is a Kappa (κ) receptor antagonist and does not recruit beta-arrestin-2.

As a conclusion, the effects of kratom on the sex life of its users seems to be really like its dosage: each person has to discover their own, and then evaluate what effects they wish to obtain and how much of the plant is necessary for such.