Why Quitting Kratom Has Healed What Doctors Misdiagnosed

It's just denial. 

It Wasn’t A Carpal Tunnel…

One morning last May, I woke up with a “heavy” left arm. Plus, my left palm was so swollen it felt like blood was about to burst from beneath the skin. I had never felt these sensations before. My arm, usually very armlike in the waking hours, felt like cast iron. But that morning, it was difficult to lift from my side.

 

Forming a fist with my left hand was downright painful. It’s not easy to describe how much it felt like, if I clenched my fist hard enough, my hand might explode.

When this first happened, I wasn’t worried, I was just confused. A whole new way of sleeping wrong, I figured. And I was no stranger to having my left side feel “strange.” I was born stroking out, with liquid in my lungs, and have the scar tissue in my brain to prove it. I’ve never been able to properly feel temperatures and textures on the left side of my body as a result. Seriously, I can’t tell cat fur from a tabletop with my left hand. Hot pans don’t feel hot until I’ve already burned myself.

 

Considerate it the world’s worst superpower.

Waking Up With Unusual Symptoms

So that morning, with a heavy arm and swollen palm, I chalked the condition up to me being me. The guy with the defective left side. By 8 am, I was better, and by 9, I was back to normal.

Ignoring The Pattern And Denial

However, this condition wasn’t a fluke. It happened again the next morning. And again the next morning. Soon, it was every morning. And getting worse. I was flummoxed. And I was starting to worry. I didn’t want to high five someone and then explode my palm-guts all over their face.

Realizing Kratom Might Be the Cause

I did have a sneaking suspicion of the cause, but I wasn’t ready to admit it to myself. It was during this time that my kratom use was at its highest. The onset of the heavy arm and swollen palm directly corresponded to my new, elevated daily dosing. But it just seemed so farfetched. How could kratom cause such a specific condition?

 

Well, it wasn’t until months later, after I quit for good, that I found out I was absolutely not alone in heavy, stiff limbs, nor swollen hands, nor all manner of afflictions that would more usually be attributable to something like bacterial infections or medieval diseases. This was actually a pretty common symptom of someone abusing their body with kratom. People also reported constipation, hair loss, rashes, weight loss, skin discoloration, insomnia, and myriad other conditions.

Seeking Help: Doctor, Urgent Care, ER

So, after a few weeks, I went to the doctor to get looked at. What a costly mistake. Actually, first I went to urgent care. Waited for two hours because I didn’t have an appointment. When I finally got to see someone, I was told pretty quickly they had no idea what was wrong with me, so I should go to the ER and talk to a doctor. The ER was just up the hill, so I went, and was ushered to a dingy, poorly-lit back room, where a nurse attended to me.

She was very friendly, upbeat, and welcoming. I described the symptoms and told her that urgent care asked me to visit her. She laughed, then frowned, then said, “One moment,” and went out of the room. When she returned, a moment later, three other nurses were with her. “Tell us again what your symptoms are,” she instructed.

 

Every nurse looked concerned as I explained how every morning, I woke up with a heavy, stiff arm and swollen palm. When I finished, no one said anything—they just stared at each other. One of them said she would get the doctor.

 

She returned with the doctor, and man, this guy...He swaggered in with a sort of James Dean, careless demeanor that suggested he would answer what no one else could. All of the nurses looked at him as I explained, again, my symptoms. He leaned against the wall. He pursed his lips. He listed a variety of things it “could” be. Then he stopped. I waited. We all waited. He smiled and looked at me.

 

“You need an ultrasound,” he said. “But it’s probably carpal tunnel.”

 

None of the nurses looked convinced. I was shocked. Carpal tunnel? The cubicle disease? I was not ready to accept that. I said we should go for the ultrasound. The doctor shrugged, eased off the wall, and sauntered out. The nurses started to leave as well, and the first nurse, no longer so upbeat, told me to hold tight while she grabbed a special cast for cmy wrist. As she was applying it, she told me to wear it every day until things got better. I was still in denial. No way I had carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

Then I went to the ultrasound. Less said about this the better. Just a lonely room in almost total darkness, performed by an old man who did not speak. I was getting upset, as I felt completely mis-diagnosed, and now had lost my whole morning to the hospital, in return for a useless carpal tunnel cast.

How Quitting Kratom Stopped The Symptoms

Well. In the end, I was right: it wasn’t carpal tunnel. But I’m still the idiot in the end because, guess what—as soon as I stopped using kratom, the heavy arm and swollen palm disappeared.

 

Hoo-ray. Calling Captain Obvious.

 

But the kicker is, my medical insurance barely covered the urgent care and ER visit. That morning cost me $3,200. Three thousand dollars. For a wrist cast. This is one of those memories about addiction where you look back and think, “Man, I really wish I could have just been honest with myself.”

That’s really the lesson in the end. In addiction, and in life, it’s just so much better (and cheaper) to be honest with yourself. All addicts tell lies, as Allen Carr said, but the lion’s share of those lies is directed inwards, back at the addict. The truth is, and always will be, addictive drugs are useless and harmful. Anything that deviates from that truth is placation, meant to assuage guilt of using.

 

I told myself, despite having inclinations otherwise, that it couldn’t be the kratom. It had to be something else. But I also knew that the easiest way to find out for sure was to stop using kratom. And that was not an option. Not until months later, when I created Quit Kit and quit for good.

If you’re suffering from addiction, you know exactly what I mean. Let me save you the $3,200 now and answer those health questions you have: it’s the drugs. It’s not bad sleep. It’s the drugs. It’s not ‘you-getting-older’. It’s the drugs. Once I got clean, I felt fantastic for the first time in what felt like an eternity. And once you get clean, you’ll feel the same. I swear it. You’ll have so much vitality and vigor, you won’t know what to do with all your energy. That future is there, waiting for you, right now.

 

And it's so, so much better than having some doctor try to impress his nurses by nonchalantly telling you that you have carpal tunnel syndrome.

Much Love,

 

Matt von Boecklin

Founder / Quit Kit
Need Extra Support?

Getting through withdrawal is tough, but you don’t have to white-knuckle it alone. The Quit Kit is designed to ease withdrawal symptoms, restore energy, and help your body bounce back faster—all without relying on more addictive substances.

 

Each kit contains a science-backed blend of vitamins, amino acids, and adaptogens to:

 

Reduce withdrawal symptoms – without relying on stimulants, prescriptions, or an addictive crutch.
 

Restore dopamine and serotonin levels – so you can fight cravings, boost motivation, and feel like yourself again.
 

Improve sleep and reduce anxiety – by calming the nervous system and supporting deep, restful sleep.

Learn More

Need Extra Support? The Quit Kit Has Your Back

Quitting kratom or opioids isn’t easy—but you don’t have to do it alone. The Quit Kit is designed to help you fight withdrawal symptoms, rebuild dopamine, and get back to feeling like yourself faster. Each kit contains a science-backed blend of vitamins, amino acids, and adaptogens to:

Reduce withdrawal symptoms – without relying on stimulants, prescriptions, or an addictive crutch.

Restore dopamine and serotonin levels – so you can fight cravings, boost motivation, and feel like yourself again.

Improve sleep and reduce anxiety – by calming the nervous system and supporting deep, restful sleep.

Learn More