Kratom Withdrawal: A Systematic Review with Case Series.
If I've been taking kratom daily, what is the safest plan for tapering off, and should my withdrawal be managed the way opioid withdrawal is?
Reasonable evidence with real limitations. how we score evidence
Kratom has never been approved by the FDA for any medical use and is not a lawful dietary supplement ingredient in the FDA's view; the agency has issued import alerts, warning letters, and repeated public warnings against its use.
A systematic review of the kratom-withdrawal literature plus the authors' own cases concluded that chronic kratom use produces dependence, tolerance, and an opioid-like withdrawal syndrome on cessation — including in people with no opioid history — and that clinicians increasingly see such presentations. The evidence base is case reports and series, not controlled studies, so the frequency of withdrawal among users cannot be estimated from it.
Worth asking
If I've been taking kratom daily, what is the safest plan for tapering off, and should my withdrawal be managed the way opioid withdrawal is?
Source
Kratom Withdrawal: A Systematic Review with Case Series. — Stanciu CN, Gnanasegaram SA, Ahmed S, Penders T. (2019)
Reputable peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.2018.1562133
DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2018.1562133
How this was scored
- Study design
- Systematic review of observational studies
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
- Published in
- Reputable peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- No
- Independent of proponent
- Yes
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 19, 2026.
Where we put this study in context
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "moderate evidence". Reasonable evidence with real limitations. It scores 57 out of 100 on our published rubric. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
Kratom Withdrawal: A Systematic Review with Case Series. — Stanciu CN, Gnanasegaram SA, Ahmed S, Penders T. (2019). Published in: Reputable peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1080/02791072.2018.1562133. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Systematic review of observational studies. Funding: Funding not disclosed. The researchers were independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is kratom, mitragyna speciosa, ketum, biak-biak, thang, kakuam FDA approved for this use?
No. Its current status is: Not FDA-evaluated for this use. Kratom has never been approved by the FDA for any medical use and is not a lawful dietary supplement ingredient in the FDA's view; the agency has issued import alerts, warning letters, and repeated public warnings against its use.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.