Anything opiate related can be addictive and I can believe some have real problems so I wouldn't dismiss being cautious especially if you have that "personality." Some products on the market have been spiked with synthetic 7-OH to make them seem better and that would be worse of course. I used it a few times and had little issues coming off. At first I didn't notice much but then I decided to try about 12 grams at once and then the effect was noticeable so I can see why some quickly increased the dose to like 60 plus grams a day (a dose I saw some bodybuilders on forums say they used). My lifting buddy felt he had anxiety on the come down and didn't want to try it again.
If Kratom helps addicts come off harsher synthetics and they can maintain on Kratom then that would be a good thing I think, you can't OD on it either. The 'Kratom lobby' is making this point. The pure 7-OH constituent of Kratom is scheduled like heroin now so that's interesting.
Some of you might still be able to find tianeptine sulphate with some digging. That's an interesting "antidepressant" which I wish I had access to still. "Gas station heroin."
I was going to try Tianpeptine a few years ago, it was available in Portland. But the more I read about it it kind of scared me away. People were saying the effects didn't last long, like 20 mins or half hour, and you built up a tolerance so quick. People were saying this made it easy to get addicted to and withdrawals were like heroin. So I never did try it. I don't know if it is still available or not.
Kratom can be addictive and if you're going over 5 to 10 grams a day it's going to be uncomfortable comming off but it only lasts a week or so. If you're up to 20 or 30 grams a day or more its really going to suck. Its cheap and easily available so people do develop a habit.
7-OH is supposedly much more potent. When it first hit the market I was given free samples of it and I didn't notice much difference but people kept telling me how much stronger and more addictive and stronger it is. So I have avoided it completely.
With regular kratom it doesn't take more than 4 grams to get a good pre workout lift and pain killing effect. If you only use it on work out days, or heavy days like leg days and take a break every couple of days, you should be just fine with no withdrawals.