Featured Image Credit: Legacy
Topics: Health, Drugs, Mental Health
James Moorhouse
Warning: This article contains discussion of drugs which some readers may find distressing.
A mum has issued a warning after her son died after taking a popular 'natural' supplement for just six weeks.
Robert 'Wyatt' Wheeler, 27, tragically passed away in October 2022, having started to use the popular supplement Kratom less than two months prior.
And this wasn't the first death to be linked to the supplement, with healthy 37-year-old Jordan McKibban another unfortunate victim.
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Kratom is a plant that is considered to be part of the coffee family, which is grown in South-East Asia. It’s frequently used by people to self-treat things like anxiety, depression, opioid misuse or withdrawal symptoms.
Although some have found success in using it in low doses, others have faced catastrophic consequences, to the extent where Kratom has been nicknamed 'gas station heroin', due to the dangers associated with it and its wide availability in the US, where it can be found in gas stations, vape shops, and online.
The plant is banned in the UK, but manufacturers have got around restrictions in the US by identifying it as food, although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have made it clear that it is 'not appropriate for use as a dietary supplement'.
The DEA also says it can lead to addiction, and has listed it as a 'Drug and Chemical of Concern'.
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And now, Wyatt's mother Patti has teamed up with documentary makers for a new film Kratom: Side Effects May Include, where she and other affected families share the losses they have endured at the hands of the controversial supplement.
Speaking to PEOPLE, she said: "He found this kratom alternative to try to take the edge off during a party. We just had no way of knowing that it was as addictive as it was.”
Just two weeks after Wyatt had put his mother's mind at ease after she discovered the supplements in his bathroom, he had a seizure and died as his twin brother desperately tried to save his life.
He likely suffered from the wide range of side effects that are associated with the supplement, with the FDA listing those potential problems as 'nausea, itching, sweating, dry mouth, constipation, increased urination, tachycardia, vomiting, drowsiness, and loss of appetite. Users of kratom have also experienced anorexia, weight loss, insomnia, hepatotoxicity, seizure, and hallucinations'.
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Patti added: “It's not pretty at all. There's convulsing...people bite their tongue and there's blood. I heard the stories. I know what my son Gannon went through that day.”
Although she has faced some backlash from the supplement's supporters, she's made it clear that she won't be deterred, as she's convinced that her warnings can help to save lives.
She said: "I'm in it for saving lives. I really do hope to circumvent that for other people. I don't want them to go down the path that my son did. I want people to be able to identify kratom.”