Can You Overdose on Kratom?

Yes. Overdoses and deaths involving kratom have been reported, and most involved other substances too. Concentrated 7-OH (7-hydroxymitragynine, a kratom compound) products are a particular concern. If someone is unresponsive or not breathing, call 911.

Overdose signs

A kratom overdose can look like an opioid overdose:

• Being unresponsive or very hard to wake

• Slow or stopped breathing

• Blue lips

• Pinpoint pupils

Other signs reported with 7-OH include nausea and vomiting, agitation, confusion, seizures, sweating, a fast heart rate, high blood pressure and trouble breathing.

Symptoms can come back. In one published case, naloxone (an opioid overdose medicine) woke a person who had overdosed on kratom, but she became drowsy again in the emergency room. The doctors who reported the case advise 24 hours of hospital observation.

Why mixing substances raises the risk

In CDC data from 27 states (July 2016 to December 2017), kratom was the only substance found in 7 of 152 overdose deaths involving kratom. Poison centers linked 233 deaths to kratom from 2015 to 2025 (MMWR, 2026), and 184 (79%) involved other substances. In the CDC data (MMWR, 2019), these were found most often alongside kratom:

Alcohol, benzodiazepines and opioids make you drowsy and can slow your breathing. Taken with kratom, they add to sedation and to the risk that breathing slows or stops. Samples of 7-OH products described in a 2026 DEA notice often contained other drugs, such as fentanyl, benzodiazepines or ketamine. Read more about kratom drug interactions.

7-OH potency

7-OH is only a small part of kratom leaf, but 7-OH products have it added or concentrated. In lab and animal studies, it's much stronger than morphine:

• About 13 times as potent as morphine in a guinea pig tissue test (Matsumoto, 2004)

• More than 3 times as potent as morphine at slowing breathing, in preclinical studies (FDA, 2025)

These are lab results, not human doses. As of February 27, 2026, the FDA's adverse event database held 86 reports involving 7-OH, including 9 deaths. Learn more about 7-OH.

What to do

• Call 911 if someone is unresponsive, has slow or stopped breathing, has a seizure, has chest pain or faints. Stay with them until help arrives, even if they wake up.

• Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, or go to poisonhelp.org, if you think someone took too much but they're awake and breathing. If you're unsure, call 911.

• Call or text 988 if you're having thoughts of harming yourself.

• Call SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for free, confidential referrals to treatment, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Doctronic doesn't treat addiction. Once the person is safe, you can ask Doctronic's medical AI about kratom for free, or see a licensed doctor by video for $39. The visit can help with symptoms and lead to a referral to addiction care.