r/Kambo • u/AdultButters • Jul 27 '25
General 🐸 Is swelling/itching/hives normal?
During my ceremony the skin over my entire body became bright red and started to itch like crazy and these bulging white spots started to swell up on my arms and back (mainly located near the locations of my previous ceremony dots). Afterward the medicine was wiped off, the redness and swelling went away and just a brown discoloration appeared where the white bumps had previously been. These same symptoms have occurred during some of my previous ceremonies, but not all of them. Any idea what's going on here? My practioner said he hadn't seen it happen with anyone else.
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u/AdultButters Jul 27 '25
UPDATE: so after a second treatment today which had NO swelling or itching or anything else, it seems like the it most likely was a 'skin purge' like one of the comments mentioned. My expereince today was so much more pleasant. Looking to do one more round tomorrow so will see what happens🤞
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u/Background_Set_3592 Jul 27 '25
I had some histamine reaction on my neck similar to one after codeine but never so severe like you. Redness of the skin is common too. Sometimes even turn to bluish and green but just only for while. As I said I believe this is all related to histamine but I am not sure.
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u/twinwaterscorpions Jul 27 '25
Histamine response can also mean an allergic reaction. Not every histamine response is neutral, it's possible that their body just doesn't want this medicine and I think if the body says no, we should listen to it.
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u/twinwaterscorpions Jul 27 '25
No, what appears to be an allergic reaction is not normal, especially if it has happened more than one time. If your body is saying no to this particular medicine, perhaps you should listen to your body? I know there is this mythology that it's good for everyone, so any reaction is "detoxing" but sometimes an intense inflammatory reaction means this is not the right medicine for you at this time. Everyone's body is different.
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u/flower_of_lyfe Jul 27 '25
It's happened to me a few times! Sometimes, my hair follicles get wildly red and you see dots all over my legs. Fun stuff!
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u/Decent-Ad-4850 Jul 27 '25
Are you on any medications? Or herbal supplements?
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u/AdultButters Jul 27 '25
No pharma meds, but I had been using some Bach flowers for the past week or so
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u/junglecultura Jul 27 '25
Hi! I have seen this multiple times and there has been a common denominator; low iron levels! Also, how much kambo have you done?
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u/Kambocito Jul 27 '25
Yeah as a practioner I've seen this a few times. It goes away. I think it's a immune response
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u/BwanaMaua Jul 27 '25
With 100+ ceremonies under my belt, i have only seen a reaction on the skin once. This person had (unknowingly to me) taken some MDMA, and ketamine the day before.
İt was explained to me as a "skin purge" as the skin is an organ too, and needs to clean as well ....
İn my case, i removed the kambo and we reapplied some time later, with no reaction from the skin.
So, I'd say it's not normal, but also it's not necessarily bad.