Iboga is a rainforest tree/shrub indigenous to western Central Africa and is the spiritual pillar of the Bwiti tribe. Aside from stimulating the nervous system in small doses and producing vision effects in large doses, the isolated active alkaloid component of the plant, known as Ibogaine is proving to be a psychiatric and medical benefit for many issues. Aside from Ibogaine's psychiatric benefits, certain individuals choose to explore the medicine for spiritual expansion opportunities presented by the plant. The ladder is not the focus of this blog post.
Ibogaine aids in the treatment psychiatric disorders and associated problems including: substance abuse cravings (alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine) & heroin addiction withdrawals, opiate detoxification, major depression, PTSD, Alzheimers, OCD, bi-polar, compulsive fear, childhood trauma, phobias and various other issues.
Even though it has a diverse range of benefits, Ibogaine is primarily known as an "addiction interrupter." Individuals withdrawing from heroin, pain killers and/or the frequently prescribed methadone and suboxone which are used to help the addict withdraw from heroin, typically experience an arduous and lengthy somatic adjustment to the elimination of drugs from the system with the cessation of usage. This withdrawal process of opiates often last months (35 weeks) and the prescribed drugs to treat a heroin addiction are often harder to withdraw from than the actual addictive drugs being abused in the first place.
In 2012, 2.1 million people in the united states were addicted to opiates and 450,000 to heroine. Worldwide, it is estimated that 26.4 million people abuse opiates. In 2014, according to the CDC, a record-high of 28,647 Americans died of opioid-involved overdose. It is estimated that between 85%-95% of opiate addicts relapse due the the difficult somatic sensations and length of time that it takes brain patterns to return to "normal" functioning.
The use of a monitored Ibogaine administered "flood dose" coupled with supplemental follow up "boosters" dramatically increases opiate recovery probability because Ibogaine resets the addict's somatic system. Ibogaine blocks opiate receptor sites on the cells, thus decreasing and eliminating the extended difficult cravings and physical withdrawals from opiates.
To paint the Ibogaine picture for a person who isn't recovering from opiate addiction, (though this metaphor doesn't attest for the sensation of pain or somatic withdrawal effects), imagine feeling dehydrated and an intense thirst. You notice many empty cups around you. Imagine how these empty cups affect your dehydration state. Now imagine these same cups are all filled with water accessible to you. Imagine your dehydration state now. Notice a difference? Ibogaine is a recovering addict's water filled cups on a cellular level.
While Ibogaine is not currently legal and/or FDA approved in the United States of America, Vermont and New York have introduced legislative bills that will facilitate the use of Ibogaine in substance abuse treatments.
"In 2009, Medsafe, New Zealand’s equivalent of the US Food and Drug Administration, recommended classifying ibogaine as a prescription medicine, becoming the first and only other country in the world to officially recognize ibogaine’s efficacy for treatment of substance use disorders."
In February 2016, the government of São Paulo, Brazil issued a statement that would allow researchers to move forward with the clinical investigation of Ibogaine, giving permission to doctors and psychiatrists to use Ibogaine in order to decrease physiological cravings and psychological obsession in addicts withdrawing from opiates. Bruno Chaves, MD has already treated 1200 addicts in Sao Paulo hospitals under the new medical guidelines.
While Ibogaine is a Schedule I class drug in the United States, it is available as a medical aid for opiate withdrawal in many other countries including: Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the Netherlands and Norway.
An Ibogaine detox treatment takes about 36-48 hours in which the patient is medically supervised. Ibogaine treatment is not administered until Methadone and Suboxone (and other drugs such as cocaine) are no longer present within the body, which is simply a matter of the half life times it takes for elimination. A urine test confirms a clean system. A combination of Clonidine and Morphine is typically used to temporarily assuage opiate withdrawal symptoms while an individual is awaiting Ibogaine treatment. An initial EKG and blood test are performed to ensure the body is in a healthy enough condition to undergo the Ibogaine supplemented detox process.
While the Ibogaine journey is not a "fun" process, neither is opiate addiction. Many opiate addicts choose this Ibogaine route of recovery because it is "the easier, softer way" in comparison to the lengthy and debilitating process of detoxing without it. Furthermore, while more research is needed, existing Ibogaine studies demonstrate a higher recovery success rate in opiate addicts using Ibogaine in comparison to those not using medicine derived from the Iboga of west Central Africa.
The latest research published out of Brazil supports a 70% recovery rate for one year post Ibogaine treatment. To read Bruno Chaves, M.D.'s report, click HERE
