Ibogaine - The Drug and Alcohol Addiction Cure ...

Ibogaine - The Drug and Alcohol Addiction Cure ...

Tabernanthe iboga or simply iboga is a perennial rainforest shrub native to western Central Africa. It has small green leaves. Its flowers are white and pink, while the fruit can be either an elongated oval or round spherical shape, with an orange colour. The Iboga tree is the central pillar of the Bwiti spiritual practice in West-Central Africa, mainly Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, which has used the alkaloid-containing roots of the plant in a number of ceremonies for thousands of years. In lower doses Iboga has a stimulant effect and is used by native tribes to maintain alertness while hunting.

It was first promoted in the West as having anti-addictive properties in 1962 by Howard Lotsof, a heroin addict himself.

Today, it is illegal in the United States and is considered a Schedule I drug. However, it’s available to varying degrees in many other countries, including Canada and Mexico, as well as several European countries. It’s primarily used in treating addiction for opiates, alcohol, and methamphetamine. In recent years it has become more widely used as a tool for personal and spiritual development and recreational use of ibogaine is nearly non-existent.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF IBOGAINE

You can expect to be in bed for the first 12 hours of your treatment (phases 1 and 2 below). The first several hours will be intense becoming less so as your body metabolizes the ibogaine.

A treatment can be broken down into three phases:

• Acute, “awakened dream state” phase
• Evaluative or reflective phase
• Residual stimulation phase

Phase 1: Acute phase.
The acute phase begins 1 to 3 hours after taking ibogaine and can last 4 to 8 hours. Most report a “panoramic,” mostly visual experience of past memories. It’s often described as a “waking dream” state with varying experiences that might include contact with transcendent beings, passage along a lengthy path, or floating.
People often report being placed in or entering visual landscapes, rather than experiencing intrusive visual or auditory hallucinations. Not all subjects experience visual phenomena, which may be related to dose, bioavailability, and interindividual variation.

Phase 2: Evaluative phase.
The evaluative phase begins approximately 4 to 8 hours after taking ibogaine and can can last 8 to 20 hours. People often report recalling fewer memories in this phase along with a more neutral and reflective emotional tone. Attention is directed at evaluating the experiences of the acute phase. Many prefer as little environmental stimuli during this phase and the acute phase as it’s easy to become agitated or annoyed by distractions.

Phase 3: Residual stimulation phase.
The residual stimulation phase begins approximately 12 to 24 hours after taking ibogaine and can last 24 to 72 hours or more. Attention shifts back to the external environment during this phase while the subjective psychoactive experience begins to fade. Normal movement returns and people often report heightened arousal and vigilance during this period as well. Some report a reduced need for sleep for several days to weeks following treatment.

After a treatment is complete, a window of heightened introspection last several days to weeks allowing the person to integrate these new perspectives about the issues they face into their daily lives. Being conscious of emotional experiences and reactions of which you were previously unaware allows you to make more deliberate assessments of your emotional life and in the reactions to your environment.

ASSOCIATED DANGERS

• It is crucial that patients with childhood congenital heart defects, prolong QT intervals, a history of heart failure, enlarged heart, any history of blood clots, stroke, transient ischemic attacks, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or irregular heart rhythms do not attempt to take ibogaine.

• Psychiatric conditions, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depersonalization disorder, cerebellar dysfunction, epilepsy, non-substance induced psychosis, organic brain disease, and dementia - While there may be exceptions, these conditions could be exacerbated by taking ibogaine.

• In addition to attenuating withdrawal symptoms, ibogaine has been shown to reduce developed tolerance to opiates and alcohol, essentially returning the user to a novice state. Using substances after administration of ibogaine without taking this into consideration presents a significant risk of overdose.

• There are a plethora of medications should not be mixed with ibogaine including most antidepressants and benzodiazepines, because they have similar properties. Anyone seeking treatment should research and discontinue use as applicable.

The statistics about adverse events associated with ibogaine have been presented as a case against the development of ibogaine as a prescription medicine. However this argument does not take into consideration that those suffering from substance abuse are a high-risk population, more than 4 times more likely to die of unnatural causes than the general population because of the many harmful factors associated with substance use.

Even though these statistics take into account ibogaine administration that happened in a wide variety of settings, some which included medical supervision, and many that did not, the mortality rates remain similar with those reported from methadone treatment, which is one of the most conventional treatments prescribed for opiate addiction.

WHY IS IBOGAINE NOT BEING RESEARCHED

Why is Ibogaine not being researched? No good answers have been given. Speculators propose that big pharmaceutical companies may fear they could lose some of their multimillion-dollar monthly profit if people actually recover from addiction and remain free from substance abuse.

Is Ibogaine a Euphoric? No, quite the contrary, ask anyone who has experienced the profound pharmacological properties of Ibogaine. Some will go so far as to describe the experience as “hellish.” This is hardly a drug that anyone would want to abuse for its euphoriant qualities.

Unequivically, no euphoriant properties are associated with Ibogaine treatment, and it is not addictive. Several scientific studies to determine Ibogaine’s effects on the human body found that one single administration—just one dose—of Ibogaine can greatly reduce alcohol and drug withdrawal symptoms and provide a profoundly reduced desire for addictive substances over a long time period. In many cases, the effect is permanent.

Thus, where can someone needing treatment go to experience Ibogaine’s touted miraculous healing properties? Only one in ten receive the treatment they so desperately need. Addiction is a disease process, so why are the sick not offered treatments that work?

All over the world, an elaborate Ibogaine treatment movement is building, places where normally those in need might not have access to any physicians, nurses, or emergency medical equipment, now can get medically supervised treatment.

What you find in these new rehabilitation and recovery centers are dedicated, caring, brilliant ex-addicts who spent years chained to their addictions, only to stumble upon a friend or dealer with Ibogaine. Desperate, they took it and woke up from their trip feeling happy, content, and “normal.” The miracle of Ibogaine was too amazing not to be shared with other addicts, so they chose to become Ibogaine providers.

All health professionals and anyone needing or knowing someone in need of treatment should be aware of this substance that holds a great potential to cure addiction, and yet no one is researching its anti-addictive properties.
The unfortunate fact is there is no money to be made with a cure - why would any pharmaceutical company risk the millions of dollars made every day on maintenance therapies for a cure that can be administered in a single dose.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabernanthe_iboga
https://thethirdwave.co/ibogaine
http://www.maps.org/ibogaine-therapy-for-drug-addiction/170-observational-study-of-the-long-term-efficacy-of-ibogaine-assisted-therapy-mexico
http://www.maps.org/new-zealand-ibogaine
https://www.ibogainealliance.org/ibogaine/therapy/safety/
http://www.ibogainetreatment.com/ibogaine-safety/

Let me just conclude by saying that I have not personally taken Ibogaine. That being said, I do know several people who got there lives back because of the treatment they received. Taking Ibogaine can definitely eliminate the symptoms associated with withdrawal. However it is not a cure for the underlying addiction.

I hope you like my article and as with everything else - your gonna have to "Make up your own dam mind"...

Thanks...
MDG