What Is Ibogaine Treatment For Addiction?

Of the many treatment methods that are currently used to treat heroin addiction, none has substantial effect on a psychological level. They majorly serve to treat the addiction or help victims manage it, but never really treat the addiction with the intention of reducing or completely curing the disease. However, among the many unconventional and experimental treatments that have been tried, Ibogaine has indicated some promising results.

What is Ibogaine?

Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance derived from certain trees and shrubs found in native African rainforests. The natural psychedic is cited to have been used by African pygmy tribes (and other tribes) for ritual and medicinal purposes.  

Ibogaine Treatment for Addiction

Several separate researches that have been carried on Ibogaine (since 1960s) have indicated that the substance can effectively treat various forms of addictions: heroin, cocaine, alcohol, methadone, methamphetamine, steroids, and other drugs. When used as type of interruption therapy, the psychedelic induces dream-like visions to the patients (while they are awake) followed by feelings of instructive replays of the various pivotal life effects that may have contributed to their addictions. Some are also confronted by negative emotions and fear that in a way drive the addiction disease.  If used for addiction treatment, it's recommended that supplemental treatments such as intensive counseling, therapy, and aftercare are applied to achieve maximum results from the Ibogaine treatment.

Side Effects

Although Ibogaine has been implicated as treatment for various forms of addiction in unprecedented number of studies, it's been associated with a number of negative side effects, including loss of motor coordination (making it difficult for patients to walk or stand without assistance), vomiting, nausea, and dry mouth. Ibogaine can also agitate certain types of heart conditions and can cause fatal reactions with certain foods (such as foods that contain citrus and bergamot oil). What's more, the psychedic can have detrimental effects when administered alongside other psychotropic medications and is therefore not recommended for dual-diagnosis (simultaneous treatment for addiction alongside mental or emotional disorders).

Bottom Line

For Ibogaine treatments to be universally accepted in the healthcare fraternity, there must be enough evidence that its benefits surpasses its potential to cause harm, which currently necessitates continued research and clinical experiments. Nonetheless, preliminary results regarding the development of the Ibogaine into clinical, therapeutic, and medicinal treatments are quite promising.