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Ibogaine Treatment
This article is intended to help guide those seeking ibogaine treatment for an addiction/detox or spiritual growth therapy. I decided to write this article after seeing many posts on Facebook about ibogaine providers, what providers say they can treat, ibogaine treatment prices, and the reputation of providers. While this is not an exhaustive research article with tons of sources, I am writing it from the standpoint of an honest provider in the hopes that it can help someone seeking ibogaine treatment get compassionate care without being scammed. It can be really difficult to filter through the thousands of posts and information online to get a clear understanding of what is really important when researching ibogaine therapy and which provider to choose.
It is a very unfortunate reality that many providers, clinics, or specific individuals in the ibogaine world have a very poor reputation and track record when it comes to treating patients and providing proper medical care, but this is often swept under the rug or covered up with name changes and other deceptive business practices. Ibogaine treatment is very serious and carries real physical dangers, and anyone interested in using ibogaine therapy as a means of healing should thoroughly research all of their options. Ask questions! All providers should take the time to genuinely, patiently, and respectfully answer any and all questions or concerns you have about their history or protocol. There are always red flags to look for, and in this article I will discuss some of them.
PRICES –
Prices for ibogaine treatment should be around $3000-$4500 for 7 days. There are many people who complain about the price of ibogaine treatment, claiming that no drug addict could afford such an expensive program, but there are valid reasons why the treatment is priced higher than other entheogens such as ayahuasca and san pedro. For one, there is the entire medical aspect of the treatment, which is extremely important and should never be downplayed. Providers have to pay doctors/nurses, medical equipment and emergency medications, maintenance medications for opiate detoxes, and ibogaine itself, none of which are cheap. Combine all that with comfortable accommodations (which in the price range mentioned, should include some amenities, such as massages, pool, jacuzzi, hot water, wifi, private rooms, additional therapies, etc.) and you already have a steep price tag. If you factor in food, staff pay, bills, etc., you start to get the picture. Between $3,000 and $4,500 is a fair and reasonable price for an ibogaine therapy. Once you start looking at prices above $5,500, that’s when you should start getting red flags. There’s no reason an ibogaine treatment should cost more than $5,500 unless it’s a high-end luxury facility, and even then, saying that most facilities offering treatments in the right price range are “good” would be an understatement. So, if a facility is offering you a price over $5,500 for 7 days, start asking questions. What’s the reason for the price difference? What makes their facility more expensive than most others? Chances are they don’t have a reasonable explanation for the price increase. If they claim it has something to do with their track record as a reputable clinic, that’s a huge red flag. If a provider charges more because they take pride in the level of care they provide, that’s a clear contradiction: if you care about the work you do and you’re in business to help people, you don’t raise your price because you’ve built a reputation for exactly that, you raise it because you’re in business to make money.
SUBOXONE/METHADONE –
This one is the one that bothers me the most. Any provider who claims they can successfully detox you directly from methadone or suboxone without a sufficient amount of time on a short-acting opiate is blatantly lying. For an ibogaine detox to be successful, you MUST have methadone and suboxone out of your system for a certain amount of time which varies depending on dosage and length of use, but usually 30 days is enough. These days there are more and more addicts on maintenance drugs like methadone/suboxone which are much harder to get off of than heroin or other short-acting opiates. The problem with suboxone/methadone is that they are both long-acting so they build up in your system and stay in your brain. While this is what makes it possible to take them just once a day without experiencing withdrawal symptoms, something any heroin user knows would be impossible with short-acting opiates, it is also what makes using ibogaine as a detox method impossible. I am not a scientist or a researcher, but I know what I have seen as a provider and I know what my partner experienced after using ibogaine to detox from Suboxone directly, and that is that if you use ibogaine to detox from methadone or Suboxone directly, your withdrawal will return. You may feel great immediately after treatment, or even a few days after, but eventually, when the ibogaine is out of your system, the lingering long-acting opiates will still be there and you will begin to feel withdrawal. The severity of this withdrawal will vary from person to person. I am not saying that there has never been someone who successfully detoxed with ibogaine directly from methadone or Suboxone – it is not a good idea to take ibogaine as a detox. What I’m saying is that it’s highly unlikely that you will. As mentioned above, ibogaine therapy is not cheap and if you’re going to invest a few thousand dollars into your healing and recovery, you need to give yourself the BEST CHANCE you have to stay clean. That means switching from methadone/suboxone to a short-acting opiate (morephine/oxycodone) first. Also, there’s some evidence that straight up detoxing from methadone or suboxone can extend the QTc wave (the time your heart is at rest between beats) which, when combined with ibogaine, can cause dangerous complications. So, if you call any provider and they’re willing to immediately take you to a methadone or suboxone detox, that’s a huge red flag. Again, while it may not be impossible, it’s highly unlikely that the treatment will be successful. Any knowledgeable provider understands this, and if they are willing to take you, especially for a 7-day detox (longer programs typically have the highest success rates), they likely just want your money.
MEDICAL TESTS/LABS/EQUIPMENT
Ibogaine treatment carries physical risks, including death. This is why it is so important that the provider you choose follows proper medical protocols, including requiring certain medical/lab tests to be completed before you agree to treatment. If any facility is willing to treat you without having any medical/lab tests performed, DO NOT GO! If a facility is willing to accept a booking for treatment and says that tests will be performed upon arrival, that is a red flag. If you book your ticket, fly somewhere, and are denied treatment because of the results of tests performed when you arrived, you will lose your plane ticket money and be responsible for covering your return ticket. This can be costly and can easily be avoided by having tests done beforehand. All medical/lab tests must be done at home, copies must be sent to the facility you are considering, and their medical staff must approve them before you send a deposit and before you book a ticket. All providers should require a minimum of an ECG, CMP, and liver panel. Ibogaine affects the heart, usually slowing the heart rate, and can extend the rest time between heartbeats. An ECG (electrocardiogram) will show the medical staff any irregular heart behavior that could rule you out as a safe candidate for treatment. A CMP (complete metabolic panel) and liver panel will also show if your system is in proper balance and functioning in a way that is compatible with ibogaine treatment. If no provider requires these lab tests, don’t go there – your safety and life are at risk. All providers should also be equipped with emergency medical equipment and medications in case any situation arises. At a minimum, they should have a defibrillator on site, oxygen, ativan, atropine, and epinephrine. Ativan is used in case of seizures, atropine is used to increase the heart rate if it drops dangerously low, and epinephrine for any allergic reactions. Pulse oximetry monitoring should be performed every 20 to 30 minutes. Ask the facility you are considering about their emergency procedures.
PROVIDER HISTORY
It is important to know who specifically will be providing your treatment – not just the name of the facility, but also the name of the director(s) in charge of the facility. Some providers have changed facilities or opened new facilities under different names. This can sometimes be due to ending partnerships, lack of proper management, or due to serious medical situations, even deaths. The name of the facility is hidden and thus a new facility is born with a new name. These cases are rare, but they do exist. Ask about the history of who will be providing your treatment. Google the names of the providers – you will get information. This is especially important for women, as some providers have a history of inappropriate sexual behavior, with patients or otherwise. Most facility directors are willing to provide information about themselves and co-directors/staff. It is also important to note that with the growing popularity of ibogaine as a detoxification method and the high price tag that accompanies it, some people who had no prior contact with ibogaine are now opening clinics with the sole intention of making a profit from those who come to them in genuine search of healing. What these investors and new facility owners do not realize is all those expenses mentioned above that go into running and managing a successful ibogaine clinic and that they do a disservice to the industry and all its patients when the level of care is poor because they got involved to make money, not to help people. It is really sad and sadly, it is much more common today than ever before for people, who really have no interest and no business working in a field that is based on helping and healing, to be the owners, directors or staff of some facilities. Every provider should have personally experienced an ibogaine “flood” (a large dose of iboga/ibogaine) at least once. Ask questions and use your intuition. We no longer offer ibogaine detox services, but we still get frequent calls about detoxes and are asked who we recommend. While I am happy to give recommendations to a center that I trust and believe has a high standard of care, I always encourage people to do their own research and find a center that appeals to them. If you ever feel like someone is trying to pressure you or “sell” you their program, it’s probably not for the right reasons.
LEVEL OF CARE –
This one can be tricky, as it can be difficult to determine what your level of care will be without being able to see the place or meet the staff in person, but a good way to gauge how well you will be cared for is by the attention they give to you, your questions, and their communication. Do they respond quickly and thoroughly to your emails/calls? Are they engaging? Do they respond with the bare minimum necessary to answer your questions? Do they ask you about your situation, your plan for after treatment? Do they show an active interest in your success? Are they honest with you? Do you feel like they are “selling” you the treatment? Do they require you to take medical tests before accepting deposits or reservations? Ask about past participants, get in touch with them, and reach out to the ibogaine community. If they make promises about activities other than simple excursions (e.g. trips to the beach) for a 7-day program, they are unlikely to come true. Ibogaine can be very draining on a person physically and emotionally, the focus should be on healing, not vacation. A participant is unlikely to have the energy after an ibogaine treatment to do many physical activities – snorkeling, horseback riding, etc. are pretty much out of the question. The focus of ibogaine therapy should be on getting in touch with what is going on inside you and your mind – such activities could be a distraction from work that could otherwise be accomplished in a supportive therapeutic environment.
SUCCESS RATES –
No provider should guarantee success after an ibogaine treatment or even offer success rates. If a provider offers you success rates, they are most likely fabricated and should be a huge red flag and testament to the provider’s integrity (or lack thereof). Ibogaine therapy has not been studied enough to produce reliable success rates. While there have been few studies, the experimental group was too small (only 24 in one study) and other aspects of the study were too varied to produce accurate data. In one study, users were treated in different settings: some at home, very few in clinical settings, and some with the support of an “ibogaine therapist,” all using different forms of iboga and ibogaine at varying levels of purity. These drastic variables in the environment and in the consistency of the ibogaine itself could drastically change the outcome of the experiment and should not, in my opinion, be relied upon as sound scientific research. Ibogaine therapy does NOT guarantee success or freedom from addiction. In fact, in my experience, it offers only slightly more success than any other traditional seven-day detox method. There is a need to remove the idea that ibogaine is a “cure” for addiction and adopt a healing approach to lasting recovery by incorporating a method that includes ongoing support through aftercare programs. Detox is only the first step; To maintain recovery and abstinence from drug use, each individual must make drastic changes in his or her life.
If this article is helpful to even one person considering ibogaine therapy, then it will have been worth the time it took me to write it. As a provider, I am constantly amazed at how little research is done by most of the people who consult with us. It is truly disconcerting how few people realize the gravity of how seriously ibogaine treatment should be taken. Day after day, hundreds of people put their lives (literally – ibogaine treatment can be dangerous!) in the hands of providers they know virtually nothing about.
I hope this article helps to show some of the dangers and scams that exist in the ibogaine world and to guide people in making well-informed decisions when choosing a treatment provider.
Research on the success of ibogaine: