Experiences - Ibogaine Experiences?

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Greetings Drugs Forum community!

I've become utterly captivated by the nature of the activity of alkaloids found in Ibogaine in the brain. It's such an atypical family of compounds, and I feel they merit earnest and well-funded investigation regarding all of the potential applications of their effects. Addiction might just be the tip of the iceberg; many kinds of behavioral irregularities have been shown to be affected by administration of Ibogaine (or a selection of the alkaloids present).

I would be extremely grateful if anyone privy to first-hand experiences of Ibogaine, in treatment conditions or otherwise, would post a short description of the experience - as well as of the relationship one has developed with the plant (purely therapeutic, recreational, aversive).

Thanks again!

[CrookedEye]

SWIM posted a trip report years ago, 04, when he was fresh out of the experience (can find it here somewhere) but to be honest, it had long lasting effects that have become more clear over time. He was an opioid addict for about 6-7 years, and for 3.5 of those he was on methadone maintenance. He started to step down his methadone dose slowly until it was down to under 20mgs a day, which was not unbearable from the slow detox but definitely not pleasant. It took a long time to step down that low from 100 mgs a day, slowly.

The trip was kind of wild with chaotic visions. He didn't exactly see the relationship between his visions and addiction at the time, and could have been influenced by some of the things he had paid attention to during weeks before the trip, but not sure..

The most profound part was after the main part of the trip. He began to lose his cravings, not for only opioids, but for all addictive behaviors, like smoking cigarettes and sweets. He stopped drinking soda and eating sweets immediately, but it took a few months before he totally quit smoking cigarettes. He also began to notice other things, not drug related, that he exhibited addictive behaviors towards. He truly desired to detox fully, and to clean his system of everything, except for cannabis, which helped him with minor post acute withdrawal..

Over the years, he still has had many drug experiences, and he notices quickly when any of these drugs begin to ensnare him. By seeing the addiction potential early and quickly, and by noticing the changes in his brain and body quickly, he is able to curb addictive behaviors much easier than he ever had been before iboga. It literally feels like one is starting their brain over, fresh, without the learned behaviors they were accustomed to.

For many addicts this may seem incredibly dangerous or even impossible, but he can now safely enjoy any drug he chooses, without terrible cravings or fear of relapse. He occasionally will use an opioid or cocaine, usually if they're offered for free, but has no desire for any regular use of anything, besides cannabis, which he has quit for a few weeks at a time, just to make sure he could.. After a week or two of no cannabis his body seems to adjust properly and his mood and sleeping/eating patterns return to normal.

SWIM will occasionally have a small K or benzo binge, followed by periods of abstinence, so he can fully enjoy the effects of these, without building a tolerance or causing any long term changes in his brain chemistry. By noticing when any drug is beginning to grab hold, he can easily quit before any withdrawal symptoms or strong cravings begin, thus allowing him freedom to enjoy whatever he chooses.

SWIM primarily enjoys psychedelics (natural ones mostly, except for LSD, MDMA, and Ketamine), which he spaces out pretty evenly as well, to reap the full benefits/effects from each. Moderate drug use has seemed to afford him the most benefits for currently assimilating insights into his life.

He is a daily cannabis smoker, but other than that, he doesn't do anything else with too much regularity. And as stated, he has stopped cannabis for weeks, to see how his body and mind adjust, but he really enjoys the cannabis plants smell, taste, and effects, plus it causes him no problems in his life, so he doesn't feel it necessary to quit.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very interesting! Striking how quickly the effects manifested - amazing compound

[Gradient]

Originally Posted by CrookedEye

The most profound part was after the main part of the trip. He began to lose his cravings, not for only opioids, but for all addictive behaviors, like smoking cigarettes and sweets. He stopped drinking soda and eating sweets immediately, but it took a few months before he totally quit smoking cigarettes. He also began to notice other things, not drug related, that he exhibited addictive behaviors towards. He truly desired to detox fully, and to clean his system of everything, except for cannabis, which helped him with minor post acute withdrawal..

Over the years, he still has had many drug experiences, and he notices quickly when any of these drugs begin to ensnare him. By seeing the addiction potential early and quickly, and by noticing the changes in his brain and body quickly, he is able to curb addictive behaviors much easier than he ever had been before iboga. It literally feels like one is starting their brain over, fresh, without the learned behaviors they were accustomed to.

Thanks so much CrookedEye! This description is absolutely amazing - I'm especially grateful for the description of one's drug history, very astute of you to add it. I hope more members are able to post similar reports.

Is there any chance that you might be able to discuss the dose/preparation of Ibogaine administered, as well as some of the physiological effects of the plant? I'd be quite grateful!

Thanks again

[nick23]

http://ibogaine.org/

Never tried it,but it fascinates me.

Hope the link works and helps.

[CrookedEye]

SWIM would be happy to answer any questions, but he went to amsterdam to visit Sara Glatt, and she is the one who provided the ibogaine extract, and care. She can be found on youtube videos, and is referenced on several sites that speak about iboga.

For the plant attributes, growing info, and extraction, he only has information he has read from various sources, and hasn't yet tried to produce his own, or extract it. He was given a total iboga alkaloid extract prepared by a friend of Sara's, and it was a yellowish/green crystally substance, sort of sticky/waxy, but definitely crystally.

His dose was 5g, and lasted well over 30+ hours. The visions were dreamlike, not anything like common psychedelics. He could tell they were not real, but they felt real, as things do in a dream. After his detox, he had feelings of guilt and not a lot of motivation, but the groundwork for repair had been laid, and he could see a light at the end of the tunnel, plus the physical symptoms of withdrawal were pretty much gone, except for a little bit of post acute withdrawal, which was not unbearable.

SWIM was told by Sara that a booster dose probably would have helped a bit more to get rid of the rest of that, but after such a powerful experience, SWIM wasn't ready to dive right back in head first.

He had puked on and off for 18 hours during the trip, but didn't really experience that much discomfort from purging, other than the wretching part. He did feel weak after the trip, as he hadn't eaten during the experience, and threw up nearly everything he tried to drink.. Moving during the trip increased nausea, and he needed help getting out of bed to use the bathroom. His jaws were kind of tense and sore after the detox, but he attributes this to purging all of the opioids out of his system.

He doesn't mind very strong or particularly rough experiences, usually, and would happily do it again, in a heartbeat. He thinks using it once or twice a year would be a great therapy for those who enjoy drugs, but wish to have control over even poly-drug use. Not to mention, it's helpful with addictive behaviors that aren't drug related. He often thinks he'd like to do ibogaine again, because he says, "I begin again!" Like wiping the slate clean, so changing behaviors is much easier. That is not to say that returning to the same environment will not allow one to fall back into old patterns, but rather, it gives the opportunity to examine those behaviors and choose a different path, if one so choose, without as much discomfort as it might cause to one who tries without the iboga experience.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Awesome post. This substance really needs to be explored more.

[OhCasey]

Awesome experience report Crookedeye. Know matter how many experience reports or how much info I read on Iboga/Ibogaine I still cant believe how much we dont know and how much exploring this plant could teach us. It still blows my mind that most people know nothing of this substance.