IBOGAINE AND DRUG ADDICTION
Ibogaine is often view either as a panacea for addiction or, on the contrary, a mere wish or a toxic and dangerous substance. There are others that refuse the idea of the Ibogaine’s implementation for the simple reason that it’s an unlicensed medication. Some people view Ibogaine’s effectivity in addiction treatment as a result of its psychoactive properties, which are indeed often very insightful, analogically to the LSD’s therapeutical effect on alcoholism.
What is true and what’s not?
Ibogaine has the ability to alleviate withdrawal symptoms from opiates and even suppress them completely, within a reasonable time-frame, depending of course on the type and amount of opiates one abuses, Ibogaine dosage and other variables. Overcoming the withdrawal symptoms doesn’t mean victory, of course. In the long run it’s the craving for the drug that causes the relapse.
Ibogaine is able to eliminate the cravings for opiates and for most of the other drugs.
This sentence could meet quite some disapproval if some terms are not specified: in this context please understand the word “craving” just in the narrow sense of chemically-induced sense of emptiness that triggers the compulsive need to use the drug again, in order to fulfill this void, even if for a very short time. The word “craving” is often use in a very broad way or to cover just simple personal failure. It’s important that we talk about the same “craving”, in order to understand what kind of craving Ibogaine works with.
The power of the craving is evident if we consider how many addicts successfully overcame several nightmarish cold turkeys only to relapse just days or weeks after every one of them. For accuracy though I have to add that it’s not always because of the sense of emptiness but also because of severe sleeping problems that in many may arise when they quit opiates.
How does the craving work?
The craving for drugs doesn’t diminish linearly day after day, doesn’t come regularly like appetite for food. The craving is also constantly restimulated from the outside, from the environment, because is pretty much connected with one’s own environment.
I know about addicts that in the intent to escape addiction, after having detoxed or having done "cold turkey" went abroad where they stayed few months basically not missing their drug of choice almost at all. After few month they thought the danger of relaps was over, flew back home and immediately after the arrival, right at the airport started to feel an irresistible urge for the drug, the craving, and got back to their drug immediately the same day. Didn’t really plan to. This was not a separate, uncommon case.
On a subconscious level, the environment gets closely connected with the drug abuse and restimulates the craving for the drug all the time that the addict is in it or gets back into this environment. With the word environment I mean everything from one’s own flat to the town where one started to score and all places where one did drugs at least once, all the fellow addicts one knows, all the paraphernalia, everything! The mere sight of all these things induces the craving and therefore, when one is on its way of recovery from addiction, it’s always very important to change the environment as much as possible (according to one’s own possibilities)- change the flat or town, get rid of friends on drugs, consider breaking up with own partner if still on drugs, change lifestyle in its broader sense.
What does Ibogaine deliver?
My clients were often surprised not just by the reduction of the withdrawals but also by , let’s say details, like for example when going back to town from a treatment they usually experienced no craving-inducing emotional response , which normally every single addict feels when coming back to their own place or any other drug-related environment. No such response even when looking at a fellow addict just taking drugs or looking at some paraphernalia. All things are usually very strong for the addict, psychologically.
Nevertheless, Ibogaine’s power shouldn’t be overestimated or looked at in an unrealistic way. I always repeat to people, Ibogaine is only about freedom. The freedom to choose again wether to get addicted again or stay clean without the constant compulsive urge to take drugs. The population where we can expect a much lower ability to take advantage of the Ibogaine’s gifts are teenagers, people with dual diagnoses or lower IQ. Basically all depends on one’s level of motivation.
As all say, ibogaine is not a cure for addiction, with everything that it involves, it must be understood that it’s "just" a cure for chemical dependency. You see the difference? The goal of ibotherapy is "just" to give the addict his freedom of choice back.
There’s usually a substantial difference in the results achieved with just a single treatment and the results achieved with a second treatment given right few weeks after the first one. Usually it goes this way:
The first treatment takes away just the withdrawals and let’s say 80 to 100% of the cravings. The second treatment done one or few weeks afterwards not only improves and stabilizes the results of the first treatment but usually delivers also a bigger psychological impact, both on the cognitive and emotional level
The more physically addictive is the drug, the more important the follow up treatments are.
For an effective and lasting result in treating addiction at least two ibogaine treatments are recommended.
Unless the problem is strictly the physical dependency itself, aftercare is as important as the ibogaine treatment in order to achieve lasting results.
Examples:
The patient is a straight person, leads a regular life, got a job etc. Got addicted to oxycontin while treated for severe back pain. Would like to eliminate the addiction to Oxycontin and switch to a milder painkiller. Ibogaine would eliminate the dependency as such and basically no aftercare should be necessary.
The patient is twenty years old, leads a street life, several years of addiction history, addictive personality, psychological issues, the partner is on drugs too. The ibogaine treatment would eliminate the cravings and withdrawal symptoms but the patient would most probably get back to drugs again, unless some aftercare strategy is put in place.
FACTORS INVOLVED IN ADDICTION
LIFESTYLE / MIND PATTERN – everything that we keep on repeating in our lifes tends to create a strong habit from which is difficult to escape. All the other factors here mentioned are strictly connected to this one. The junkie mind-pattern is not a lesser problem than the chemical dependency itself
(…all these years I´ve lived like a junkie, I don´t know anything else and now I´d have to change everything from scratch !?)
CRAVING – drugs chemically induce a sense of emptyness in the one that abuses them. When the intake of the concrete drug is regular the void is fulfilled rather quickly. This void unfortunately tends to stay there for ages, when one tries to stay clean. It`s when one tries to stay clean that the everyday struggle with cravings begins. Getting back to scoring is not really about wishing to get high again, it`s about avoiding to feel low. This void makes one not really feeling alive, makes everything around look "gray" and senseless.
RELEASE MECHANISM – everybody has got one´s own psychological escape mechanisms .These are human shortcuts in dealing with everyday stresses, frustrations, anxieties or times of crisis. Can be everything – from chocolate to cigarettes, porn to alcohol and of course drugs. For a junkie subconsciousness, even after years of sobriety, the ultimate release mechanism will always be the drug or drugs he used to abuse. Hard times come in all our lives and trigger our release mechanisms. These times can cause a relaps anytime. Even in a motivated, recovering addict.
AGE – The older and more mature the addicted individual is, the heavier the addiction weighs on him. At a certain age addiction is simply too uncomfortable, the body doesn`t cope anymore so well with the excesses as it used to do once. One needs one`s own tranquillity, steadyness, a slower and more stable pace of life. Therefore the motivation for getting drug free and stay clean naturally rises with one`s own aging.Motivation supported by maturity.
In general the most difficult category are teenagers, as far as combating addiction is concerned. The combination of addiction and young age-related immaturity is the most unlucky one.
“TOXIC ENVIRONMENT “- there`s no real friendship in the world of drugs. Consciously or not, addicts would initiate various forms of psychological pressure on the one that would try to become addiction free, if still willing to hang up with his addicted friends. They will not fully accept him till he`ll be one of them again. For many this is a considerable obstacle on the way to freedom from drugs.
“All my friends are junkies. If I woun`t be a junkie anymore I`ll lose them all…”