Ibogaine: Rite of Passage
Ibogaine is a substance that is derived from the root of an African plant that grows in Gabon. This plant is originally used during initiations of the Bwiti culture, but in the sixties the anti-addictive properties of this psychoactive substance were discovered by Howard Lotsof.
Ibogaine is surrounded by controversy. The decisions about the use of Ibogaine in the treatment of addiction appear to be made on political and economical, rather than rational basis.
Despite the results that show the efficacy of Ibogaine, the pharmaceutical companies and the government show no interest and stay skeptical. Ibogaine has provided us with more insight in the mechanisms of addiction and the question if it needs to be used for treating this huge western problem gets more and more acknowledgment.
Cy (34) has been using a mixture of heroine and amphetamine for about 11 years, but his three children and his ambitions are more valuable to him. Kicking his addiction is a tough job for him. It reveals all his suppressed emotions.
Moussavou (22) lives in the village Mitoné in Gabon. For her the traditional African initiation is part of healing process. She suffered from an illness for more than a year and she hopes that eating the holy plant will be the starting point of a new phase in her life.
This 50 minute documentary shows the different aspects of this special substance by means of personal experiences and explanations of ex-addicts, treatment providers and experts.
The only thing I can say is cool! Well sort of. Having myself experienced, not Ibogain, but similar natural drugs, it is unfortunate the participants did not have 'Guides' along with them (Real ones). However, natural plants, are way out of date, to be fully examined by science. Even though Science may explain the results of these natural drugs applications, and USUAL results, and benefits (Risks), but everyone's experience is indeed different.
Great article, I enjoyed reading your post on ibogaine. As a recovering addict, I know how helpful the drug can be, however, I do know that there are some people who are against it as it can be dangerous. I've been doing research on ibogaine addiction treatments and the pros and cons of this type of treatment.
Hopefully, this information can assist someone (friends and families) in choosing the best recovery treatments.
When it comes to rehabilitating oneself, what say the substance abuse counselors about the use of ibogaine in any form?
No doubt 12-step groups will frown upon it's use.
What are the rules when it comes to doing what it takes to get clean?
What about when taking personal responsibility for something that devestates everyone around you (and you)?
There won't be a way to make this available legally, but I am glad that when someone seeks help it can be found. Everybody is different. But all addiction SUCKS. Any and all effort towards sobriety is important.
Life is precious.
I found this interesting the way the Doc showed how the two people who took ibogaine in two different forms. One was the natural herb of ibogaine the other in a chemical pill based form.I think that you would get a more real effect from the natural herb form. The woman her experience was wow more extreme if I should say it that way. I have had an experience with winging myself off of chemical based pills i would not say I had an addiction because they were presribed for the conditions I faced. But its just the fact as it was mentioned in the film that when you take a pill does that does not cure the disease that you have. It covers up the symptoms of the disease. I am a firm believer in positive thinking and self healing. I got off the chemical pills that I was taking thru Fasting and Prayer.I wanted to flush my system of artificial chemicals. I did not want to take another artificial chemical to get me off of one artificial chemical. I believe that the artificial chemicals we place in our body don't have as much of a better effect than it would if we used Natural herbs foods and so on. If you notice that in the film that the male patient was told that the ibogaine pill he was given would not heal him just have a result of stopping the cravings of addiction. But the female in the village was taking the natural form as to cure her from her disease. So having said all this go for natural forms of herbs for cures.
Wow interesting stuff, not something that I have ever come across & I thought that I had tried them all at lest once.
Very valuable film. I am deeply saddened that work (genuine) to look at making something with this efficacy available to any with will to take the risks (there are risks) is not supported whole heartedly. I appreciate the honest and kind comments posted here. I have lost many friends to varied addiction, and worked w a few 100 others who fought, through excruciating pain, for every minute of peace and freedom. I hope many many more 'addicted' will watch this film, then find a place where they can choose to try this treatment; if everything else has failed, give yourselves one more chance. "you are worth it; we all are!" Thank you TDF.
Man, I must have done something wrong when I was a heroin addict. I never had a house like that, but now that I'm clean, I still don't. Hmmmm.
@Hamsterdam:
Really?? WOW!! learn something new every day!
Hamsterdam, is that about if Hamsters would roam free in the Amsterdam canals. Hmmm??
As an 8 yr patient for spinal tumors and 4 blown discs, I want to clear up some terminology. I take opiates...a TON of them, but that is the price to have any quality of life. Now the important part. While I and other opiate/opioid patients are certainly all physically dependent on these meds, Physical Dependency is not addiction. If you stop taking a seizure or depression medicine abruptly, you will also become sick, and that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ADDICTION, it is a physical dependency meaning you need the medicine to function, not be ill, et al.
Addiction is the overwhelming desire to chase the euphoric effect, raising the dosage on your own to do so, then when you run out of pills early, find another doc, and try to get another script...That's a classical addiction scenario, anything to chase that high. It becomes acute quickly. You are at a normal baseline, then take the drug the first time. When you return to "normal", it no longer feels normal, in fact you feel worse because your natural endorphins kick back and say, "looks like our job is being done for us, boys". I would also like to add that once I experienced withdrawal by failing to pack all my meds before a trip to visit family. Withdrawal is psychologically hellish, youre both too warm and too cold and sweating, I never barfed, but lots of diarrhea (if you take that lomotril or whatever the diarrhea med is, you can avoid the squirts, and thats a HUGE bonus). Anyway, my wife flew back to get the meds, but by the 4th day the worst of withdrawal was gone. I was still in awful pain from my condition, but no longer dopesick.
So Physical Dependency is not Addiction. It can contribute to it strongly, but it is the mind of the person that makes them an addict. Ive never taken my meds to get high, and Id be just as glad if I didn't need them, but I have to live with the reality I have, and before I will go along the garden path with doctors that want to experiment with "New and Better" drugs. Opiates have about the longest track record of any drug in common use. We know every single side effect, and possible problems for people prone to addiction. Side effects, mild nausea, constipation, drowsiness and dry mouth. Put that up against the drug profile for Vioxx (prior to being banned). One of the first docs I dealt with on this wanted to try Vioxx, and I asked him if he bothered to look at the remarkable amount of heart disease in my family. Of course he hadn't.
Im not here to promote Opiates, but to strip them of their demonization. They are a wonder in this world, and any knowledgeable doctor will tell you it has the safest, most effective history of any analgesic for moderate to severe pain.
Lastly, and actually the only reason I bothered to post.....It is OCCAM'S RAZOR, not Achem's, unless you're making it fit your name.
@Achems Razor,
I guess I meant no processed sugar. Interesting diet though. I already follow some of it. Cut out processed foods along time ago. But, I don't have many vices anymore, No caffeine, soda, alcohol,tobacco, etc; just my cannabis and my fruits! I'm going to hang on to those just a little bit longer.
@Jeigh:
Real stuff? sugar is sugar/glucose. high fructose corn syrup is the worst.
"Paleo Diet"? google it, Yes meat, but a lot of veggies, No man made processed stuff.
@Achems Razor.
I hear you about the sugar. I try to avoid it, but It's not easy. I have wild cravings I don't completely understand sometimes. I only use the real stuff though. Cane sugar, and fruits. No corn crack.
I also try to use stevia as well. Who knows what the truth about truvia is though. It's hard to know, who is in who's pocket anymore. For now I will take it. I'm pretty healthy though, and not over weight, with good sugar levels. What is the cave man diet? I probably couldn't do that one. I gave up meat a few months ago. Although I am not sure the cave men ate much meat.
I do think it is really cool though, how nature uses man. Fifty-thousand years ago, apples were not very sweet. Somehow realizing mans sweet tooth, they evolved to get sweeter, and sweeter, until man became literally involved in their genetics, and turned them into candy. It's amazing that nature uses itself (nature of man), to propagate itself. Who is to say that, man is the dominant species? Maybe he is just being used by the apple trees, take over the universe. I'm way off topic now.. sorry guys. Must be that peyote I took years ago.
@Jeigh:
Agreed, tobacco is a killer and the hardest to get off of.
When I say off and on, the first time I quit was for fifteen years.
Wanna try another good addiction, and a killer, (Obese America type 2 diabetes) try sugar addiction, try and get off all sugars fruits etc:, anything that makes glucose like breads grains, and no substitute with man made poisons like aspartame et al.
Talk about withdrawal symptoms! try it sometimes.
When I want off all sugars to monitor my weight and health, I go on my "Paleo Diet" eat like a caveman. (LOL)
But the paleo diet is not for everyone, my nutritional typing is protein, not carbs.
Oh, for anybody who is going through the heebie jeebies, try a little whiskey in tea or hot water. Saved my life, just dont forget when to stop mmm'kay.
@Achems Razor, Tobacco was without a doubt the most addictive substance I had to put down.
They say heroin is the ultimate seductress, but I say it is tobacco.
The estimate of smokers in the entire world is 1.2 billion. That is 1/5th of the population. 44 million Americans smoke, and 70 percent of those want to quit. The WHO states that one person dies from tobacco use every 8 seconds. Ten million cigarettes are sold every minute.
The cost for health care in the US for smokers. $72 billion a year.
And tobacco barons have their clients by the balls. Their product is everywhere; everywhere you look. You cant walk down the street without smelling tobacco smoke. Depending on where you live, you cant go into a restaurant or a bar, without getting a big drag.
And for what? All of this money and death, for what? To put money in some fat pig corporations pockets? What do we actually get out of a cigarette? The illusion of calm? The appetizing flavor of smoke? The annoying need to have one every hour, or turn into a little B!+ch?
Heroin kills around 2000 people a year. Aspirin kills around 2000 people a year.
Cocaine kills around 2000 people a year
Alcohol kills 80,000 people a year
TOBACCO? Our big winner at 380,000 a year!!!
Good thing Americans spend 50 billion dollars a year fighting the drug war.
So, I know how smart you are Achem, and I know you don't let many people get away with BS on here, but you are definitely feeding yourself a line.
Tobacco's subtle control over you is even evident in your post, if you look closely. You have no addictions; except cigarettes, off and on.
But, cigarettes are the worlds most common addictions, and the worlds most deadly. But big corporation tobacco, has got you fooled enough to where you will declare in public, that you have no serious addictions.
And why is it off and on. If it wasn't a serious addiction wouldn't it just be off?
So I guess the question is what is a "Hard" drug. Is it one that kills 200 times more than other drugs? Is it one that is the hardest to quit than the others? Is it the one that is used by and kills largest amount of people? Or does it mean a drug that has a profound effect on the users consciousness. Because from what your saying is, the last example is the only thing that qualifies a drug as being "hard".
If I were you, I would take a hard look at the facts, and re-think my addiction.
Like I said; cigarettes were by far the hardest habit I had to quit. Even after watching both my grandfathers die from lung cancer. Sound like a pretty serious addiction to me.
@ Jeigh
What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
@Irishkev, Thanks, and, thanks again for bringing up your last point. I think the way most people perceive withdrawal is one of the things that makes it such a horrible experience to begin with. Don't get me wrong; It's hell, but It is also the first step towards getting better, and as the cliche goes, the first step is the hardest step.
If one knows they are not going to die from withdrawal, and then are able endure the hellish symptoms of withdrawal, they are immediately empowered. No longer physically addicted, and better able to face the obstacles further down the road. Looking back at my experiences, I find the "sickness" to have had a spiritual, or self-realizing affect over my life.
@jeigh @SoloPocono,
Very astute.
I don't have any addictions other than 2 coffees in the morning and a bar of pure black chocolat every now and then, but i am starting to think that this site is becoming addictive!
az
Remarkable, penetrating, and honest - and that's the heartfelt comments coming from some really amazing people responding above.
The film is a real gem: Meaning; inspired personal research begins now from extremely interesting insights offered.
(Thought Hunter S Thompson once used 'Ibogaine' as a literary conceit: through some hilarious ranting "explaining" the so called "strange behaviours" of an American presidential candidate. Funny stuff, but nothing to do with the actual compound/root here, and its potentially excellent holistic/medical/shamanic uses towards addiction.
2 final observations -(1)Suboxone can - eventually - hit one with withdrawls so bad, you'll stop, kneel down on the street and weep. Watch out that for that stuff, really! It should be approached in Micrograms; NOT milligrams.
(2) STFU wrote "..Please stop writing novels. Just submit a comment and get a life. No one reads nor cares about your view."
It's ironic to offer nothing pertinant whatsoever to the film OR comments, rather, react in a negative way for the hell of it: saying "no one reads or cares", seems untrue here, as it appears some smart, well-read and caring people... actually do.
Just one small point folks, I often hear people in withdrawal referring to themselves as being "sick", when in fact this is the first stage in getting yourself better. When I was going through it myself I found this way of thinking to be of help, even to the extent of laughing while enduring the worst that cold turkey had to throw at me.
I don't know if Ibogaine is a miracle cure or not, but I think an experience like this can help people trapped in the vicious cycle to step outside their addiction for a short time and so gain a new perspective on their lives. Sometimes this is all that's needed.
Interesting doc.
Learned something new. Have no addictions, except lung rockets/cigs off and on, dropped booze about 15 years ago, but need my coffee, and definitely need my ice cream. (LOL) that's it.
So can't really relate to ongoing hard drug addictions. But do sympathize with people trying to get there life back in order.
ps. the depression is still a battle. maybe not as severe or perhaps i just cope better these days.
It worked for me. I was a opiate user for 15yrs and also suffered from depression for much longer. Actually it was the depression that started me onto the drugs. It helped but after many years of use I got addicted to the opiates! while in my experimental stage I noticed halucenogen usage would keep my depression away. 1 dose equalled 6 months of no dreppession. So I was keen to try this wonderful plant. Fortunatly I was able to find a sympathetic doctor thru a methadone mainainance program in New Zealand. Away from the center the Doctor administered the plant extract. To keep this brief... I have been clean for a few years now. No longer require the methadone either. Free at last!
@wayside; Not sure on locations of treatment centers. You are right to worry a bit in regards to panic attacks in conjunction with halucenogen usage, not a good combo. If done in a controlled environment should be managable though. And if not, it is more than likely that the drugs effects would be cancelled by administering narcan to the patient.