Ibogaine Treatment Preparation
Having made the decision to obtain ibogaine treatment for your drug dependence issue is a huge step. Many of our patients fall into the category of being considered “chronic relapsers” who have not had success utilizing more conventional and mainstream drug treatment programs.
Making the commitment to trying an ibogaine treatment program is a tremendous first step on your journey to recovery. Ibogaine is different than any other molecule that’s been discovered to date. In simple terms, ibogaine is an extremely fast-acting, naturally occurring, plant-based substance, which alleviates withdrawal symptoms and interrupts cravings.
Ibogaine is not a maintenance drug, where you’re replacing an addictive drug with another equally or more addictive molecule that attaches to the same receptors. Ibogaine treatment for drug dependence is unique in it’s single-administration modality and mechanism of action; your drug dependence and tolerance are reset back to nothing with a single dose, and the slate is wiped clean, bringing you back to a pre-addictive state.
The Ibogaine Experience
Trauma is often at the core of many drug dependence issues. While ibogaine treatment can be remarkably effective at allowing individuals trapped within the cycle of drug abuse to step out of their limited worldview and attain a new perspective on themselves and their life situation, in and of itself ibogaine cannot change your whole life and rewrite your personal history. Ibogaine won’t make decisions and choices on your behalf, you’re still in the driver’s seat steering your life in the direction you want it to unfold post-ibogaine treatment.
Clear Sky Recovery’s Ibogaine treatment program makes precare services available to all our clients. Prior to participating in the unique detoxification that ibogaine can provide patients, it’s a good idea to discuss your overall goals and intentions with a therapist experienced in ibogaine precare and aftercare, whom you trust and can relate to.
The acute phase of the ibogaine experience itself typically lasts for about 8-12 hours. Almost immediately upon ingesting ibogaine HCl, your withdrawal symptoms will be eradicated. This “reset” happens for people within the first 30-45 minutes, before the onset of the “trip.” You will not be dopesick and going through withdrawal while “tripping.”
Somewhere right around the 45 minute mark, what’s been termed the oneirophrenic phase of ibogaine treatment will begin. Experiencing synesthesia at this stage is extremely common, you may see abstract patterns and geometric shapes falling down through your field of vision, you may experience sounds or music in different ways.
What follows this stage is hugely variable for individuals. Some people experience full-blown visions and enter a dream-like state wherein their experience of time is different than normal. These visions may be dreams, scenes from the past, or actual memories which are revisited from a more impersonal, third-party point of view, allowing you to process what’s happened in a different manner and obtain a different level of understanding or closure. Many patients experience periods of highly vivid memory recall and feelings from early life and childhood, while others get nothing but seemingly disjointed and abstract fragments and patterns which have no seeming direct relation to their lives.
People who are about to take ibogaine for their drug dependence issues often spend a lot of time doing research online and reading people’s accounts of what the experience was like. It’s important to remember that many individuals see no visions whatsoever, and even those patients who experience remarkably rich and vivid journeys which seem to touch upon and intersect with all of their core issues, may be ill-prepared to process all the material that is unearthed in an ibogaine experience.
After the acute, often visionary, stage of ibogaine treatment has ended, you’ll end up in the processing phase, wherein you’re not really back to Earth and being grounded yet, but you’re not fully immersed in whatever experience is unfolding. This is a stage that’s often characterized by a high degree of mental activity and evaluation.
Ibogaine Treatment Integration & Aftercare
At its core, ibogaine treatment is about providing patients with the near-mythical and unique to ibogaine, experience of the “reboot” wherein your drug-dependence issues are eradicated and your tolerance is reset. This occurs very consistently and can be quantified and evaluated, planned and controlled. Clear Sky has the world’s largest collection of ibogaine research, data on thousands of patients we’ve evaluated over decades of time. When treating a patient with ibogaine we take into account a broad cross-section of variables prior to ibogaine administration..
However, for most people, drug dependence isn’t the problem; it’s the solution. Now that your security blanket and safety net are gone, you’re going to be left with having to deal with whatever your pre-existing life situation happens to be.
Personal and spiritual growth and change are not instant. All the insights and gifts offered by ibogaine, can get wiped out with a few poor choices post ibogaine treatment. To reiterate: ibogaine is not in the driver’s seat of your life, you are.
Following ibogaine treatment you will have ibogaine’s long-acting metabolite, noribogaine, onboard for a period of roughly 3 months. Noribogaine helps reduce cravings, improves mood, significantly diminishes symptoms of post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS), and appears to act as a sort of super-sticky antidepressant, which remains in your body for an extended period of time post ibogaine treatment. You’ll have a window of opportunity wherein whatever goal you wish to achieve, is much more easily attainable.
You will have a much easier time learning to navigate the challenges and obstacles that you encounter on your journey through recovery and learning to live life without drugs, if you have a supportive therapist whom you trust and feel comfortable talking with. In addition to whatever clinicians are managing your other medical conditions (if any), it’s important to have someone on your team who is supportive of your beliefs and goals, and can help you utilize the window of opportunity that ibogaine provides.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us and contact an intake specialist at any time if you’d like more information about ibogaine treatment, or help finding a therapist who is familiar with ibogaine precare preparation and aftercare integration.