What is the Ibogaine Treatment Success Rate?

Ibogaine Treatment Success Rate

By the year 2000, researchers found through testing on human subjects addicted to heroin that the prior work by scientists (and beliefs held by laypeople) were correct: ibogaine effectively treats opioid addiction and withdrawal. In fact, subsequent studies revealed that ibogaine treats other addictions successfully, including alcohol, methamphetamine, cocaine, steroids, methadone. Ibogaine treatment doesn’t stop with addiction interruption, either. It also treats withdrawals, ceasing most symptoms entirely.

In 2003, Clear Sky’s Dr. Mash reported impressive ibogaine treatment statistics for her patients. In the year under scrutiny, the team undertook 24 sessions. Of those, 18 were specifically intended to help the patients end a drug addiction. After two years, all six of the 18 patients who had therapy, aftercare programs, or both after their ibogaine treatment were clean and had been since the treatment.

Of the 12 remaining patients, two stayed clean for most of one year, and then experienced declines in their health accompanied by pain. In both patients, this triggered relapses. Two patients relapsed after being clean for a three to six month period. Five relapsed within one month. Two patients were not in contact, and so their status was unknown at the time of the report, and one patient had died, overdosing on heroin after six months’ sobriety.

These experiences emphasized for the Clear Sky team that aftercare and support is critical to a successful outcome. Various other studies indicate that ibogaine effectively reduces withdrawals and craving, and these other studies also emphasize the importance of follow up treatment. In at least one research study, none of 30 patients in a clinical ibogaine trial had relapsed after two years.

Despite ibogaine’s has a proven successful record in addiction and withdrawal treatment, its status as a psychedelic substance has sidelined it within US culture. Its psychedelic effects are seen as a “trip” and part of “drug culture,” which are both taboo in the US. Moreover, ibogaine’s origins as a plant—which cannot be patented—and one time treatment regimen rather than ongoing use, is not in the monetary interests of pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, the ibogaine treatment’s amazing success rates remain mostly unknown to the public.

Other Drug Treatment Success Rates

Perhaps the most important difference between ibogaine and any other rehabilitation program is in fact the success rate for treatment. Most traditional rehabilitation programs are neither science-driven nor medication-based. Clearly, the Clear Sky ibogaine program also includes emotional and psychological components that are essential, but it also offers a strong physical, medical treatment that is absent from other kinds of programs, most of which are based on the 12 steps.

Another clear distinction between standard rehabilitation programs and ibogaine treatment is that with ibogaine, there is no need to replace the “drug of choice” with another drug such as methadone or suboxone. Instead, ibogaine offers lasting results from a single treatment session, and there is neither any call nor any need to introduce a replacement addiction. Instead of substituting addictions, ibogaine physically resets the brain, and, with the right supports in place for the patient when they transition into life as normal, they can succeed without any such drug.

Typical Drug Treatment Success Rates

The statistics and success rates from both ibogaine treatment programs and traditional rehabs and treatments are dramatically different. It is this edge toward being able to quit and stay clean that sets ibogaine apart, and this is why as a mode of treatment ibogaine is so appealing to people struggling with addiction, and those who care about them. Nowhere is the difference between business-as-usual rehab methods and ibogaine treatment as notable as it is at Clear Sky, a premiere treatment facility that works with patients on their plans moving forward.

The data on traditional rehabilitation centers for alcohol and drugs is unimpressive at best, and scandalous at worst. In fact, experts indicate that standard rehabilitation strategies are not notably more effective than going it alone, cold turkey. In some circumstances, spontaneous recovery rates in the general population are higher than are the success rates for standard rehabs! Moreover, drug and alcohol treatment centers are not required by law to make their success rates (and failures) public.

Nevertheless, we know they’re not very successful. Recent peer-reviewed studies reveal that the 12-step model for recovery from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) that we’re all familiar with—and that forms the basis for most rehabs—has a success rate of only 5 to 10 percent, at best. In other words, even reviewing the data in the light most favorable to the 12-steps, only about one in fifteen 12-steppers can stay sober. In 2006, one of the most prestigious scientific research organizations in the world, the Cochrane Collaboration, conducted a review of every research study focused on the AA 12-step rehabilitation model. The research studies, which spanned 1966 through 2005, proved that they just don’t work: “No experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA or TSF [12-step] approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or problems.”

The findings from this research project also extended to programs based on professional 12-step or AA-oriented treatment. This is important, because it means that it’s not just AA and NA that aren’t working for people; it includes almost all rehabilitation programs in the US. It’s easy to see why people coping with addiction are searching for more effective solutions.

Still more concerning and disappointing to patients and their families is the fact that the most successful treatment programs replace one addiction with another. Suboxone and methadone programs, for example, are successful at reducing illegal opiate and heroin use, and some of the illegal behaviors that come with it. Unfortunately, these patients are still using opiates, and this doesn’t feel like recovery to most of our patients. They want their old lives back—the lives before the daily distortion of drugs changed everything.

How to Stay Clean After Ibogaine Treatment

At Clear Sky, the holistic approach is central, because the research shows how important it is. Folded into our treatment program is a planning process: what will you and your family and friends do when you leave the facility? We work with our patients and their loved ones so they will be ready, not just for life after addiction, but for the life-changing experience of taking ibogaine. Being ready means committing to a support network and pursuing follow up with treatment diligently. Our patients leave us with a plan in place so they can avoid triggers, and this is just one of the various reasons our ibogaine success rate is so high.

The Clear Sky treatment team has almost 100 combined years of experience with ibogaine treatment. We assisted more than 3,800 patients and helped them manage their addictions. This is why we are ideally positioned to assist others fighting that same battle with their addictions. Contact us today to find out more about ibogaine treatment success rates and statistics, and to learn how ibogaine can change your life.