Note: there are tons of iboga scammers out there. A good supplier is IbogaQueen. For domestic EU retail orders, I suggest maya-ethnobotanicals.com
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Why this guide?
This isn't the only Tabernanthe iboga tutorial you can find on the net, but the reason I compiled this is because most of the reading material you'll find elsewhere is focused on a dangerous old practice of "flood" or "mega" dosing the major alkaloid, ibogaine, in one day. This is no longer recommended by legitimate iboga clinics due to health safety concerns, and it is, thankfully, unnecessary, since iboga has reverse tolerance, unlike most drugs. (Note: Some people find that they do build up a tolerance to iboga, so the reverse tolerance does not apply to everyone.) Pure ibogaine also lacks the full spiritual effects of the bark with its various (~100) alkaloids.
I recommend people also check out the very helpful (tho sometimes bizarre and contradictory) info at myeboga.com and the r/Iboga subreddit. Especially this post on post-iboga integration steps, which is really in-depth. There is even a free hotline you can call to get advice about ibogaine (provided by a clinic in Spain: maderasagrada.org) although some of their advice seems incorrect to me.
The best ibogaine clinic that I know of is pangeabiomedics.com located in Mexico and vouched for by ICEERS.org. If you seek an underground provider within USA, contact Dimitri Mugianis for a referral. If you're seeking a multidimensional therapist to come and help you empty out your emotional basement, check out my good friend, Shaman J.
History
First, a little bit of history about the traditional usage (note, some of my info here is quoted in gray from another guide which has some bad info and some good info, thus I don't want people to just read that guide):
Iboga has a long history of use as a medicine and spiritual sacrament in central Africa. The legend goes that the forest people (Pygmies -- who are now endangered due to encroaching civilization, World Wildlife Fund murderers, war zones, & pollution, and whom I am working to support so their culture can survive) first discovered it through the observations of animals such as boar, porcupines and gorillas consuming the root. Then, a few hundred years ago, some Bantu tribes learned from the Pygmy iboga-based religion called Bwiti, and some of them added Christian trappings to it.
The West knows Iboga for the principal alkaloid in the bark, ibogaine, and its addiction interrupting effects. Iboga is not only effective at breaking addictions but also a powerful ally in offering "space" for breaking destructive habits and behavior patterns. Venturing on an Iboga journey is a personal and therapeutic experience, and it will tend to confront you with your past and elements of your shadow. For many, iboga takes the form of a teacher…it is direct yet not overbearing, both powerful and gentle, having a soft touch while being straight to the point.
While under the influence of iboga [at higher doses] the user views themselves in a detached state. One is able to view their life without the full emotional intensity and attachment such experiences may normally hold. This allows one to process things without being emotionally overwhelmed. Many even report viewing their life from the perspective of those they've affected rather than from their own perspective.
Iboga provides a full brain defrag, while providing one with a thorough detox at the same time. It is a multifaceted plant that is physically, mentally and spiritually cleansing and grounding. Many people view iboga as a profound way of pressing the reset button on life, and to provide a fresh start to enact change. After taking iboga it is easier to move in a different direction and gain new healing perspectives on life.
Another way iboga is used, and perhaps the best general use for it is to eat low doses or even brushing microdoses into the gums occasionally to help with depression or to see if it can help other health issues. I've experienced astounding brain defrags even with low doses!
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How Effective is Iboga?
If your iboga dose is low enough to allow you to remain consciously aware and talkative, you can dramatically increase the therapeutic benefit of the drug by combining it with some type of therapy, such as Focusing Therapy (see Wikipedia entry), which can even be done with a friend after watching a few videos on the subject. An off-shoot of focusing therapy which you can do on your own is Kiloby Inquiries, before or after which you may be ready for nibbana & metta meditation.
Do not over-estimate the benefits of large doses of iboga for help with addictions. As the famous underground ibogaine provider, Dimitri Mougianis, mentions, in "Why Ibogaine is Not the Answer to the Opioid Crisis," there are much cheaper and safer ways to comfortably detox from drugs. Some of these include Corydalis yanhusuo (or even vaping the pure tetrahydropalmatine extracted from yanhusuo), harmalas (B. caapi vine extract, or syrian rue seeds), mega-dosing vitamin C (see this study, try 100g of vit C, ideally the liposomal form from Aurora, or else vit C powder in 3 liters of water with some stevia & take frequent small sips throughout the day to bowel tolerance, and look into high dose niacin). As Dimitri points out, iboga is not just an addiction interrupter, as some like to claim, for if it were, there are safer alternatives as mentioned. Nor is iboga just a spiritual experience, for if it were, ayahuasca would be a much safer route, not to mention metta meditation and meditation on Dependent Origination (the understanding that everything happens due to conditions). But iboga is a uniquely human type of spiritual psychotherapy, with benefits that can be felt for months.
Some people use iboga to heal from physical conditions like Lyme disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other ailments that don't have easy cures. Anecdotes of miracle cures abound, but there is not much data on how common they are. I suspect it would help to have an advanced Pygmy shaman to guide in this case especially.
The types of people who are able to break addictions for good from an iboga "flood" are those who are already highly motivated to do so with a supportive environment. Others will relapse repeatedly, especially if their mindset or environment hasn't changed. On average the 12 month success rate for ibogaine clinics seems very low, but it's still probably a lot better than the suboxone or 12-step program success rates. Also, people who fail to stay clean after the first experience often will benefit from the second or the third done many months later, especially if they have identified the cause of their failure. With more extensive aftercare in a good rehab program, long-term success rate goes up to 90-95%, which is also achieved without any herbal or medical interventions, merely via a total change of lifestyle, such as is offered by recovery-focused farms which are common in Europe, but not so common in America due to a greater focus on profits. One such place in USA is the Denver Rescue Mission's Harvest Farm.
Another option to think about after you are off the drugs to prevent relapse is to schedule a multidimensional therapy session with "Shaman J". A session can be helpful before you get off the drugs but the drugs tend to block some of the benefits of therapy sessions.
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Note that there are some different types of iboga trees: The Cameroonian trees are said to be less potent than the Gabonese ones due to poorer soil on average, but the main determiner of potency is age of the tree (older = stronger). Also important is the sex of the tree. Male iboga bark has more ibogaine compared to other alkaloids, and thus is best for addiction issues, but also more cardiotoxic. Female trees are better for spiritual purposes and for microdosing, and the Pygmies normally use the female trees in their ceremonies, since they are not battling drug addictions. There is also a cousin of iboga called Tabernanthe elliptica, which people tell me leans more toward the female iboga effects, but when Ibtried it, it actually felt nothing like iboga and more like Voacanga africana, stimulating but not therapeutic.
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How Dangerous Is Iboga for non-pregnant, mentally stable, physically healthy people?
One of the most obvious dangers of using iboga at any dosage level is that it resets tolerance to a variety of other drugs, so if you go back to using your drug of choice at your old dose, you could easily overdose. Assume you have no tolerance if you fail to stay away from your drug of choice at some point, and work your way up slowly. Patience pays. Also keep in mind that by using *any* other drugs within a month of an iboga flood dose, you are reducing the effectiveness of the noribogaine and the integration period, and there could be dangerous interactions, so it is highly inadvisable, although some people have used ayahuasca, kambo, and cannabis to good effect.
What Medical Doctors Say About Iboga Safety:
If you look at the intro & conclusion to this pubmed study, you will note that not only has Iboga and ibogaine killed some people, but there is no totally safe way of taking a large (aka flood) dose of this substance without close medical supervision to monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and electrolytes. And even with such medical supervision, deaths do occur. Doses cannot be properly estimated based on body weight, either, since people vary considerably in their ability to absorb and metabolize the alkaloids (like ibogaine) in iboga. Do not think that you can just go to your primary doc and get a clean bill of health which indicates you can take a large dose of iboga without risk, although it can be reassuring to have an ECG/EKG done, a stress test, a liver function panel, a CYP450 genotype test, a thyroid function panel, a complete metabolic panel, and a serum magnesium level test.
What Traditional Practitioners Say About Iboga Safety:
My friend Andegue, whose grandmother is a Pygmy iboga shaman, says nobody ever died in an iboga ceremony that he knows of. The legitimate iboga shaman has the gift to enter into the spirit realm and guide the participant safely.
So why does iboga seem so dangerous for First-Worlders? A combination of a number of factors: First, the average chance of dying at an iboga clinic treatment is less than 1/400 for a drug addict. Much of the time it was not even proven to be caused by iboga, and was likely caused by other drugs people snuck in or heart conditions they didn't mention. Chances of dying from overdose while on conventional methadone treatment may actually be slightly higher, according to myeboga.com. Secondly, first-worlders tend to be more full of environmental toxins than Africans, and as iboga is a master cleanser, one could potentially die from too rapid of a detox reaction (herxheimer effect). And finally, many first-worlders would already be dead if not for their medication regimens or medical interventions, so the gene pool is not as robust as it is in third-world countries.
Some branches of Bwiti, on the other hand, are infamous for their "breaking open the head" initiation ceremonies using "heroic" large doses (say, 2-3x more than a "flood" dose used by Westerners). The purpose of this initiation is for people to visit the spirit world (while unconscious for days) and commune with the ancestors and/or God while seeking guidance for their lives. Some children die during the initiation ceremonies due to the large doses used, but this is justified by the belief that such children had "evil souls" (a.k.a. born psychopaths most likely), which is a non-falsifiable hypothesis. Iboga is also used traditionally at lower doses, to facilitate a communal loving vibe during Bwiti church services.
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Low-dose iboga is definitely safe for healthy, mentally stable, non-pregnant people who are not taking other drugs or herbs that interact. By low dose iboga I am speaking of between 1 and 2 grams of iboga root bark eaten in the morning (but only about half the population is sensitive enough to feel that the first morning). Microdoses are even safer (even 50mg of root bark brushed into the gums for a few mornings can produce a peaceful uplifting feeling all day). Do not operate heavy machinery when you are feeling any effects of iboga, as it can slow reaction time.
Be careful even with low doses, as they build up in your system. As a rule of thumb, one should limit iboga ingestion to less than 40 grams of bark per 6 months to avoid things like prolonged psychosis, but the limit may be even less for some people, so be watchful of how you are reacting and have friends also monitor you for abnormal behaviors. I have personally spoken to people who chewed iboga as a daily supplement in Cameroon, who unknowingly(?) suffered from multiple personality disorder and other psychiatric conditions that are clearly noticeable when speaking with them, although other Africans seem to have no problem taking lots of iboga on a regular basis. Even with just one flood dose of iboga, many people with latent mental instability end up in a hypomanic state which is very difficult to deal with, which is why it is best to be in a clinical or ceremonial environment where you can be properly cared for, not just dosed up and dumped back home a day later.
Interaction Cautions
Drugs and herbs (together referred to as meds) in general should be assumed to be dangerous with iboga (and even within days or weeks of iboga depending on the drug half-lives and fat sequestration), but especially psych meds (which can cause mental instability for up to a year post-discontinuation), any meds that prolong the cardiac QT interval (there is not enough research to know fully, but here is a non-exhaustive list--even anxiety can prolong the QT interval), blood pressure or heart meds, corticosteroids, and anything that inhibits hepatic metabolism via cytochrome P450-2d6, like cannabis, grapefruit and turmeric).
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Should you go to an iboga clinic if planning on a flood dose?
Iboga clinics of various degrees of reputability exist in a number of countries where the bark is legal. These clinics are mainly set up to help break addictions. They are unfortunately mostly set up based on the old, widespread, highly dangerous, but profitable, single day flood dose protocol, which necessitates a medical team, and which is also based on the false notion that a dose can be calculated based upon body weight (there is no way to pre-determine the correct dose, so they use an average guesstimate).
Especially since large doses of iboga can cause hypomania for many people, having the support of a clinic or, ideally, a legit iboga shaman, is optimal if you can find one that will agree to spread the dose over multiple days. Prices range quite a bit, and can be hard for most people to afford. There are some itinerant providers who travel to help people dose iboga for free or by donation, but in this case there is even more risk of dealing with someone that is not adequately trained on safety, or who may even be trying to take advantage of people sexually or in other ways. Always seek out honest reviews first. Here is a guide to selecting a trustworthy clinic, although that guide does not explain the problem of single-day dosing. The one clinic I can sort of vouch for is the one that is vouched for by the non-profit ICEERS.org: PangeaBiomedics.com
Avoid any so-called Iboga Retreat Centers which are branches of the sociopath known as Patrick Moughenda (which isn't his real name, he is not even really African) and his Iboga House (of Horrors). I know two people who went to Moughenda's retreats and both of them got the impression he's some kind of childish scammer.
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Now that we have the precautions covered, let's look at the individual addiction interruption use-cases for specific drug problems:
Iboga is very helpful for opioid addictions, but make sure to first switch to shorter-acting opioids that are less addictive, like Corydalis yanhusuo, wild lettuce, Akuamma seeds, stem & vein kratom, Greater Celandine, California Poppy, and Nigella sativa oil (aka Black Seed Oil--I like the FreshField brand on Amazon). Slowly taper down your short-acting opioid dose to the lowest possible level before taking iboga for maximum effectiveness and minimum suffering. It requires up to 90 days of being off a long-acting opioid drug for iboga to be really helpful (Fentanyl is short-acting technically but in fact long-acting due to storage in your fat), and you should also quit opioids entirely and begin to go into withdrawal prior to your iboga dosing for max benefit. With the use of the supplements mentioned above, you can probably even get off opioids fairly painlessly without iboga, although the iboga can help with the psychological aspect of addiction still. Please note that demerol and tramadol are dangerous with iboga, so you should switch to a short-acting opioid a few weeks before iboga.
Iboga is also very helpful for nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamine addictions, but keep in mind it does not help with physical withdrawal from benzodiazepines, GHB, barbiturates, hypnotics, or alcohol. It has limited benefit for cannabis addiction, but it can easily reset cannabis tolerance.
Some other beneficial supplements to help withdrawal symptoms for all of these drugs and general health include: Ecklonia cava (the king of brown algaes, but note that it lowers blood pressure, as does iboga), CBD (note that over 200mg CBD inhibits metabolism of iboga), niacin (vit b3), N-Acetylcysteine, and Dimethylsulfoxide), grass juice (requires a grass juicer, I find a mix of young wild grasses works better than indoor wheat grass--listen to your body, because some European grasses are mildly toxic), Agmatine, Corydalis yanhusuo, and hourly Vitamin C to bowel tolerance (liposomal is best if you can afford it, Aurora brand is best value).
As mentioned prior, it's absolutely crucial to have a good meditation routine, and hopefully supportive friend(s)/environment, though in most cases if you had those in place you wouldn't need iboga's help in getting off drugs.
Metta (loving kindness) meditation, in particular, is the quickest and most effective treatment I've found for depression. You'll find a lot of good videos on YouTube to guide you in that (search Ajahn Brahm), but the key is learning to love yourself, which begins with sending love to your hurt inner child. You can't really send love to others until you master loving yourself.
Spiritual purpose in your life is the ultimate bedrock required to not fall into short-sighted traps like drug addiction. The spiritual purpose I have found for my life is to end the cycle of birth and death by realizing everything happens naturally due to conditions. More info on that at already-perfect.blogspot.com
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PREPARATION for a slow, safer, ramped up flood dosing:
Write down your questions to ask the Iboga spirit. Write down want you want to meditate on during the experience, and what you need to face and overcome to make it worthwhile.
Avoid all substances including caffeine for 24 hours prior to day 1 of dosing. Psych drugs should be avoided for 2-8 weeks (ideally 1 year) prior depending on the half-life of the drug and its fat sequestration. It is good to eat lightly on the day of, and fast for 8 hours prior to the flood experience. Once you start consuming iboga you will soon lose your hunger or interest in food. One should drink water throughout the day and fresh vegetable juice. A few hours prior to the experience stop drinking. You will be well hydrated now but excess water in the stomach when dosing impedes absorption of the iboga alkaloids.
Prepare your space so it is clean and comfortable. A vomit bucket nearby and a helper to get to the bathroom are essential, as you'll be mostly incapacitated. Light and loud sounds will be intrusive while in an iboga trance. Have a bucket within arm’s reach from the bed as a purge is possible. The experience is not remotely sociable, and is deeply personal and internal, with the visions taking place behind closed eyelids, with the iboga inducing a waking dream state. It is good to have a room you can make dark even during daytime, and/or have a sleep mask for your eyes. With this slower method one cannot be sure exactly at what point the visions will start, but just be prepared.
Candle light is soothing. Some people prefer silence, but recordings of Bwiti m’congo harp music is recommended, as it is an important component of the rituals in Africa, and may assist with the brain defrag facilitated by iboga. Good Bwiti music playlists can be found on YouTube. Have water close to hand; food is not necessary at the peak of the trip, and you will likely not be interested in it until after the experience peak. Even if you are not thirsty, you should remember to keep hydrated.
A few things you should have on hand due to the dehydration and insomnia caused by iboga:
Ecklonia cava is an excellent brown algae that can be helpful for overall health, prevention of seizures, and promotion of healthy deep sleep (however it lowers blood pressure just like iboga does), so it's worth getting some beforehand, but lettuce (Romaine or wild) juice is the poor man's trick for sleep, anecdotally works for RLS, as well as for opiate-withdrawal, and also is very good for sleep in my experience. The most powerful herb for sleep (and nerve pain) is Corydalis yanhusuo. You can also buy the pure drug from yanhusuo, called tetrahydropalmatine (available on Amazon). I don't recommend the pure drug just because the therapeutic index is so narrow that it would be easy to overdose and die from it. But at the right dosage, it is very safe and healthy. You should start with a very low dose, especially if you have iboga in your system, to see how much will work for you, and just increase your dose very slowly. I once took not enough, and then I figured I would take double that amount since it did not work. Bad idea, I nearly died.
Have oral electrolyte drink on hand to restore electrolytes after vomiting or if you can't eat. If you do not stay well-hydrated, your heart is at greater risk of long QT syndrome (LQTS) which can be deadly with iboga. Many drugs also induce LQTS. (You probably won't have any of these problems if you take a low dose.) Mix 20-50g of ascorbic acid (Vit C) into your drink, since Vit C is the universal antidote, neuroprotector, and has great benefit for opioid withdrawals. Vitamin B complex should also be added, and 1g of calcium + 2g magnesium chloride + 5g L-carnitine + 5g L-citrulline or L-arginine is also cardio-protective.
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Flood dosing protocol:
Most people will need to eat a total of between 10 to 25 grams of quality inner root bark. There is no way of knowing beforehand how much you will need, so stock up on 50g if you can. As I explained already in the precautions section, the safest approach is to dose 1-2 grams each morning (max 1g per hour), as the effects build up (reverse tolerance).
Listen to your body, and most importantly, have a good trip-sitter:
" Have a sitter who has read this protocol and is willing to follow it.
a. The sitter must know CPR and first-aid.
b. The sitter must be able and willing to call for an ambulance in case of respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.
c. The sitter must check on the tripper regularly but unobtrusively during the session, most frequently during the first six hours.
d. The first 10-15 hours of the experience are the most critical."
I highly recommend trying to schedule at least a week or two without obligations to do this properly, rather than rush into it as I did once. An alternative approach if you are strapped for time is to combine a low dose of iboga (like 2g) with a medium dose of ayahuasca or changa + meditation. Careful tho, too much iboga or harmalas can be dangerous when combined. Meditation is always key for the deepest and most transformative experiences and insights.
The Bwiti are known to consume iboga over a few days, so this approach is not entirely a new idea. Taking a week or two is the safest and most comfortable approach if you have the time. But with this very slow approach you will not necessarily know when the peak will hit you, so just be ready as it might be any day. During this time it is really crucial to have a loved one/caregiver ensure that you are taking care of yourself or being cared for, able to use the bathroom, etc etc.
During a flood experience one won’t have much interest in conversing with anyone, as the plant spirit guides you internally, but in the unlikely event of someone needing assistance it would be good to have somebody trusted and understanding on hand such as a friend or family member. Some people may find it tricky getting to the toilet, although using iboga tea in place of chewed root bark might cause less difficulties moving around (ataxia) for some people.
The strongest effects of iboga can last up to 36 hours, and you’ll be lying down for this time, so best to be in or on a bed. Dizziness and nausea will strike if you move too suddenly, so move slowly when you need to. These feelings aren’t an issue when lying down, although some people feel like they are rapidly rotating on a merry-go-round while lying down. Don't be surprised if you hear buzzing or other auditory phenomena, or if you are able to see with your eyes closed as if they were open, even in the dark.
Following the visionary period, there is a longer period of reflection and reintegration of lessons learned. The ibogaine is converted to noribogaine and as this builds up in one’s system it changes the experience, resulting in the prolonged afterglow, and very vivid tracers made by moving objects. One is in limbo between waking and sleeping. It can be good to have a few books on hand for the day after.
The experience finally ends when one can fall asleep, and the dreams are likely to be vivid and visionary. The brain is reset during this time and one should feel good on waking and will be able to move around without dizziness or nausea. A shower or bath is recommended on waking, and you’ll likely be hungry.
The Aftermath
Following the experience, the iboga is still working on you, it is highly lipophilic so hangs around in body tissues, gradually being released and converted into noribogaine by the liver. Ibogaine causes a long term increase in the expression of a protein called glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) a neuroprotective agent that also induces neuronal sprouting. This aspect of long term effects makes iboga unique. Thus taking most other drugs in the months after the experience will interfere with this process.
After the experience, healthy eating, regular exercise, exposure to sunlight and nature will all augment and work with the healing and help ground you. Some people can feel quite blank in the days following a flood, but this is normal, as behavior patterns and desires have been wiped clean, and this is temporary phase. It can take a few days to really soar after an iboga experience. Remember to use the herbs mentioned previously like lettuce juice to help with sleep.
Before you forget the details of your experience (although I never did), make sure to write them down in your journal. (It's also good to do this with dreams in general as soon as you wake up, to get the most therapeutic benefit from sleep.) From time to time you may want to go back and read the journal entry to see if you might learn something new from looking at it in a different light.
"The afterglow period is sometimes extended with small booster doses of a gram or two, usually taken about weekly, although some (especially addicts struggling to break their habit) use booster doses about daily for a period. The glow helps to keep in mind the lessons learned during the Iboga flood experience."
As already stated, if people are using iboga to treat addiction or change negative behavior patterns, it is very important to enact life change prior to the experience, as this will help you get more from the experience, and make it easier to keep on a new path following the session. Iboga is not a panacea or magic bullet, it can only show you the door, and it is up to you to walk through it.
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Further Questions?
I am happy to help address any questions you may have after reading this guide. You can email u-dont-exist@pm.me
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Why this guide?
This isn't the only Tabernanthe iboga tutorial you can find on the net, but the reason I compiled this is because most of the reading material you'll find elsewhere is focused on a dangerous old practice of "flood" or "mega" dosing the major alkaloid, ibogaine, in one day. This is no longer recommended by legitimate iboga clinics due to health safety concerns, and it is, thankfully, unnecessary, since iboga has reverse tolerance, unlike most drugs. (Note: Some people find that they do build up a tolerance to iboga, so the reverse tolerance does not apply to everyone.) Pure ibogaine also lacks the full spiritual effects of the bark with its various (~100) alkaloids.
I recommend people also check out the very helpful (tho sometimes bizarre and contradictory) info at myeboga.com and the r/Iboga subreddit. Especially this post on post-iboga integration steps, which is really in-depth. There is even a free hotline you can call to get advice about ibogaine (provided by a clinic in Spain: maderasagrada.org) although some of their advice seems incorrect to me.
The best ibogaine clinic that I know of is pangeabiomedics.com located in Mexico and vouched for by ICEERS.org. If you seek an underground provider within USA, contact Dimitri Mugianis for a referral. If you're seeking a multidimensional therapist to come and help you empty out your emotional basement, check out my good friend, Shaman J.
History
First, a little bit of history about the traditional usage (note, some of my info here is quoted in gray from another guide which has some bad info and some good info, thus I don't want people to just read that guide):
Iboga has a long history of use as a medicine and spiritual sacrament in central Africa. The legend goes that the forest people (Pygmies -- who are now endangered due to encroaching civilization, World Wildlife Fund murderers, war zones, & pollution, and whom I am working to support so their culture can survive) first discovered it through the observations of animals such as boar, porcupines and gorillas consuming the root. Then, a few hundred years ago, some Bantu tribes learned from the Pygmy iboga-based religion called Bwiti, and some of them added Christian trappings to it.
The West knows Iboga for the principal alkaloid in the bark, ibogaine, and its addiction interrupting effects. Iboga is not only effective at breaking addictions but also a powerful ally in offering "space" for breaking destructive habits and behavior patterns. Venturing on an Iboga journey is a personal and therapeutic experience, and it will tend to confront you with your past and elements of your shadow. For many, iboga takes the form of a teacher…it is direct yet not overbearing, both powerful and gentle, having a soft touch while being straight to the point.
While under the influence of iboga [at higher doses] the user views themselves in a detached state. One is able to view their life without the full emotional intensity and attachment such experiences may normally hold. This allows one to process things without being emotionally overwhelmed. Many even report viewing their life from the perspective of those they've affected rather than from their own perspective.
Iboga provides a full brain defrag, while providing one with a thorough detox at the same time. It is a multifaceted plant that is physically, mentally and spiritually cleansing and grounding. Many people view iboga as a profound way of pressing the reset button on life, and to provide a fresh start to enact change. After taking iboga it is easier to move in a different direction and gain new healing perspectives on life.
Another way iboga is used, and perhaps the best general use for it is to eat low doses or even brushing microdoses into the gums occasionally to help with depression or to see if it can help other health issues. I've experienced astounding brain defrags even with low doses!
--------------------------------------
How Effective is Iboga?
If your iboga dose is low enough to allow you to remain consciously aware and talkative, you can dramatically increase the therapeutic benefit of the drug by combining it with some type of therapy, such as Focusing Therapy (see Wikipedia entry), which can even be done with a friend after watching a few videos on the subject. An off-shoot of focusing therapy which you can do on your own is Kiloby Inquiries, before or after which you may be ready for nibbana & metta meditation.
Do not over-estimate the benefits of large doses of iboga for help with addictions. As the famous underground ibogaine provider, Dimitri Mougianis, mentions, in "Why Ibogaine is Not the Answer to the Opioid Crisis," there are much cheaper and safer ways to comfortably detox from drugs. Some of these include Corydalis yanhusuo (or even vaping the pure tetrahydropalmatine extracted from yanhusuo), harmalas (B. caapi vine extract, or syrian rue seeds), mega-dosing vitamin C (see this study, try 100g of vit C, ideally the liposomal form from Aurora, or else vit C powder in 3 liters of water with some stevia & take frequent small sips throughout the day to bowel tolerance, and look into high dose niacin). As Dimitri points out, iboga is not just an addiction interrupter, as some like to claim, for if it were, there are safer alternatives as mentioned. Nor is iboga just a spiritual experience, for if it were, ayahuasca would be a much safer route, not to mention metta meditation and meditation on Dependent Origination (the understanding that everything happens due to conditions). But iboga is a uniquely human type of spiritual psychotherapy, with benefits that can be felt for months.
Some people use iboga to heal from physical conditions like Lyme disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and other ailments that don't have easy cures. Anecdotes of miracle cures abound, but there is not much data on how common they are. I suspect it would help to have an advanced Pygmy shaman to guide in this case especially.
The types of people who are able to break addictions for good from an iboga "flood" are those who are already highly motivated to do so with a supportive environment. Others will relapse repeatedly, especially if their mindset or environment hasn't changed. On average the 12 month success rate for ibogaine clinics seems very low, but it's still probably a lot better than the suboxone or 12-step program success rates. Also, people who fail to stay clean after the first experience often will benefit from the second or the third done many months later, especially if they have identified the cause of their failure. With more extensive aftercare in a good rehab program, long-term success rate goes up to 90-95%, which is also achieved without any herbal or medical interventions, merely via a total change of lifestyle, such as is offered by recovery-focused farms which are common in Europe, but not so common in America due to a greater focus on profits. One such place in USA is the Denver Rescue Mission's Harvest Farm.
Another option to think about after you are off the drugs to prevent relapse is to schedule a multidimensional therapy session with "Shaman J". A session can be helpful before you get off the drugs but the drugs tend to block some of the benefits of therapy sessions.
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Note that there are some different types of iboga trees: The Cameroonian trees are said to be less potent than the Gabonese ones due to poorer soil on average, but the main determiner of potency is age of the tree (older = stronger). Also important is the sex of the tree. Male iboga bark has more ibogaine compared to other alkaloids, and thus is best for addiction issues, but also more cardiotoxic. Female trees are better for spiritual purposes and for microdosing, and the Pygmies normally use the female trees in their ceremonies, since they are not battling drug addictions. There is also a cousin of iboga called Tabernanthe elliptica, which people tell me leans more toward the female iboga effects, but when Ibtried it, it actually felt nothing like iboga and more like Voacanga africana, stimulating but not therapeutic.
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How Dangerous Is Iboga for non-pregnant, mentally stable, physically healthy people?
One of the most obvious dangers of using iboga at any dosage level is that it resets tolerance to a variety of other drugs, so if you go back to using your drug of choice at your old dose, you could easily overdose. Assume you have no tolerance if you fail to stay away from your drug of choice at some point, and work your way up slowly. Patience pays. Also keep in mind that by using *any* other drugs within a month of an iboga flood dose, you are reducing the effectiveness of the noribogaine and the integration period, and there could be dangerous interactions, so it is highly inadvisable, although some people have used ayahuasca, kambo, and cannabis to good effect.
What Medical Doctors Say About Iboga Safety:
If you look at the intro & conclusion to this pubmed study, you will note that not only has Iboga and ibogaine killed some people, but there is no totally safe way of taking a large (aka flood) dose of this substance without close medical supervision to monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and electrolytes. And even with such medical supervision, deaths do occur. Doses cannot be properly estimated based on body weight, either, since people vary considerably in their ability to absorb and metabolize the alkaloids (like ibogaine) in iboga. Do not think that you can just go to your primary doc and get a clean bill of health which indicates you can take a large dose of iboga without risk, although it can be reassuring to have an ECG/EKG done, a stress test, a liver function panel, a CYP450 genotype test, a thyroid function panel, a complete metabolic panel, and a serum magnesium level test.
What Traditional Practitioners Say About Iboga Safety:
My friend Andegue, whose grandmother is a Pygmy iboga shaman, says nobody ever died in an iboga ceremony that he knows of. The legitimate iboga shaman has the gift to enter into the spirit realm and guide the participant safely.
So why does iboga seem so dangerous for First-Worlders? A combination of a number of factors: First, the average chance of dying at an iboga clinic treatment is less than 1/400 for a drug addict. Much of the time it was not even proven to be caused by iboga, and was likely caused by other drugs people snuck in or heart conditions they didn't mention. Chances of dying from overdose while on conventional methadone treatment may actually be slightly higher, according to myeboga.com. Secondly, first-worlders tend to be more full of environmental toxins than Africans, and as iboga is a master cleanser, one could potentially die from too rapid of a detox reaction (herxheimer effect). And finally, many first-worlders would already be dead if not for their medication regimens or medical interventions, so the gene pool is not as robust as it is in third-world countries.
Some branches of Bwiti, on the other hand, are infamous for their "breaking open the head" initiation ceremonies using "heroic" large doses (say, 2-3x more than a "flood" dose used by Westerners). The purpose of this initiation is for people to visit the spirit world (while unconscious for days) and commune with the ancestors and/or God while seeking guidance for their lives. Some children die during the initiation ceremonies due to the large doses used, but this is justified by the belief that such children had "evil souls" (a.k.a. born psychopaths most likely), which is a non-falsifiable hypothesis. Iboga is also used traditionally at lower doses, to facilitate a communal loving vibe during Bwiti church services.
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Low-dose iboga is definitely safe for healthy, mentally stable, non-pregnant people who are not taking other drugs or herbs that interact. By low dose iboga I am speaking of between 1 and 2 grams of iboga root bark eaten in the morning (but only about half the population is sensitive enough to feel that the first morning). Microdoses are even safer (even 50mg of root bark brushed into the gums for a few mornings can produce a peaceful uplifting feeling all day). Do not operate heavy machinery when you are feeling any effects of iboga, as it can slow reaction time.
Be careful even with low doses, as they build up in your system. As a rule of thumb, one should limit iboga ingestion to less than 40 grams of bark per 6 months to avoid things like prolonged psychosis, but the limit may be even less for some people, so be watchful of how you are reacting and have friends also monitor you for abnormal behaviors. I have personally spoken to people who chewed iboga as a daily supplement in Cameroon, who unknowingly(?) suffered from multiple personality disorder and other psychiatric conditions that are clearly noticeable when speaking with them, although other Africans seem to have no problem taking lots of iboga on a regular basis. Even with just one flood dose of iboga, many people with latent mental instability end up in a hypomanic state which is very difficult to deal with, which is why it is best to be in a clinical or ceremonial environment where you can be properly cared for, not just dosed up and dumped back home a day later.
Interaction Cautions
Drugs and herbs (together referred to as meds) in general should be assumed to be dangerous with iboga (and even within days or weeks of iboga depending on the drug half-lives and fat sequestration), but especially psych meds (which can cause mental instability for up to a year post-discontinuation), any meds that prolong the cardiac QT interval (there is not enough research to know fully, but here is a non-exhaustive list--even anxiety can prolong the QT interval), blood pressure or heart meds, corticosteroids, and anything that inhibits hepatic metabolism via cytochrome P450-2d6, like cannabis, grapefruit and turmeric).
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Should you go to an iboga clinic if planning on a flood dose?
Iboga clinics of various degrees of reputability exist in a number of countries where the bark is legal. These clinics are mainly set up to help break addictions. They are unfortunately mostly set up based on the old, widespread, highly dangerous, but profitable, single day flood dose protocol, which necessitates a medical team, and which is also based on the false notion that a dose can be calculated based upon body weight (there is no way to pre-determine the correct dose, so they use an average guesstimate).
Especially since large doses of iboga can cause hypomania for many people, having the support of a clinic or, ideally, a legit iboga shaman, is optimal if you can find one that will agree to spread the dose over multiple days. Prices range quite a bit, and can be hard for most people to afford. There are some itinerant providers who travel to help people dose iboga for free or by donation, but in this case there is even more risk of dealing with someone that is not adequately trained on safety, or who may even be trying to take advantage of people sexually or in other ways. Always seek out honest reviews first. Here is a guide to selecting a trustworthy clinic, although that guide does not explain the problem of single-day dosing. The one clinic I can sort of vouch for is the one that is vouched for by the non-profit ICEERS.org: PangeaBiomedics.com
Avoid any so-called Iboga Retreat Centers which are branches of the sociopath known as Patrick Moughenda (which isn't his real name, he is not even really African) and his Iboga House (of Horrors). I know two people who went to Moughenda's retreats and both of them got the impression he's some kind of childish scammer.
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Now that we have the precautions covered, let's look at the individual addiction interruption use-cases for specific drug problems:
Iboga is very helpful for opioid addictions, but make sure to first switch to shorter-acting opioids that are less addictive, like Corydalis yanhusuo, wild lettuce, Akuamma seeds, stem & vein kratom, Greater Celandine, California Poppy, and Nigella sativa oil (aka Black Seed Oil--I like the FreshField brand on Amazon). Slowly taper down your short-acting opioid dose to the lowest possible level before taking iboga for maximum effectiveness and minimum suffering. It requires up to 90 days of being off a long-acting opioid drug for iboga to be really helpful (Fentanyl is short-acting technically but in fact long-acting due to storage in your fat), and you should also quit opioids entirely and begin to go into withdrawal prior to your iboga dosing for max benefit. With the use of the supplements mentioned above, you can probably even get off opioids fairly painlessly without iboga, although the iboga can help with the psychological aspect of addiction still. Please note that demerol and tramadol are dangerous with iboga, so you should switch to a short-acting opioid a few weeks before iboga.
Iboga is also very helpful for nicotine, cocaine, and amphetamine addictions, but keep in mind it does not help with physical withdrawal from benzodiazepines, GHB, barbiturates, hypnotics, or alcohol. It has limited benefit for cannabis addiction, but it can easily reset cannabis tolerance.
Some other beneficial supplements to help withdrawal symptoms for all of these drugs and general health include: Ecklonia cava (the king of brown algaes, but note that it lowers blood pressure, as does iboga), CBD (note that over 200mg CBD inhibits metabolism of iboga), niacin (vit b3), N-Acetylcysteine, and Dimethylsulfoxide), grass juice (requires a grass juicer, I find a mix of young wild grasses works better than indoor wheat grass--listen to your body, because some European grasses are mildly toxic), Agmatine, Corydalis yanhusuo, and hourly Vitamin C to bowel tolerance (liposomal is best if you can afford it, Aurora brand is best value).
As mentioned prior, it's absolutely crucial to have a good meditation routine, and hopefully supportive friend(s)/environment, though in most cases if you had those in place you wouldn't need iboga's help in getting off drugs.
Metta (loving kindness) meditation, in particular, is the quickest and most effective treatment I've found for depression. You'll find a lot of good videos on YouTube to guide you in that (search Ajahn Brahm), but the key is learning to love yourself, which begins with sending love to your hurt inner child. You can't really send love to others until you master loving yourself.
Spiritual purpose in your life is the ultimate bedrock required to not fall into short-sighted traps like drug addiction. The spiritual purpose I have found for my life is to end the cycle of birth and death by realizing everything happens naturally due to conditions. More info on that at already-perfect.blogspot.com
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PREPARATION for a slow, safer, ramped up flood dosing:
Write down your questions to ask the Iboga spirit. Write down want you want to meditate on during the experience, and what you need to face and overcome to make it worthwhile.
Avoid all substances including caffeine for 24 hours prior to day 1 of dosing. Psych drugs should be avoided for 2-8 weeks (ideally 1 year) prior depending on the half-life of the drug and its fat sequestration. It is good to eat lightly on the day of, and fast for 8 hours prior to the flood experience. Once you start consuming iboga you will soon lose your hunger or interest in food. One should drink water throughout the day and fresh vegetable juice. A few hours prior to the experience stop drinking. You will be well hydrated now but excess water in the stomach when dosing impedes absorption of the iboga alkaloids.
Prepare your space so it is clean and comfortable. A vomit bucket nearby and a helper to get to the bathroom are essential, as you'll be mostly incapacitated. Light and loud sounds will be intrusive while in an iboga trance. Have a bucket within arm’s reach from the bed as a purge is possible. The experience is not remotely sociable, and is deeply personal and internal, with the visions taking place behind closed eyelids, with the iboga inducing a waking dream state. It is good to have a room you can make dark even during daytime, and/or have a sleep mask for your eyes. With this slower method one cannot be sure exactly at what point the visions will start, but just be prepared.
Candle light is soothing. Some people prefer silence, but recordings of Bwiti m’congo harp music is recommended, as it is an important component of the rituals in Africa, and may assist with the brain defrag facilitated by iboga. Good Bwiti music playlists can be found on YouTube. Have water close to hand; food is not necessary at the peak of the trip, and you will likely not be interested in it until after the experience peak. Even if you are not thirsty, you should remember to keep hydrated.
A few things you should have on hand due to the dehydration and insomnia caused by iboga:
Ecklonia cava is an excellent brown algae that can be helpful for overall health, prevention of seizures, and promotion of healthy deep sleep (however it lowers blood pressure just like iboga does), so it's worth getting some beforehand, but lettuce (Romaine or wild) juice is the poor man's trick for sleep, anecdotally works for RLS, as well as for opiate-withdrawal, and also is very good for sleep in my experience. The most powerful herb for sleep (and nerve pain) is Corydalis yanhusuo. You can also buy the pure drug from yanhusuo, called tetrahydropalmatine (available on Amazon). I don't recommend the pure drug just because the therapeutic index is so narrow that it would be easy to overdose and die from it. But at the right dosage, it is very safe and healthy. You should start with a very low dose, especially if you have iboga in your system, to see how much will work for you, and just increase your dose very slowly. I once took not enough, and then I figured I would take double that amount since it did not work. Bad idea, I nearly died.
Have oral electrolyte drink on hand to restore electrolytes after vomiting or if you can't eat. If you do not stay well-hydrated, your heart is at greater risk of long QT syndrome (LQTS) which can be deadly with iboga. Many drugs also induce LQTS. (You probably won't have any of these problems if you take a low dose.) Mix 20-50g of ascorbic acid (Vit C) into your drink, since Vit C is the universal antidote, neuroprotector, and has great benefit for opioid withdrawals. Vitamin B complex should also be added, and 1g of calcium + 2g magnesium chloride + 5g L-carnitine + 5g L-citrulline or L-arginine is also cardio-protective.
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Flood dosing protocol:
Most people will need to eat a total of between 10 to 25 grams of quality inner root bark. There is no way of knowing beforehand how much you will need, so stock up on 50g if you can. As I explained already in the precautions section, the safest approach is to dose 1-2 grams each morning (max 1g per hour), as the effects build up (reverse tolerance).
Listen to your body, and most importantly, have a good trip-sitter:
" Have a sitter who has read this protocol and is willing to follow it.
a. The sitter must know CPR and first-aid.
b. The sitter must be able and willing to call for an ambulance in case of respiratory failure or cardiac arrest.
c. The sitter must check on the tripper regularly but unobtrusively during the session, most frequently during the first six hours.
d. The first 10-15 hours of the experience are the most critical."
I highly recommend trying to schedule at least a week or two without obligations to do this properly, rather than rush into it as I did once. An alternative approach if you are strapped for time is to combine a low dose of iboga (like 2g) with a medium dose of ayahuasca or changa + meditation. Careful tho, too much iboga or harmalas can be dangerous when combined. Meditation is always key for the deepest and most transformative experiences and insights.
The Bwiti are known to consume iboga over a few days, so this approach is not entirely a new idea. Taking a week or two is the safest and most comfortable approach if you have the time. But with this very slow approach you will not necessarily know when the peak will hit you, so just be ready as it might be any day. During this time it is really crucial to have a loved one/caregiver ensure that you are taking care of yourself or being cared for, able to use the bathroom, etc etc.
During a flood experience one won’t have much interest in conversing with anyone, as the plant spirit guides you internally, but in the unlikely event of someone needing assistance it would be good to have somebody trusted and understanding on hand such as a friend or family member. Some people may find it tricky getting to the toilet, although using iboga tea in place of chewed root bark might cause less difficulties moving around (ataxia) for some people.
The strongest effects of iboga can last up to 36 hours, and you’ll be lying down for this time, so best to be in or on a bed. Dizziness and nausea will strike if you move too suddenly, so move slowly when you need to. These feelings aren’t an issue when lying down, although some people feel like they are rapidly rotating on a merry-go-round while lying down. Don't be surprised if you hear buzzing or other auditory phenomena, or if you are able to see with your eyes closed as if they were open, even in the dark.
Following the visionary period, there is a longer period of reflection and reintegration of lessons learned. The ibogaine is converted to noribogaine and as this builds up in one’s system it changes the experience, resulting in the prolonged afterglow, and very vivid tracers made by moving objects. One is in limbo between waking and sleeping. It can be good to have a few books on hand for the day after.
The experience finally ends when one can fall asleep, and the dreams are likely to be vivid and visionary. The brain is reset during this time and one should feel good on waking and will be able to move around without dizziness or nausea. A shower or bath is recommended on waking, and you’ll likely be hungry.
The Aftermath
Following the experience, the iboga is still working on you, it is highly lipophilic so hangs around in body tissues, gradually being released and converted into noribogaine by the liver. Ibogaine causes a long term increase in the expression of a protein called glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) a neuroprotective agent that also induces neuronal sprouting. This aspect of long term effects makes iboga unique. Thus taking most other drugs in the months after the experience will interfere with this process.
After the experience, healthy eating, regular exercise, exposure to sunlight and nature will all augment and work with the healing and help ground you. Some people can feel quite blank in the days following a flood, but this is normal, as behavior patterns and desires have been wiped clean, and this is temporary phase. It can take a few days to really soar after an iboga experience. Remember to use the herbs mentioned previously like lettuce juice to help with sleep.
Before you forget the details of your experience (although I never did), make sure to write them down in your journal. (It's also good to do this with dreams in general as soon as you wake up, to get the most therapeutic benefit from sleep.) From time to time you may want to go back and read the journal entry to see if you might learn something new from looking at it in a different light.
"The afterglow period is sometimes extended with small booster doses of a gram or two, usually taken about weekly, although some (especially addicts struggling to break their habit) use booster doses about daily for a period. The glow helps to keep in mind the lessons learned during the Iboga flood experience."
As already stated, if people are using iboga to treat addiction or change negative behavior patterns, it is very important to enact life change prior to the experience, as this will help you get more from the experience, and make it easier to keep on a new path following the session. Iboga is not a panacea or magic bullet, it can only show you the door, and it is up to you to walk through it.
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Further Questions?
I am happy to help address any questions you may have after reading this guide. You can email u-dont-exist@pm.me
