Hello Steemians
Since this is the first edition of a segment I'm calling PharmaCon i’ll give you guys a heads up on what it will be about. Basically if it has anything to do with Drugs, Addiction, Pharmaceuticals, or sketchy things Big Pharma does it will most likely be in this segment. In this first edition I'm going to talk about a drug called Ibogaine that has some pretty spectacular Anti-Addictive properties.
What is ibogaine?
ibogaine is a naturally occurring psychoactive substance that is extracted from the root bark of the Tabernanthe iboga tree native to Africa. This chemical has psychedelic properties and is used by Bwiti tribesmen as a rite of passage similar to the Apache vision quest. The unusual thing about this drug is one of its side effects.
A Heroin addict by the name of Howard Lotsof discovered the anti-addictive effects of ibogaine by accident when he was experimenting with psychedellics. He discovered that after he consumed ibogaine and the psychedellic effects wore off the withdrawal effects from his heroin addiction never came.
He would later go on to patent its use for drug addiction however new drug laws in the 70s made Ibogaine illegal. Thats why I had to go to Canada to get my Treatment.
How does ibogaine work?
Scientists still don't fully understand how it works but what they do know is that it somehow resets a persons brain chemicals back to normal.
See when a person is constantly consuming opiate drugs their serotonin levels are really high. In order to protect itself the brain will stop producing and transporting serotonin. When a person immediately stops drug use they get withdrawal symptoms since these brain chemicals are no longer being supplied by the brain. This is what causes the pain, agony and drug cravings that come with drug withdrawal.
Studies on Ibogaine have shown that it increases the amount of serotonin the brain releases. This is responsible for the increased feelings of wellbeing and the absence of drug cravings.
Ibogaine also has a psychedelic aspect to its healing powers. A lot of times Psychedellic experiences produce states of introspection which is where a lot of the emotional healing comes from. People take a look at their lives and realize the things they are doing aren’t healthy and need to change.
Dangers Of Ibogaine
Ibogaine can be a wonderful drug for addiction treatment but there are some drawbacks. Ibogaine Causes Ataxia which is a lack of voluntary coordination of the muscles. When i had treatment it was very hard to stand so i had to be in bed most of the time. So you can see it’s not a drug one should do when they are driving a car or operating heavy machinery.
Aside from the loss of motor skills Ibogaine has some Cardio Toxic effects. To put really scientific words into a basic explanation Ibogaine makes your heart beat intervals more prolonged leading to arrhythmias and possible cardiac arrests.
People undergoing treatment now a days usually have to get an EKG beforehand to check if their heart is healthy enough for treatment. Also patients must usually receive a SMA-20 and CBC Blood test.
From 1990 to 2008 19 people have died from taking Ibogaine so its safety is still a big topic of concern.
Treatment Process
Phase 1: onset, 30 min-2 hrs
After ingesting ibogaine opiate addicts will start to feel the relief from withdrawal symptoms. Most people will have auditory hallucinations (buzzing or ringing). By the end of the onset people should expect to have mostly all of the motor functions incapacitated. From this point the patient should be laying down in bed. If he or she needs to go to the bathroom someone should help them since it will be very hard for them to get there on their own.
Phase 2 Visionary Dreams 5-8 hrs
At this point the patient is fully in the psychedelic experience of ibogaine. Some people will have visions and some won’t. When i had my experience all i saw was lots of colors and some geometrical shapes.
Phase 3 Introspection 6-18 hrs
In this stage patients will usually have a hard time sleeping. This is the point where most people will be processing their experience and confront a multitude of personal issues that need to be addressed. This is where a lot of the emotional healing happens.
Gray day
Some addicts will go through what they call a gray day but luckily I didn't end up going through that experience. Basically it is a day of psychological and emotional negativity. People will have bad body feelings some guilt and possibly depression.
The Drug to End All Drugs?
The relapse rates for Drug addicts is around 60 percent. Of course it depends on what drug is being used but for the most part 2 thirds of addicts will relapse.
One study found that on a 30 day time period patients being treated with ibogaine had a 70 percent chance of remaining drug free. If those patients attended an aftercare program or psycho therapy 90% of them Stayed clean. On a one year time frame those people who did not attend an aftercare program had a 40% chance of staying clean and those who did attend had a 70% chance.
i believe ibogaine can’t cure addiction by itself it needs to be paired with some kind of counseling. It also works a lot better if people begin to re-engage with society so groups like NA can be a big help. The patient should also work on his physical and psychological health since these are some of the major causes of addiction.
The Rat Park experiment found that if rats have all the things they need physically(Food, Water, Fresh Air, Place to Play) and Emotionally (Friends and Sexual Partners) they did not like the water that was mixed with Cocaine or Heroin. However If that rat was trapped in a cage by itself with no food it would usually always choose the cocaine water. Our Society needs to stop putting “Cages” on these People and re-engage them with society. The Portuguese are having great success with this strategy and I believe its something we need to change.