There has been an increase in the overdose rates related to opioids in the United States; with heroin overdose rates increasing from 5,000 in 2010 to 15,000 in 2016. Other dangerous opioids, such as Fentanyl which caused 20,000 overdoses in 2016, are also on the rise.
What are opioids?
Opioids are simply defined as a type of narcotic pain medication. They can help relieve pain in those who cannot control it in other ways. The majority of pain management medication on the market today is opiate based.
How do opioids work?
Opioids work by binding themselves to the opioid receptors in the brain, spinal cord, and other areas of the body. They reduce the “pain message” of the body and help those suffering to cope.
Opioids are used to treat pains related to major injuries or to treat chronic pain when used in moderate levels. Opioids are not usually the first drug taken, however, often used when the patient’s body is not responding well to other pain medications, these drugs become the go to treatment option.
These drugs are extremely addictive. Many traditional methods of treatment are offered in the USA, but often they only help a certain type of person. However, there is an alternative to treating heroin and opioid addiction aside from traditional methods. This is done with a treatment that utilizes a powerful plant medicine called Ibogaine.
What is Iogaine?
Ibogaine is an underground treatment for heroin/opioid addiction. Many are not aware of this drug and the positive benefits for treating addiction.
Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid that is extracted from the Tabernatnthe Iboga root, native to Africa. This plant has been used for centuries by the West African people of the Bwiti religion. Originally, the raw Iboga bark was brewed into a tea and used in different healings, passage ceremonies, and other shamanic rituals.
In the 1960’s, Iboga, in an extracted form of Ibogaine, was found to be a very effective way of treating heroin and opioid Addiction. It was in the 1960s when Howard Lotsof, then a young man experiencing and exploring various psychedelics, wanted to find something new to experience.
Being a major heroin addict at the time, Lotsof was given Ibogaine by a chemist; after an intense psychedelic experience, Lotsof realized that he no longer had withdrawal symptoms from his heroin addiction. Ibogaine happened to be an extremely effective way of reducing or eliminating withdrawal symptoms in just one dose.
Lotsof decided to test whether or not Ibogaine was actually a way of removing heroin withdrawal symptoms, and he did it by giving Ibogaine to some of his friends that were heroin addicts. The results, to his surprise, were the same. At least on the surface, Ibogaine reduced or eliminated the heroin addiction from the brain.
After his experiments, he wanted to further study the power of Ibogaine. He opened many centers outside of the United States in order to increase the popularity of the treatment and help addicts recover with this remarkable medicine.
Much like how opioids bind to the opiate receptors in the brain, Ibogaine therapy also works by binding to the same receptors. This helps reset the pathways to the brain that are responsible for feeling pleasure.
These pathways in the brain undergo a massive change as foreign chemicals, in this case from the heroin or opiates, are pumped into the brain.
Ibogaine works by resupplying and rejuvenating neurons back to their pre-addicted state. It essentially helps the brain’s natural neural systems heal and function properly again.
For a brain that is addicted to opioids, there is a feeling of renewal and there is an elimination of withdrawal symptoms as well. These results can occur in as little as a few hours after Ibogaine’s use. However, in most cases, the effects are apparent a few days after the Ibogaine use, since the brain has to recover from the Ibogaine treatment itself which can be strenuous.
It is to be noted that Ibogaine is a psychoactive drug; it’s a powerful hallucinogen, that can create an intense experience lasting up to 12 hours.
Ibogaine only for opioid addiction?
No, ibogaine is not only effective for opiate and heroin addicts, but the healing properties of this substance go far beyond that. Ibogaine has proven to have a positive effect on those that suffering from alcoholism, methamphetamine addiction, cocaine and crack addictions, PTSD, anxiety, and even depression.
Ibogaine treatment and the side effects – is it safe?
Even though Ibogaine has a long list of benefits, which some would say outweigh the cons, there are some risks involved with Ibogaine treatment for addiction.
First of all, it is NOT risk-free.
Between 1990 and 2008, there were 19 deaths associated with the use of Ibogaine. These deaths were often the result of poor health before taking Ibogaine, or mixing Ibogaine with other illicit drugs in a non-medical environment.
Fortunately, strong prescreening techniques were put into place as a result of these unfortunate circumstances and treatment with Ibogaine became safer.
People with medical conditions such as underlying severe heart conditions, liver problems, and other major health problems, will not qualify for Ibogaine treatment.
Ibogaine should not be used without the supervision of a medical practitioner and only in a designated clinical setting. Even in a medical setting there are still risks associated with Ibogaine, but with proper testing and prescreening these risks can be significantly reduced.
Is Ibogaine the ultimate cure for heroin addiction?
With the opioid crisis in the United States growing into an even bigger problem, Ibogaine is just one solution that can be helpful to many of those suffering. Considering the fact that traditional forms of drug rehabilitation have shown a very little rate of success, individuals don’t always have other options to go to.
Ibogaine is to be used alongside a strong aftercare plan to increase the chances of success.
No treatment is ultimately right for everyone; some may find success in traditional drug rehabilitation while some may find success with the use of Ibogaine.
But, it is worth considering that Ibogaine is a very powerful, clinically tried and tested, drug which has shown positive results for many addicts, and it can be a very powerful alternative to traditional rehab.
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