Has anyone ever heard of ' Ibogaine'; a substance supposibly......?

Question

...for Addiction.all types of addiction in general, but is illegal here in the States.

Answer 1

well i heard larger doses are addictive...

Answer 2

Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid, a long-acting hallucinogen which has gained attention due to its application in the treatment of opioid addiction and similar addiction syndromes. It occurs naturally in a number of dogbane plants, among them above all in Tabernanthe iboga.

At low doses, ibogaine has a mild stimulant effect. At higher doses, temporary effects include hallucination and ataxia. The most studied long-term therapeutic effect is that ibogaine seems to catalyze partial or complete interruption of addiction to opioids. An integral effect is the alleviation of symptoms of opioid withdrawal. Research also suggests that ibogaine may be useful in treating dependence to other substances such as alcohol, methamphetamine, and nicotine, and may affect compulsive behavioral patterns not involving substance abuse or chemical dependence. Ibogaine has been used as an adjunct to psychotherapy by Claudio Naranjo some of whose work was published in The Healing Journey.

Addiction Interruption
Proponents of ibogaine treatment for drug addiction have established formal and informal clinics or self-help groups in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Brazil, South Africa, the United Kingdom and New Zealand where ibogaine is administered as an experimental drug. Although the full nature of Ibogaine is still emerging, it appears that the most effective treatment paradigm involves visionary doses of ibogaine of 10 to 20 mg/kg, producing an interruption of opiate withdrawal and craving. Many users of ibogaine report experiencing visual phenomena during a waking dream state, such as instructive replays of life events that led to their addiction, while others report therapeutic shamanic visions that help them conquer the fears and negative emotions that might drive their addiction. It is proposed that intensive counseling and therapy during the interruption period following treatment is of significant value. Some patients require a second or third treatment session with ibogaine over the course of the next 12 to 18 months as it will provide a greater efficacy in extinguishing the opiate addiction or other drug dependence syndrome. A minority of patients relapse completely into opiate addiction within days or weeks. A comprehensive article (Lotsof 1995) on the subject of ibogaine therapy, detailing the procedure, effects and aftereffects is found in, "Ibogaine in the Treatment of Chemical Dependence Disorders: Clinical Perspectives".[20]


[edit] Chronic pain management
In 1957, Jurg Schneider, a pharmacologist at CIBA, found that ibogaine potentiates morphine analgesia [21]. Further research was abandoned and no additional data was ever published by Ciba researchers on ibogaine/opioid interactions. Almost 50 years later Patrick Kroupa and Hattie Wells released the first treatment protocol for concomitant administration of ibogaine with opioids in human subjects indicating ibogaine reduced tolerance to opioid drugs[22]. Kroupa, et al., published their research in the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Journal demonstrating that administration of low "maintenance" doses of ibogaine HCl with opioids decreases tolerance.


[edit] Degenerative neural diseases
Substances that promote the expression of GDNF, such as ibogaine, are known to provide benefit in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease. Other ligands in the GDNF family may hold promise for treating related neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's disease.

In 1966 ibogaine was classified as a Schedule I Controlled Substance in the United States, along with other psychedelics such as LSD and mescaline. Since that time, several other countries, including Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Switzerland, have also banned the sale and possession of ibogaine.

In early 2006, the creation of a non-profit foundation addressing the issue of providing ibogaine for the purpose addiction interruption within establishment drug treatment care was formed in Sweden.