Ibogaine iboga

Buy Ibogaine iboga online

Introduction

Ibogaine is a psychoactive alkaloid with hallucinogenic properties present in the root bark of Tabernanthe iboga, a tropical plant traditionally used in rites of passage and ethnomedicine in African countries such as Congo and Gabon. Its anti-addictive properties were discovered serendipitously in the sixties by Howard Lotsof, who at that time was a heroin user and noticed that after using ibogaine his craving for heroin was significantly reduced. Since then, thousands of people have been treated with ibogaine to address drug dependence and/or for personal growth2.

Pre-clinical research has demonstrated the anti-addictive properties of ibogaine in different animal species with reductions in self-administered morphine, cocaine, (meth)-amphetamines, alcohol and nicotine3. Ibogaine was also found to reduce or eliminate drug craving and withdrawal in humans in several case series and in clinical settings, but randomized trials are lacking4-7.

Indeed, the number of ibogaine clinics and ibogaine treatment providers has been increasing during the last few years. In 2008 it was estimated that 3,414 people used ibogaine, approximately a fourfold increase relative to the estimation of 857 from five years before8. From those 3,414 subjects, 68% used ibogaine for the treatment of drug addiction. In New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, ibogaine can be prescribed for the treatment of drug addiction (the legal status of ibogaine around the world can be found at: https://www.ibogainealliance.org/ibogaine/law/). Most of the iboga that is used in ibogaine clinics comes from Gabon, where unlicensed iboga exportation is forbidden. The lack of a regulated market results in a lack of quality control and patients may therefore be consuming ibogaine with unknown concentrations of active ingredients.

While ibogaine clinics are spreading around the world, accidents and fatalities have been increasing. By 2015 22 ibogaine-related deaths were reported9,10. Although ibogaine is considered a safe treatment when conducted under medical supervision11, many ibogaine providers offer ibogaine treatments outside of a medically controlled setting (for example, in hotel rooms). Furthermore, the purity of the ibogaine or iboga extracts used by treatment providers or self-administered by patients is frequently unknown, and. many clinics and private providers buy iboga/ibogaine from web-based suppliers without any quality control. This can increase the risks of adverse reactions and/or fatalities.

In one of the fatalities, the hypotensional substance reserpine12 was found in the blood of a man who died after ingesting ibogaine in Slovenia in 201113. Reserpine might potentiate the hypotensional effects of ibogaine, increasing the risks of cardiovascular toxicity. Furthermore, both reserpine and ibogaine are metabolized by CYP-2D614 and this specific drug interaction could increase the blood levels of ibogaine, increasing the risk of overdose. This is especially relevant when most of the time the concentration of iboga alkaloids in ibogaine samples is unknown. Because the ibogaine sample involved in the fatality was not analysed, it is unknown if it contained reserpine or if the person used any other herbal or pharmaceutical product containing it. In the same year, reserpine was found in ibogaine samples analysed in Slovenia12. Forensic analyses after ibogaine fatalities regularly show the presence of other drugs in the body15.

Therefore, we performed this study to gain more insight into the purity and content of iboga samples available on the market, and to evaluate the claims made by the vendors about the characteristics of their products.

Background

Therapeutic properties of ibogaine in the treatment of addiction are attracting both clinicians and patients to its use. Since ibogaine is not an authorized medicine, the quality of these products is not always known, increasing the probability of adverse reactions.