I'm 24 had been using heroin for 2years pretty much everyday since starting. My partner and I both use and have great jobs/businesses to support our $1000 a day habit, we looked into trying ibogaine to get clean.
It's been a week since our treatment and we have been clean since Monday last week. We had blood tests and an EKG prior to treatment. His results were fine, my EKG was not normal but said I had a possible lateral infraction and the GP also found that I had a flow murmur. The ibogaine practioner had the results checked by another doctor who he works with and decided that the treatment would still be ok for me. There are probably a number of factors considered including age, overall health and lifestyle that would have been evaluated prior to being given the ok, but it is possible to do the treatment with some minor heart issues.
You could suggest that your friend get an EKG to test his heart and even a echocardiograph to investigate any problems further. Some ibogaine practitioners may even have an EKG machine they can use to monitor your friend throughout the treatment, and if any issues are detected then medical assistance can be sought quickly.
The treatment does have some impact of your heart during administration of ibogaine and can cause your heart to both race and slow a different times.
I did find it hard to breathe on occasions and felt some strain on my heart but no more than if I'd done a workout or went for a run.
Ibogaine certainly helps with the withdrawal, but it's not a 100% get out of jail free card. The following days after treatment are hard and you definitely need someone with you for at least a week afterwards to both help you with getting around, food and for support. I've been pretty lucky in that I've never really had to hang out for longer than a few hours and don't know what it really means to be in total opiate withdrawal or know how bad withdrawal is at its peak, but my partner does and he said ibogain gives you only about 10-20% of what full detox symptoms are like, and certainly allows you to detox fast with the minimum possible detox symptoms. But for me it was hard. After the 'trip' I was very tired, and too 'sensitive' to really do anything for a few days, you definitely shouldn't drive or be out and about on your own, it was hard I wasn't able to really get out of bed till day 3, and even then I was pretty unstable on my feet. You definitely still go through some withdrawal, just the irits, being uncomfortable, tired and cold, there were no cold sweats, gaggy/nausea vommiting etc, I did throw up during the treatment but it was more like a purge of the toxins and crap in my body, my partner also threw up and had the runs but this settled down after the 2nd or 3rd day and again not the same vommiting/nausea/runs that you would expect with full withdrawal. The other side is that you are so tired but the ibogaine is a stimulant so I didn't sleep for about 4/5 days, time goes soo slow on ibogaine an hour feels like 4hours, which makes the lack of sleep and inability to sleep more frustrating. Because I was so tired and time was going so slow you get very board but are too tired to do anything, even watching a movie was an effort on day 4, I was also quite sensitive to violence and harsh themes in the movie; the need and want to feel normal and get some sleep was also a hard urge to overcome as it made me want to use again, the want and desire to use was definitely still present and strong for the first week, but as you start feeling better and getting some sleep the urge tends to start subsiding. This is why I think it's important to have someone or a minder around 24/7 so that you don't and can't go and use again. My partner did the treatment twice in 2 weeks, he used on day 4 of the first treatment and went back to using up to 1/2gr a day by the third day of using. He was also on methadone -120mg a day and using up to 1.5grams heroin as well, so he was still quite uncomfortable on day 4 after treatment. The second round of ibogaine was easier than the first and he recovered a lot quicker.
I think the ibogaine defiantly helps and is a great rapid detox solution, but it's still hard work and requires a fair amount of will power and discipline to overcome the addiction. I still want to use right now and there is a great sense of desire to do it again, but ibogaine has given me the oppurtunity to step off the opiate dependancy boat and start living again, while my body is no longer physically dependent on opiates my mind still craves them and every day is a challenge to not use.
I would not recommend this treatment or any treatment to an addict that is not ready to stop. And even if you think you are ready to stop I think ibogaine works bests when you take a holistic approach and really plan and set yourself up for success by having support people and counselling available, a healthy diet and activity regime
And plan for the following days and weeks post treatment. without that I would have found it very easy to hop back on the runnaway opiate train.
Have gone slightly off topic but with all that information it may be easier to help you decide if the risks to your friends heart are worth going through the treatment knowing it's not 100% garanteed and still requires hardwork and will power to get through the treatment and stay clean. It's only been a week for me, and I don't feel like I'm totally in the clear.
Hope this information is helpful to you and anyone else who is contemplating trying ibogaine or iboga for opiate withdrawal or detox.
