Questions about addiction relative to Ibogaine (and psychadelics in general?)

[bobby1978]

I was wondering what people's views/experiences regarding the use of psychedelics to aid with addictions are. To give a bit of background, I have had some massive problems mainly with drinking over the past couple of decades, (liver problems, social problems, legal, etc.) Though I've been abstaining from alcohol for awhile ,about a year. I also smoked cigarettes, but recently gave that up(more on that in a moment). I'm at a point in my life where I'm sort of thinking of what good certain substances might do for me, while still enjoying myself a bit if possible. Benzos are something I've used off and on, but don't want to develop a serious addiction to, for obvious reasons.

Anyway, to that end I recently started smoking weed a bit, to help me relax. I found that this did help, but caused me to cough a lot, and after all the drinking and cigarette smoking I had done, I figured I should quit the cigarettes at least while I still have a relatively functioning larynx and two lungs.

This has so far (two weeks) proved surprisingly easy, where cigarettes seemed like the hardest thing to quit before. The only different factor I can see this time is the weed, really. While high I feel like I can take a step back and get a better look at my life, and actually take actions I couldn't before, and actually stick to them. Sort of a more honest view of who I am without any lies I might want to tell myself, if that makes any sense.

I've done some reading mention of ibogaine relating to alcoholism help, but can't really get at the "why?" this might help, just kind of vague statements. I'm not a big user of psychedelics. Even with the weed, I have to take it easy or get a bit freaked out. Things with real strong hallucinogenic and/or dissasociative properties terrify me.

So can anyone explain to me how that works? What is it about psychedelics that can help people with addiction specifically, and even more specifically, ibogaine in particular? Is it simply the introspection, just taken to another level? Or is there something proper to ibogaine that helps "unlock", for lack of a better word, some kind of better path?

Follow up query: If someone is really neurotic and not particularly well suited to tripping, would you advise them to stay away from it altogether, or is there a safer way to do this, perhaps a small dose of benzos, or would that kill it/not make a difference?

Or if you'd just like to mention what psychedelics have given you, in a larger sense, that would be cool too. Just trying to get more informed on all this. Thanks guys.

I hope this is the right place for this post, figured it was the most logical. Please go ahead and move it if I'm wrong.

 

[dextrodoctor]

Ibogain is just super introspective. It makes you feel like you dont need anything and telks you to just be. Mescaline in large doses can do the same thing. Ibogain can make you feel content it also purges your body and the trip lasts for days so your high during the major withdrawl peroid. If your not comfy with tripping there are ibogain facilitys that create a certain mood and atmosphere and they take care of thev erson during and discuss stuff with them the whole experianced centered around purging renewel and independance.

 

[tokezu]

Sort of a more honest view of who I am without any lies I might want to tell myself, if that makes any sense.

That was exactly my experience. I had one 2C-E trip where I suddenly realized that I didn't really like smoking cigarettes anymore and the main reason for still doing it was being afraid of trying to quit and fail. That wasn't exactly the type of trip I wanted at that moment and so it took maybe three months where it was in the back of my mind, before I actually tried to quit, but then it was the easiest thing in the world.

There's also been studies on psilocybin for tobacco addiction I think. And isn't ibogaine mainly used for opiate addiction because it has some other mechanism that also helps with the withdrawl? I don't know how it would otherwise compare to trying the same with LSD, psilocybin or whatever, but I would think preparation, the right setting, intent and such are far more important than which substance.

 

[bobby1978]

Thanks for the helpful replies, guys

It's neither here nor there really, but I also get this pretty trippy thing where music I recorded just sounds like someone else did and I'm just listening with no preconceptions. It really helps me hear all the elements realistically without any preconceived notions of "is this good enough/fast enough, impressive.....etc" I just hear it and say "Oh, that's good, or"Oh, that's not so good". It's just clear.

But again, that's just with weed for me. So I'm derailing my own thread. 8(

 

[Xorkoth]

I've had anti-addictive thoughts and experiences from multiple different psychedelics. But for me ibogaine was on a different level. It really is totally different (chemically in its mechanism of action). It's specifically great for opiate addiction, which is what I used it for. I had been addicted to opiates for 10 years and had tried everything, quit and relapsed dozens of times, destroyed a marriage with it (or partly because of it anyway). I took a flood dose of ibogaine and had a different sort of experience to most I hear described... I took the total alkaloid extract instead of ibogaine HCl. In any case, I had an intensely overwhelming and scattered experience where I had a long series of dreams, which sometimes overlaid my waking reality when it was daytime and I was awake. it lasted for 3 days at peak and the entire experience including the afterglow stage lasted for a couple of weeks. Afterwards I felt like the addiction had been surgically removed, I felt no withdrawal, experienced no PAWS or lingering negative effects, it felt like my life had restarted. It felt like something had happened on a neurochemical level. I've never even had a craving for an opiate since then (it's been almost 2 years). It made me feel like I felt before the addiction ever happened, and my life has been really vibrant ever since. It honestly saved my life, or it triggered the change that allowed me to save my life anyway. It was like a switch flipped and I went from that damaged, pathetic addict who was sure he'd never be free of opiates, to a confident person who loves himself and others and follows his passions, like I woke up from the insanity I had let myself regress to.

So in conclusion, I think any psychedelic could help with addiction, if you go into it with intention and realize that the hard part will be actually maintaining any sort of progress you made during the trip. But ibogaine has something special going on, particularly for opiates.

 

[bobby1978]

Wow, that certainly paints a vivid picture. It sounds like quite an experience.

I mean, I feel like addiction is a part of me I've progressively let rot for decades, and it's corrupted everything else. To have that be "reset", so to speak, would be life changing to say the least.

 

[Xorkoth]

In reading reports from others, it seems like it doesn't always work for people, but it definitely did work for me. I took it shortly after my ex-wife left, and our destructive 12-year-long relationship was the biggest factor in me being so addicted to opiates (I started them just because I like drugs and they felt good, but as things got worse between us, I found it was my only coping mechanism to feel decent about my life). She left and 2 months later I did ibogaine, so when I came out of it I was ready to be free, because the biggest negative thing in my life was fixed. So that was certainly a factor in my success too.

 

[Beenhead]

Since reading Xorkoths report it has been something ive been interested in. I take methadone and quite a lot. It sounds like ibogaine can really help, but i think its action is more amenable to opiate addiction than others.

It seems like since you have beaten a lot of the neurochemical aspects of alcoholism like physical addiction you would do better in a type of 12 step program, or group therapy.

LSD and psychedelics can answer these types of questions but you must really direct your energy to them and dont expect to be magically fixed by them!

 

[bobby1978]

I don't know how to quote multiple people and don't want to double post, so I'll just do it this way:

@Xorkoth: Yeah I really like the idea of not only kicking a very destructive habit, but going back and seeing where a blockage occurred that can be relieved, and then allow the person to go on living a healthier life. It's funny that we addicts (or humans in general, really) don't just ignore physical history. If our parents have specific cancer or we have a lump, we go get it checked. But with so much hurtful and/or emotional stuff, we just live with it and push it down, often forever. That's part of what (hypothetically, I'm far from sure of anything) might appeal to me about the introspective route.

@Beenhead: You may well be right on both counts. I do hear a lot more about ibogaine in reference to opiate addiction than anything else. And since I'm afraid of these particular substances (ibogaine and the like) anyway, maybe support groups would be a better route. Since my experiences with weed, I started to wonder if there's more underneath I can get at, emotionally. But it could just be a pipe dream in my case.

I do meditate and pray a fair bit. That seems to help a lot. I think anything that gets you out of the "here and now" is bound to help at least a bit with perspective.