Addiction to Heroin and other Opiates and their Treatment with Ibogaine. This article will focus on the use of Ibogaine to treat substance abuse disorders with particular focus on opiates / opioids. If you are looking for more information about Ibogaine treatment to get yourself off of opioids, this is the article for you.

A Complete Overview

Addiction is essentially a person’s uncontrollable attachment to the use or abuse of any substance or activity. Addicts are people who have lost control of their lives. Addiction to substances or activities usually leads to serious problems at home, at work or school, and in social settings. As anyone who has been an addict or been around one knows, these serious problems and the absolute hopelessness that is a part of addiction comes from this aspect of addiction; uncontrollable behavior.

In the past addiction used to refer just to the uncontrollable abuse of mind altering substances that cross the blood-brain barrier, temporarily altering chemicals in the brain. Chemicals that have been historically associated with addiction include but are not limited to alcohol, heroin, methadone, cocaine, and methamphetamines.

Now, it is widely accepted that addiction encompasses anything that results in psychological dependency and uncontrollable behavior, such as gambling, sex, internet use, work and exercise because they too can produce feelings of guilt, hopelessness, despair, shame, failure, rejection, anxiety and humiliation.

When a person is addicted to something, they become dependent on it to cope with daily life. At first it may be considered a habit; however, habits often quickly become addictions.

The Subtle Difference between Habit and Addiction

Many people can use substances or engage in activities without becoming addicts. Some people, however, when exposed to those same substances or activities rapidly acquire psychological and/or physical effects that often deteriorate into destructive uncontrollable addiction.

A habit is use of a substance or performance of an activity that is done by choice. A person with a habit can quit by deciding to do so. An addiction is the use of a substance or performance of an activity that cannot be stopped without intervening help. The factor present in addiction that is not present in a habit is the psychological or physical component that prevents the person from being able to voluntarily quit the substance or activity.

Causes of Heroin & Opiate Addiction

The suspected and alleged causes of addiction vary considerably, are not easily defined and are not fully understood. They are generally thought to be caused by a combination of genetic, physical, mental, circumstantial and emotional factors.

One problem is that addiction often leads to tolerance – the addict needs larger and more frequent amounts of whatever they are addicted to in order to receive the same effect. Often, the initial reward diminishes or is no longer felt, and the addiction continues in the hopes of somehow recapturing the reward or because the symptoms of withdrawal are so unpleasant.

Another problem is that substances that are inherently addictive because of their psychoactive affects are often if not usually illegal. So, not only is the person who is addicted to a substance unable to control or stop drug seeking and using behavior, they also must suffer from the ramifications of being addicted to an illegal substance. These ramifications are impure and variable substance potency, the necessity of having to associate with criminals that supply the illegal substance and subjection to a criminal justice system that seeks to protect the public principally through incarceration and other punishments.

Addiction to Prescription Medications

Most people think of illegal substances and drugs when they hear the word “addiction”, however, addiction to legal prescription pain killers is becoming a serious public health problem not only in the U.S. but also in other developed nations. Prescription medication abuse is described as reaching epidemic proportions by researchers from the University Of Nebraska Medical Center College Of Medicine in a study they reported on in November 2012.

Medical and scientific professionals acknowledge that the change in methods of the treatment of pain from one of conservative use to more liberal use as led to this epidemic.

In the 1990s pain became the fifth vital sign doctors screened for in addition to the historical indications of respiratory rate, blood pressure, body temperature and pulse rate. Medical doctors now attempt to objectify the subjective, asking patients to numerate their pain on a scale of 1 to 10. Now, the modern trend is to prescribe pain medication when pain is present, often with arguably insufficient concern with the likelihood of their patients developing an addiction to pain killers.

Treatment with Ibogaine

There are no restrictions of the use of Ibogaine in Mexico, Canada, Australia, Israel, New Zealand. In most countries, the use of this root for treatment of drug addictions and psychological disorders has seen exponential growth.

The 85-95% success rate of Ibogaine in helping patients to be addiction free has prompted a movement. There is an entire subculture of people that are aware of the positive and healing effects of Ibogaine for addictions and psychological disorders. They do not let the prohibition of Ibogaine in their own countries stop them from getting the help they need.

Treatment centers in Mexico and Canada have become very popular. Treatment in these countries consists of both regulated and non-regulated entities. It is up to the individual as to what kind of center and treatment they desire. Many people from the United States take advantage of Ibogaine services that are offered usually very close to both Mexican and Canadian borders.

BAJA IBOGAINE is the only true medically licensed Ibogaine clinic. Ibogaine is best known in the West for it’s use in “addiction interruption”. It is especially effective for opiates, heroin and alcohol, but, it also works for crack/cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine and many other drugs. Ibogaine is an incredibly effective treatment for alcohol addiction. Sobriety can be achieved after a single dose, without the need for boosters.

Ibogaine counteracts a person’s addictions through powerful disruptive effects on the brain and addictive behavior. It causes them to regain control of their lives by effecting at least three types of major brain receptors.

Researchers have made some interesting findings. It is known that Ibogaine and Noribogaine bond with Opioid receptors, the same receptors that opiates like Heroin and Morphine bond with. Ibogaine also seems to ease the transmission of information along Opiod addiction. It bonds with the same receptors as Opiates while improving the function of Opioid Neurotransmitters. In doing so, Ibogaine prevents withdrawals, while the Opiates flush out of the system. It prevents cravings from re-emerging.

Essentially, Ibogaine hits a reset button. You come back down fundamentally rearranged. Things are not the same; there is an entire spectrum of changes taking place, Ibogaine brings your body and mental health back to a pre-addiction state. Anecdotal reports show immediate reduction in drug cravings, no withdrawal symptoms, and greater self-control.

While studies are still preliminary, the results to date offer tremendous hope. Patients maintained on methadone have been able to abruptly stop their methadone intake after only a single dose of Ibogaine with only minor symptoms. Many people also take Ibogaine for psychological and spiritual growth. It can take a person deep into their psyche and help them cope with unconscious issues. It can also make a person feel more connected to the universal Being that pervades everything.

Today more and more people are recognizing that psychedelics like Ibogaine are an excellent addition to psychotherapy, meditation and contemplation. Ibogaine has a miraculous quality about it, for both addiction interruption and psycho-spiritual purposes.