The patient is not allowed to eat solid food from midnight the day prior to their treatment. We start IV for hydration, and you receive medication for nausea.
Phase One of your experience begins with your first dose and ends about a day and half later. This Phase is called your Ibogaine Session. You are given a tiny dose of Ibogaine to test your reaction to it, usually you begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms. If your reaction is fine, you are given a “flood dose.” This therapeutic larger quantity of Ibogaine eliminates your withdrawal symptoms and cravings. If you need more Ibogaine along the way because you feel sick, you are given small doses called “boosters.”
Ibogaine takes about one hour to kick in, and another hour or two to reach it’s full intensity. Four hours after taking the flood dose, you are in an altered state of consciousness. It is impossible to describe the experience. If you are interested in learning more about this, you can read many stories, available online. Two things are worth pointing out that people report.
- They say it is the most intense experience they have ever had,
- and they report having “visuals” of past experiences. (Visuals are like movies that play in your head, even when your vision is normal. This is different from a hallucination, which alters your vision.)
Approximately ten hours after taking the flood dose, you will notice that your experience is getting less intense. The Ibogaine is being washed out of your system, you will become more aware of your body, and you do not feel like your mind is strapped to a rocket ship.
If you still feel withdrawal symptoms, your will be given boosters. These will not return you to the state of peak intensity; they just suppress the pain of withdrawal . As the next twelve hours go by, the intensity gradually wanes. If you have not had a lot of boosters, you will be able to get out of bed and eat something around twenty-four hours after taking the flood dose. You may even catch up on your sleep.
On the plus side, you will notice that your cravings are gone. Perhaps for the first time in decades!