Have you heard of ibogaine? Have you heard of ketamine? If you have heard of one or both, what comes to your mind first when these drugs are mentioned? Not long ago, few had heard of either of these medications. Even then, both were considered dangerous, and their use was deemed unwise by most.
It’s incredible how quickly things can change. Today, both ibogaine and ketamine are not only used to help people and are prescribed by doctors for use in clinical settings, but they are also widely accepted in many places around the world. No longer considered strictly dangerous, both of these substances are used to offer relief to people struggling with depression and other issues under a doctor’s supervision - and many of the patients using them for these reasons are experiencing great success.
These two medications are similar in some ways but are very different in others. Read on to learn more about ibogaine and ketamine and their differences and similarities, along with their many benefits to human beings - especially in the realm of mental health. You’re sure to be amazed. Further, after reading this article, you’re sure to feel immense hope for the advancement of treatments for mental health care, too.
What is Ibogaine?
Ibogaine is taking the world by storm right now, and if you haven’t heard much about it yet, you certainly will hear a lot about it soon. This medicine is derived from the root bark of a plant native to Central and West Africa. It was discovered by people living in countries such as Gabon, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, and Angola; the plant from which it is taken is the Tabernanthe iboga shrub, which grows in tropical rainforests. This plant grows slowly, takes five to seven years to mature, and prefers partial shade and moist soil.
The primary use of the alkaloids in this plant’s root bark is by the Bwiti people of Gabon. This group holds the plant in high regard; it is used in their religious ceremonies, and it is important to their culture. Iboga has psychoactive qualities and is used by groups for healing ceremonies, celebrations, and to facilitate communication with the spiritual realm. High doses are consumed by individuals during turning points in their lives and rites of passage. Sometimes, small doses are taken by hunting parties to increase stamina and to improve sensory skills as well.
Decades ago, this medicine reached the United States. A man named Howard Lotsof was just 19 in 1962, but he was already addicted to heroin. He decided to take ibogaine as a recreational drug at first, but soon found that when he ingested ibogaine, he no longer craved heroin afterward. He found this effect to be true for many of his heroin-addicted friends, as well. He began to advocate for the widespread use of ibogaine for addiction treatment soon after.
Unfortunately, the road to the realization of Lotsof’s dream has been slow - but it’s also been steady. Lotsof founded the Dora Weiner Foundation in the 1980s to help promote ibogaine, and those efforts led to FDA studies in the 1990s. However, ibogaine remains illegal in the United States, all these years later.
Fortunately, though, other countries allow its use. Ibogaine is unregulated in Costa Rica, Gabon, Germany, Mexico, and the Netherlands, and its use is legal but controlled in a number of other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Hungary, Uruguay, and others. People travel from all over the world to these nations to access ibogaine and its benefits, and it has become a big business in many of these places.
Ibogaine is primarily used to help people break free from addiction to opioids, but it can also help people with the cessation of other substance use disorders as well. Furthermore, doctors, researchers, and patients find that ibogaine can also help in other areas, too. Conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and even Parkinson’s disease have shown improvement through ibogaine treatment.
Many who study and work with ibogaine hope that someday soon it will be legally available in the United States. It seems clear, thanks to research studies and personal successes, that ibogaine can help many people overcome or at least manage a wide variety of health problems. There are people in the United States today who are working hard to encourage more studies that can lead to positive legislation that will allow doctors to prescribe and treat with ibogaine in our country. Much progress has been made - but there’s still a long way to go.
What Is Ketamine?
Ketamine is a man-made, synthetic dissociative anesthetic that also has some hallucinogenic effects. It’s FDA-approved for use as a prescribed anesthetic and pain reliever, but more doctors and therapists today are beginning to investigate its potential other uses, specifically in the treatment of mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Ketamine can distort vision and inspire feelings of detachment from reality, which helps with physical pain relief and with activities such as working through trauma with a therapist.
Ketamine was first synthesized in 1962 - coincidentally during the same year that young American heroin addict Howard Lotsof tried ibogaine. Of course, ibogaine was synthesized in a laboratory; eight years later, it was approved for use in our country. Since then, ketamine was primarily used in veterinary medicine for use in animal surgeries, although it was also used on humans for the same purpose, most notably on the warfront during the Vietnam War. Ketamine is useful as an anesthetic and as a pain reliever. Some studies also suggest that ketamine can be used to treat seizures and severe asthma as well.
In more recent years, doctors, psychologists, and researchers have begun to study the potential of ketamine for people struggling with depression. Ketamine was approved as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression in the United States and in several other countries around the world in 2019. Since then, researchers have found that this drug can be quite effective in relieving the symptoms of depression, especially when paired with ongoing psychotherapy. Furthermore, ketamine has been shown to reduce suicidal ideation and to help people with bipolar depression experience some relief.
Although there is a great deal of potential for misuse of ketamine - it’s been popular as a recreational drug for several decades - its positive potential is immense. In addition to being a treatment for depression, research studies and anecdotal evidence from doctors and therapists suggest that ketamine can also be used to treat PTSD, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and even some eating disorders.
Additionally, emerging research seems to imply that ketamine can also be used to help people break free from substance use disorders as well. Early studies indicate that in some cases, medically supervised ketamine, combined with psychotherapy, can support people who wish to cease addictions to substances like opioids, alcohol, and cocaine.
Ibogaine vs Ketamine
Ketamine and ibogaine have little in common at first glance, certainly. However, the many shared applications of these two medicines are worth noting. Ketamine and ibogaine are very different, but they can help people in similar ways. Thanks to ongoing research, we are learning more about the many uses of these medicines, some of which have never even been considered before.
Similarities and Differences
Ketamine has very little in common with ibogaine. First of all, this drug is not a natural one at all; it is a man-made, synthetic compound. It’s not used ceremonially by native tribes anywhere. Ketamine is best known for being an anesthetic, and it has been used in medical settings for pain relief for humans and animals for decades, while ibogaine has only recently begun to be used medically. And, unlike ibogaine, ketamine is legal and FDA-approved in the United States, although it is heavily regulated.
However, like ibogaine, ketamine is not a psychedelic. Rather, both are considered to be dissociatives. Psychedelics and dissociatives, and the human responses to them, are similar, but also wholly different. Both types of substances alter perception, but they do it in different ways. Psychedelics work by intensifying thoughts, feelings, and senses, and this action leads to an elevated mental state for the consumer. On the other hand, dissociatives do the opposite. Drugs that have dissociative qualities instead reduce or block sensory input instead of enhancing it. This results in an individual feeling detached from reality rather than being more intensely surrounded by it.
The effects of dissociation can be quite helpful in a therapeutic setting. It is due to this dissociation that both ibogaine and ketamine have demonstrated success in helping people who are struggling with conditions like addiction, anxiety, depression, OCD, and PTSD. Both ibogaine and ketamine bridge the gap between a deep emotional state and a rational mental state and give people the opportunity to explore feelings and past trauma in a somewhat easier and undoubtedly healthy way. With guidance from medical and mental health professionals, patients can use these drugs as tools to help them understand the root causes of their conditions and can work to overcome them.
Applications
The applications of these two medicines in the mental health care realm are quite similar. While ibogaine is best known for helping to treat addiction, and ketamine is best known for aiding in the relief of depression, both of these substances can treat both of those things, along with other conditions such as anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and others.
Benefits and Side Effects
The benefits of these two medicines are vast and discussed in detail above. Both ketamine and ibogaine can change lives for the better in many cases. However, both medicines come with side effects like any other drug. The side effects of ketamine and ibogaine are another area in which these two medicines are similar. Both have short-term side effects that may include nausea, vomiting, ataxia, and confusion. They may also cause increased blood pressure and heart rate, dizziness and lightheadedness, and fatigue. Because of these side effects, ibogaine must be consumed under a doctor’s direct supervision, and in most cases, it’s also wise to only use ketamine with a doctor’s instructions or under his or her observation.
Because ibogaine is consumed only within a medical clinic for a short period, there are no long-term negative effects to consider. On the other hand, long-term side effects of ketamine can result in psychological dependency, bladder issues, abdominal pain, liver and kidney toxicity, and cognitive decline. It’s crucial that ketamine only be used as prescribed.
Legality of Ibogaine vs Ketamine
Ketamine has been legal for medical use since 1970. On the other hand, ibogaine has never been legal in the United States, and it has been classified as a Schedule I drug since 1970. However, this may change. States such as Texas and Colorado, among others, have begun to move toward funding clinical trials at the state level to study the positive effects of ibogaine. Some day, with enough push and research, the legal status of ibogaine in the United States may change.
Transcend Ibogaine
Ketamine and ibogaine are two incredible medicines, and both have already helped countless people find relief from common physical and mental health obstacles. Without a doubt, with further research and legislation, both of these medications will help even more people in the future.
Interested individuals may be able to find a ketamine treatment center near them in the United States or a doctor willing to try ketamine as a treatment for mental health challenges. Ketamine is legal in all 50 states when it is administered by licensed healthcare professionals for medical purposes. It has only been approved by the FDA as an anesthetic, but many doctors and psychiatrists also prescribe it for “off-label” purposes, such as the treatment of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and addiction. In some parts of the United States, it may be easy to find a doctor who is willing to prescribe ketamine in this way, but in other areas, doing so may be challenging.
As mentioned above, ibogaine is currently still illegal in the United States. Many advocates of this type of medicine are working hard to change that, but the time of legal ibogaine in our nation has not yet arrived. Fortunately, for people who are interested in trying ibogaine to help alleviate problems like addiction, anxiety, depression, and others, it’s possible to travel to other countries for treatment. Ibogaine is available legally in Mexico through clinics like Transcend Clinic in Cancun.
Transcend Clinic is a small, client-focused, luxury ibogaine treatment center offering 7- and 10-day programs in a beautiful, comfortable setting. The full-time, on-site staff is experienced and eager to help visiting clients. From pre-care to clients’ visits, ibogaine experiences, and after-care, they’re there every step of the way. Anyone interested in learning more about ibogaine and its benefits can contact the clinic to ask questions or to schedule a visit. Transcend’s enthusiastic staff is standing by to help callers determine whether ibogaine is right for them. Contact Transcend Clinic today to learn more and take your first steps toward a healthier, happier life.