Treatment of acute opioid withdrawal with ibogaine.
The American journal on addictions – January 01, 1999
Source: PubMed
Summary
Imagine alleviating severe opioid withdrawal symptoms within just 24 hours. A compelling review of 33 cases showed that individuals using ibogaine, primarily for intravenous heroin, experienced significant relief. For 25 patients, acute withdrawal signs vanished, and drug-seeking behavior stopped within a day, persisting for 72 hours. This highlights ibogaine's promising capacity to rapidly mitigate opioid withdrawal. One fatality occurred, potentially due to undisclosed heroin use.
Abstract
Ibogaine is an alkaloid with putative effect in acute opioid withdrawal. Thirty-three cases of treatments for the indication of opioid detoxification performed in non-medical settings under open label conditions are summarized involving an average daily use of heroin of .64 +/- .50 grams, primarily by the intravenous route. Resolution of the signs of opioid withdrawal without further drug seeking behavior was observed within 24 hours in 25 patients and was sustained throughout the 72-hour period of posttreatment observation. Other outcomes included drug seeking behavior without withdrawal signs (4 patients), drug abstinence with attenuated withdrawal signs (2 patients), drug seeking behavior with continued withdrawal signs (1 patient), and one fatality possibly involving surreptitious heroin use. The reported effectiveness of ibogaine in this series suggests the need for systematic investigation in a conventional clinical research setting.