Health Dangers with Ibogaine

Before you take ibogaine your ibogaine provider should interview you about your health. A good provider will ask for a ECG / EKG heart test and a blood panel showing electrolyte levels and may require further tests such as liver function or stress ECG in some cases.

They should also ask about all the medication you currently take and let you know if any of them are bad mixes (contraindicated) with ibogaine. They will be particularly interested in any health conditions you have, especially anything to do with the heart.

Typically if you passed the above tests without any issues and your ibogaine provider knows their stuff. You should be good to move onto preparing for your journey. Most people can take ibogaine safely if they are correctly prepared, monitored and guided through the process. It’s important to remember that ibogaine and iboga mix badly with many other medicines and drugs, even to medications we might not have thought of like antibiotics, herbal remedies and health food supplements. 

During the ibogaine experience your heart and general health will need to be carefully monitored and medical interventions may need to be administered by your ibogaine provider or health professional.

For a list of medicines and medical conditions that are contraindicated please visit our Ibogaine Medical Contraindications page

Ibogaine and the heart

Ibogaine is known to effect the heart. So it will require checking out beforehand and during your process, this is what the EKG/ECG and blood panel are for. If you have pre-existing heart conditions or take medication that effects the heart, you need to tread with extra caution and may not be a good candidate for this work as ibogaine does not interact well with some other drugs or pre-exisiting conditions.

• Ibogaine affects the heart and the cardiovascular system.
• Usually lowers the heart rate, although it can raise it too.
• It interacts with cardiac ion hERG channels, which can pose a risk to the heart
• It can raise or lower blood pressure to dangerous levels
• It prolongs QT interval, which puts people at risk of life threatening heart events like a heart attack 
• Puts people at risk of overdose if consumed with other drugs like heroin and cocaine.

Summary of most common deaths:

• Low electrolytes potassium and magnesium, vital for heart function. 100% of all ibogaine related deaths had low electrolyte levels. So hydration is very important prepartion prior to your treatment.
• Most had Prolonged QT’s
• VF: ventricular fibrillation; TdP: torsade de point; VT: ventricular tachycardia; Were also common alongside the prolonged QT’s
• Sudden death was also a common cause of death in the other cases
• Drug overdose during or after an ibogaine treatment due to the deep physical reset.
• Interactions with contraindicated drugs, medicines, supplements, herbal remedies.
• Pre-existing medical conditions
• Co-exisiting problems to do with the heart included: coronary artery sclerosis, hypertension, myocardial infarct, cardiac hypertrophy, and dilated cardiomyopathy
• Seizures caused by Benzodiazepine withdrawal. Ibogaine does not help with the physical aspect of a benzo withdrawal, (benzos are things like valium, diazepam, xanax, there are many variations often ending with the suffix “..pam”).
• Full list of Ibogaine Medical Contraindications here

QT Prolongation and Ibogaine

The QT interval is a measurement made on an electrocardiogram used to assess some of the electrical properties of the heart.

As ibogaine extends QT it is important that your QTc is less than 430 for a man and less than 450 for a woman.

Ideally for a flood dose (a large dose) a QTc should be below 400.

A QTc of >470 and >450 ms was associated with an increased risk of sudden death.

Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

Ibogaine can lower or raise both the heart rate (pulse) and blood pressure to dangerous levels which can put the patient at risk.

Ibogaine typically causes Bradycardia (a low pulse below 60bmp) although can also cause Tachycardia (a high pulse).

Your blood pressure and pulse will need to be monitored before, during and after your ibogaine flood dose and your ibogaine provider or medical professional should be equiped to manage typical heart events.

When does it become dangerous?

The ibogaine deaths occurred between 1.5–76 hours after drug intake. It has a half-life of only 4–7 hours but converts to noribogaine which is believed to stay in the body for a long time after dosing (potentially months).

Also, QT interval prolongation after ibogaine administration typically lasts for more than 24 hours and has even been observed to occasionally last for longer than a week. So these conditions may need to be observed from anywhere from a few days to weeks after ibogaine consumption. Again your ibogaine provider should be able to advise you.

Stopping Contraindicated Medication

Contraindicated Medication means any medicines that are a bad mix with ibogaine. This also includes most illicit drugs, some foods, health supplements and herbal remedies.

Any medication that you are advised to stop should be carefully managed and checked to make sure it is safe for you to stop taking it. Consultation with your physician is advised. Typically you will be asked to stop any contraindicated medicine 4  to 7times the half life of that medicine. Half-lives can be found online. It is important to check it out early on as some medications can take weeks to get out of the system, whilst others only a day or so.

If you cannot stop taking it, or move to a substitute that is not contraindicated, you may be considered a bad candidate for this work or a microdosing regime may be suggested.

Risks

Ibogaine should be administered under strict observation, some people believe it should only be done with continuous electrocardiographic monitoring (until the T wave normalises). Although this is disputed by some in cases were patients have good health and preparation. Although even in these cases the heart will be continuously monitor with a blood pressure cuff and an EKG / ECG and bloodpanel will have been taken as a part of a thorough prescreening protocol before treatment.

The Following Should be considered Risk factors:

• A prolonged QT
• Bradycardia (low pulse below 60bpm) and Tachycardia (high pulse)
• High or low blood pressure (High Blood Pressure is anything over 140/90 and Low Blood pressure anything below 90/60) 
• Abnormal electrolyte levels (in particular Low Potassium and Magnesium)
• Pre-existing heart disease
• Ion channel (e.g., hERG) mutations
• Drug-drug interactions (any medication, supplements, herbal remedies, drugs you currently take)
• Genetic variants influencing drug metabolism (How fast a body processes the drug)
• Please view full list here: Ibogaine Medical Contraindications

For anti-addiction treatment with ibogaine, two among the named risk factors deserve special attention:

• Bradycardia (slow heart rate) Ibogaine itself induces bradycardia
• Hypokalaemia (Low Potassium). Hypokalaemia is frequent in drug users

For more detailed information on how Ibogaine effects the heart please click here