While many former heroin users have effectively kicked their habit by using methadone, many end up then addicted to methadone. This is known as opioid maintenance, and while some opioid maintenance programs do work, for the most part, the user would prefer not to be addicted to anything. Ibogaine treatment for methadone is growing as opioid maintenance programs have exploded over the past decade. For some clinics like Casa Santa Isabel, it can be even more common in a given year to receive more patients seeking ibogaine treatment for methadone than ibogaine treatment for heroin.
Rise of Methadone Use
Drugs come in and out of favor with the general public. Opioids are very popular at the moment, and despite methadone’s original use as a pain medication in Europe during the late 1930s, the drug was quickly re-packaged and re-purposed to be sold illicitly, converting millions annually to regular users who find it exceedingly difficult to quit.
Beating an opioid addiction is very difficult, and methadone especially has proven to be one of the harder opioids to leave behind. Casa Santa Isabel has had great success with ibogaine treatment for methadone and continues to work with patients and families to gain their lives back from methadone addiction.
Quitting without Ibogaine
Methadone addiction takes a physical toll on the body. Stomach or abdominal pain is common, as is constipation, vomiting, nausea, extreme weight gain or loss, as well as general loss of appetite. The methadone withdrawal process without the aid of ibogaine is very painful. Chills, depression, sweating, rapid heartbeat, and vomiting are common for most users. Before arriving at Casa Santa Isabel, most patients seeking ibogaine treatment for methadone had tried to quit the drug multiple times, either on their own or through a drug treatment program. It is, unfortunately, a very difficult thing to accomplish without ibogaine.
Ibogaine Treatment – Proven Results
In “Detoxification from methadone using low, repeated, and increasing doses of ibogaine: A case report,” researchers explained a predominance of cases where opioid-dependent individuals were treated with high doses of ibogaine but wanted to see the results of low doses, especially for people on methadone maintenance treatments (MMT).
The Results:
The patient in question took low doses of ibogaine over a 6-week period and successfully eliminated her withdrawals from methadone. She did not report any adverse side effects, and 12 months post-treatment, she was no longer on MMT.
Ibogaine Treatment in Mexico – Casa Santa Isabel
Ibogaine treatment for methadone at Casa Santa Isabel is a growing specialty and a drug the center’s clinical team has years of experience with. Methadone withdrawal symptoms will typically begin roughly 30 hours after the patient’s last dose. Methadone has a longer half-life than heroin. The withdrawal symptoms are less severe in the initial acute phase but will last much longer. Ibogaine’s success with weaning users off heroin, however, was a great predictor of what could be done with methadone.