FAQs
Iboga is the root bark of a plant, the Tabernanthe iboga shrub. It is found in West Africa and has been used by tribes for ceremonial purposes for many centuries.
Ibogaine is an alkaloid found in this Iboga root bark. It has psychoactive properties that help with behaviour interruption. The alkaloid is non-addictive and can help curtail substance addiction with limited side-affects. This symptom-free withdrawal process allows a psychological escape from chemical dependency. An escape that must be built upon through the holistic aftercare programme at Tabula Rasa Retreat.
- Ataxia (the inability to coordinate body movements voluntarily) for up to 24 hours.
- A varying degree of nausea for up to 24 hours
- A varying degree of dizziness for up to 24 hours
- Visual distortions for up to 12 hours
- Auditory distortions for up to 12 hours
- A varying degree of insomnia for up to 1 week
People with a history of heart attacks or irregular heart rhythms should avoid Ibogaine treatment. At Tabula Rasa Retreat we require an electrocardiogram (EKG) before commencing any treatment.
An Ibogaine sessions is not risk free but at Tabula Rasa Retreat we endeavour to make it as safe as possible. Please be open and honest with our medical team when asked to reveal details of your medical history and any drug use if relevant.
Those addicted to opiates, heroin, alcohol and cocaine can achieve great benefits from Ibogaine. The treatment has a wide range of uses beyond these addictions. From incessant gambling to spiritual adventure, visitors to Tabula Rasa Retreat have a wide range of life back-stories. There is an additional knock-on effect from Ibogaine treatment. Whether it is the extended family no longer in the grip of worry for an addicted relative or friends witnessing the rebirth of a loved one through rejuvenated spirituality, the benefits of Ibogaine treatment are far reaching.
Administering Ibogaine is only the beginning of your treatment at Tabula Rasa Retreat. It is now time to relax, to focus on moving forward. Tabula Rasa is set amidst the rolling hills of the Alentejo, just two hours drive from Lisbon – the perfect location to de-stress from a hectic, pre-Iboga lifestyle.
All of our detox programmes are centred on an holistic approach to addiction recovery. Before treatment you will have set your intent and we work with you to tailor an aftercare programme that maximises the potential for reaching your goals. From exercise to mindfulness, healthy eating to massage, our programmes focus on the Ibogaine dosage as only a starting point toward complete, positive change in your life.
Ibogaine is a safe treatment for addiction detox or spiritual awakening when administered in a controlled, registered, medical setting. The Iboga plant has been central to tribal ceremonies in West Africa for centuries. Since being used for addiction treatment, there have been few reported problems.
At Tabula Rasa Retreat Centre, our highly trained, qualified medical team, vetting, monitoring and aftercare provision all combine to provide one of the safest settings for Ibogaine treatment available worldwide.
It is not so much the substance addicted to, more the state of mind of the addict. Ibogaine can only do so much. Once intent has been set and the user genuinely wishes to change behaviour, Ibogaine has an ability to gauge what is needed within. For most addictions.
It adapts to the individual and helps create a space. Room within which to act, to effect change. Within this space, the rest is up to the addict. How much do they really wish to change for the better? Ibogaine is an effective interrupter but it can only go so far. With TRR’s holistic aftercare programme we help you with the rest.
The physical and mental experience during Ibogaine treatment is not an immediate, pleasurable one. Nobody should consider taking Ibogaine for fun. The visions or hearing disturbances many experience are not pleasant. Although these experiences may not be remembered with clarity afterwards, at the time they can be quite harrowing. Anxiety may grip the patient during treatment.
With Ibogaine it is the end result that matters, less so the getting there. A sense of calm, space created for a rebirth, this is what Ibogaine provides. Although an unpleasant journey at times, it is not an agonisingly painful one.
You will be met as soon as you touch down at the airport, pull in at the train station or slow to a halt in our car park. This is when your personally tailored Tabula Rasa Retreat programme begins. From this point on you are in our care and will receive close attention both medically and spiritually.
There will be some medical examination including an ECG plus focus on nutrition prior to the Ibogaine treatment.
After arriving there will be some time to find your feet, get used to the lovely surroundings and prepare for your treatment, guided all the time by TRR staff.
Ibogaine’s primary function during treatment at Tabula Rasa Retreat is as an addiction interrupter. It is not a pleasure provider. The changes experienced while undergoing Ibogaine treatment can be incredible and life-changing but it is not like an opiate or alcohol, substances often taken for pleasurable escape.
The properties of Ibogaine reset the brain and help curtail negative behaviour patterns. This is the start of positive change. It’s about tripping that reset switch, not tripping out.
Ibogaine is effective with all users to varying degrees. It is a proven behaviour interrupter, even for the most severe of addictions. To answer this question you need to be clear in your mind what you mean by ‘work’. Yes, it will reset the brain, allow clear head space to make changes, provide potential for a rebirth but all of these are opportunities. To seize them and be successful, you need more than just Ibogaine.
Your intent must be clear before undergoing treatment. Support systems must be in place. A belief in the methods of treatment has to be there. Your determination to change your life is what will help you make a success after taking Ibogaine. Through Tabula Rasa Retreat’s holistic aftercare programme we have assisted many in finding a successful path beyond their stay with us. But we can only assist; the hard work is your responsibility.
A fusion between stylish hotel and premier medical facility, Tabula Rasa Retreat provides quality care across all aspects of your stay. TRR is a fully licensed medical establishment, with a talented, highly qualified medical team.
As well as our renowned holistic programmes from support staff that aid you emotionally throughout your treatment, at TRR we have your physical welfare fully covered as well. Six practicing physicians work across all aspects of addiction healthcare at TRR.
Those visiting with spiritual or detox goals are cared for equally; two medical doctors with nine years’ experience administer all Ibogaine dosages. On arrival your screening is carried out by a registered cardiologist while three duty nurses remain on site throughout your entire stay at Tabula Rasa Retreat Centre.
Ibogaine provides insights into the subconscious. If there is damage it can heal the wounds of mind and spirit. If there is addiction it can offer a 90% to 100% pain-free withdrawal as it has the ability to halt addiction by interrupting behaviour patterns.
The treatment results in dream-like states. To be technical, Ibogaine is more oneiric than psychedelic. All patients do not experience vivid visions but even those who do not still value the experience as positive.
The visions and changes in hearing perception can bring up deep memories from the unconscious. Stark self-insight is the result. Ibogaine session is seen by some as equal to many sessions of standard, one-on-one talk therapy.
The psychotherapeutic benefits of Ibogaine treatment allows the true self to resurface, negative past experiences to be purged and the individual to start again with a clean slate.
The treatment is physically, psychologically and spiritually demanding. Here are the relevant stages.
00 minutes: Ibogaine dosage administered.
40 minutes: a buzzing in the ears, dreamlike visions, dancing lights, image flashes, representations of subconscious themes.
2 to 4 hours: the waking dreams’ fade and make way for the resetting of your brain’s biochemistry. The first phase.
20 to 36 hours: the last signs of dizziness begin to fade. Ataxia (loss of limb coordination) ends. Insomnia is over. You are fully fictional once more.
48 to 72 hours: endorphins are boosted and a sense of well-being descends. The renaissance effect.
Tabula rasa is a Latin phrase often translated as “blank slate” in English and originates from the Roman tabula used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it. This roughly equates to the English term “blank slate” (or, more literally, “erased slate”) which refers to the emptiness of a slate sheet previous to it being written on with chalk. Both may be refreshed repeatedly, by melting the wax or by erasing the chalk.
Tabula rasa (/ˈtæbjələ ˈrɑːsə, -zə, ˈreɪ-/) refers to the epistemological idea that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception. Proponents of tabula rasa generally disagree with the doctrine of Innatism which holds that the mind is born already in possession of certain knowledge. Generally, proponents of the tabula rasa theory also favour the “nurture” side of the nature versus nurture debate when it comes to aspects of one’s personality, social and emotional behaviour, knowledge and sapience. [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasa
We at Tabula Rasa believe, that with Iboga / Ibogaine, the individual can be re-set to their pre-addictive state, with a clean slate… tabula rasa.
We do not recommend a couple doing ibogaine treatment together in the same clinic. Couples visiting one place can lose focus on their own recovery and retreat from the structure and rules that are in place to facilitate this; also everyone’s ibogaine experience is different, so a couple being in the same place can lead to negative comparisons and resentment.
We recommend that either the couple split up and go to separate centres (we can recommend an alternative facility) or they come one after the other. We also recommend that different counsellors are used for pre and post treatment.
