I've been invited to do an Ibogaine ceremony next weekend (6th-8th August), which I've been waiting for for months! It is a bit of a last minute thing because they had a space open up so they have only given me 1 week notice. I don't have any of the contraindications, but last weekend (before I knew about this) I had decided to start taking sertraline (SSRI). I took a few pills over the weekend but by the Tuesday I had given up on the idea because I didn't like the effects. So I took 5 50mg pills over the course of a few days and then stopped. I haven't taken anything since. I haven't put this on the pre ceremony questionnaire because I wasn't properly on the medication. I'm also worried they won't let me do the ceremony if I mention it (it says on the guidance you should stop taking medications 1 month before). The half-life of sertraline is 24-26 hours and I'll have had 10 days clear by the time of the ceremony. I am normally a really careful person but I really want and need to do the ceremony and feel strongly that this is my time to start a new life (I have had severe depression for over 3 years, which is why I am doing it!). This week I will prepare properly and do a full liver flush. I just wanted to ask on here to see if anyone honestly thinks there will be any problems during the ceremony as a result of taking those few pills.

Thanks ❤

Normally, somebody who's on SSRI's should wait for 14 days before taking something like ibogaine, because that's how long it takes for all neurotransmitters to be back to baseline.

But that is when someone has been taking them for longer periods, or at least for more than 14 days. Because normally 14 days is also the time it takes for the effects of SSRI's to fully kick in.

But these are averages. Metabolism differs from person to person, and it also depends on how much you've been taking.

So it's hard to tell. It is very likely that the SSRI's won't be an issue, but i am no doctor and i don't know if you can be absolutely sure of it.

Another thing is the ceremony itself. With something like ibogaine, i personally think it is wise to take a small test dose first, to see how you respond.

I don't know how much they are gonna give you, but if they are gonna do it exactly like the bwiti do it, you will be ingesting an awfull lot of iboga over a period of severall days.

You have to be ready for that. It's heavy stuff.

Thanks dragonrider.

Yeah it is a Bwiti ceremony, but I don't know what the dosage will be.

I have a friend who has done it 3 times so I know a bit about what to expect but yeah I'm aware it can be really heavy.

I'm just doing a liver flush today, which hopefully will help me physically.

Well, if it's a bwiti ceremony, then at least you are going to ingest the iboga over the course of a few days, and this is definately a lot easier for the body to handle, than taking it all at once.

It is a lot saver that way.

Good luck. May the force be with you.

Thanks, oh right I didn't know they spaced it out. Yes that sounds much better!

I would want to get advice from a doctor. That might be difficult. My guess is that the amount of time you have abstinent and the short period you were taking it should mean that it wouldn't be an issue, but I would not put my money on that guess. Ibogaine has caused some serious (fatal) complications without there being any other drugs involved, so I would want to err well on the side of caution. In that regard; what is it that you're doing to cleanse your liver?

Thanks Spiralout,

Yeah, unfortunately talking to a doctor is out of the question but I did speak to the organiser of the ceremony in the end and he thinks it will be fine.

The liver flush I did was a shortened version of the one by Andreas Moritz

How was it?