What we treat · Mexico City
3 dependencies. 1 protocol. A written no for everyone else.
Ibogaine is not a general treatment for addiction, and we do not run it as one. This page says which dependencies we treat, what the published evidence shows for each one and what it does not, who we decline, and how the decision gets made before you pay anything.
The rule
A dependence is on this page only if it passes 3 tests.
Other clinics list 10 or 12 conditions because a longer list brings more enquiries. Ours is 3, because each one had to clear the same 3 tests, and the tests are stricter than the marketing.
1
There is published clinical evidence
Studies in people, in peer-reviewed journals, showing ibogaine changed withdrawal, craving or use for that dependence. Animal data and testimonials do not count.
2
The withdrawal can be managed here
Our facility has to be able to take you through withdrawal safely before dosing. If the withdrawal itself can cause seizures we cannot control on site, we do not take the case.
3
Our cardiac protocol covers the risk
Ibogaine slows cardiac conduction and can prolong the QT interval. A dependence that damages the heart, or a drug that adds to the QT effect, has to fit inside thresholds our cardiologist wrote down.
A case that fails any one of the 3 gets a no, in writing, with the reason. That includes cases we could have sold. The 3 screening answers are explained on the About page.
1 · Opioid dependence
The dependence ibogaine has the most evidence for.
Most people who contact us are here for this. The published studies are small and have no control groups, but they point the same way: a single supervised dose reduced withdrawal in most participants and reduced use for months in a share of them. That is what we tell you it can do. We do not tell you it cures anything.
Before you fly
- 12-lead EKG read by our cardiologist for conduction and QT interval
- Potassium, magnesium and a liver panel, corrected before travel if needed
- Fentanyl exposure and the timing of your last use, asked directly on the screening call
- Suboxone or methadone: a transition to a short-acting opioid, planned by our psychiatrist with your prescriber. The timeline is measured in weeks and is set before any deposit
In the facility
- Repeat EKG and labs on day 1; the go or no-go decision is made on those numbers
- Withdrawal managed by the physician on days 1 to 2, not left to you in a room
- 1 supervised dose on day 3 with a cardiologist, an emergency physician and an ACLS-trained nurse in the room
- Continuous ECG and oximetry through the session and the night, telemetry on day 4, discharge on day 7 with a written summary
What the evidence says
- 30 people treated at a Mexican clinic: 12 reported a 75% cut in opioid use at 30 days, and 1 in 3 reported abstinence at 3 months (Brown and Alper, 2018)
- 14 people in New Zealand, followed for 12 months: a significant reduction in drug use at 1 year. 1 participant died during treatment (Noller and colleagues, 2018)
- 102 opioid-dependent inpatients: withdrawal scores fell within 36 hours; no serious adverse events in a monitored setting (Mash and colleagues, 2018)
- No randomised controlled trial has been published. Sample sizes are small and outcomes are self-reported
We say no when
The QTc or conduction findings are outside our written thresholds, there is structural heart disease or heart failure, electrolytes or liver values will not come into range, you are also dependent on benzodiazepines, or you are pregnant. A Suboxone or methadone transition that is not complete is a not yet, not a no.
2 · Alcohol dependence
Treated, with the detox first and the evidence stated plainly.
Alcohol is the dependence where 2 of our 3 tests do the most work. Alcohol withdrawal can cause seizures, and alcohol damages the liver that has to process ibogaine and the heart that has to tolerate it. So detox comes first, under supervision, and dosing waits until the numbers say it can happen. The evidence for ibogaine in alcohol dependence is thinner than for opioids, and we say so on the first call.
Before you fly
- Drinking history in drinks per day, date of your last drink, and any previous withdrawal seizures or delirium tremens
- Liver panel with written thresholds for AST, ALT, GGT and bilirubin, plus potassium and magnesium
- 12-lead EKG; an echocardiogram if the cardiologist wants to rule out alcohol-related heart muscle damage
- A decision on where detox happens: at home under your doctor before travel, or here on days 1 to 2
In the facility
- Medically supervised detox first, with the physician managing withdrawal and the nurse on site through the night
- Dosing only once withdrawal is complete and electrolytes and the liver panel meet the thresholds
- For some people that means the stay is longer than 7 days. We tell you that before you book, and only the extra nights are billed
- The same room, the same monitoring and the same 3 clinicians as every other dosing session
What the evidence says
- Animal studies show ibogaine reduced alcohol intake. In people, the published evidence is case reports and small observational series, not trials
- The 2012 review of ibogaine deaths found that alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal seizures were among the hazards. That is why detox comes before dosing here, not alongside it
- What we can say: supervised detox has a known safety record. What we cannot say: how likely ibogaine is to keep you sober at 12 months, because nobody has measured it properly
We say no when
There is alcohol-related heart muscle damage on the echocardiogram, liver values stay above threshold after a supervised detox, you have had withdrawal seizures our facility is not equipped to manage, or you are also dependent on benzodiazepines.
3 · Stimulant dependence
Treated, with the strictest cardiac screening on this page.
Stimulants strain the heart, and ibogaine asks a lot of the heart. That combination is why we decline more stimulant cases than opioid cases, and why the cardiac history here goes back years, not weeks. For stimulants the case for ibogaine rests on 1 large inpatient series, and we are open about how far that goes.
Before you fly
- An extended cardiac history: chest pain, palpitations, fainting, any emergency visit linked to use, any prior cardiac event
- 12-lead EKG read against a lower QTc threshold than we use for opioids
- Cardiology clearance, including an echocardiogram, whenever the cardiologist asks for it
- Date of last use and pattern of use, because recent heavy use changes the EKG we expect to see on arrival
In the facility
- Repeat EKG on day 1 compared against the pre-travel trace, not only against the threshold
- Rest and electrolyte correction on day 2; dosing does not happen until the repeat EKG is clean
- 1 supervised dose on day 3, with the cardiologist reading the monitor in the room
- Overnight telemetry, morning EKG on day 4, and the same 90-day follow-up as every other case
What the evidence says
- 89 cocaine-dependent inpatients: craving scores fell on every scale measured at discharge and at 1 month; no serious adverse events (Mash and colleagues, 2018)
- Beyond 1 month, published outcome data for stimulants are thin. Nobody has shown what happens at 6 or 12 months
- Methamphetamine data are thinner still. We treat it under the same protocol and say that plainly on the screening call
We say no when
There has been a stimulant-related cardiac event, chest pain or arrhythmia in your history, the QTc is above the stricter stimulant threshold, the echocardiogram shows damage, or the day 1 EKG does not match the one we screened you on.
Who we decline
The list we would rather you read now than hear on a call.
2 kinds of no. The first is a condition we do not treat at all. The second is a finding on screening that makes the risk one we will not take, whichever dependence brought you here.
We do not treat
Failed test 1 or test 2. No published clinical evidence, or a withdrawal we should not manage with ibogaine in the picture.
- Benzodiazepine dependence as the main problem. Withdrawal can cause seizures, and a safe taper is measured in months. Ibogaine does not shorten it
- PTSD, depression, anxiety or traumatic brain injury as the reason for coming. Research is under way, including state-funded trials in Texas from 2026, but it is research, not treatment
- Nicotine, cannabis, gambling and other behavioural dependencies
- Anyone under 18, and anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding
- Anyone who wants the session without the screening, the 7 days, or the follow-up
We say no when screening shows
Failed test 3. These are the findings that end the process, whatever the dependence.
- A QTc above our written threshold, or conduction disease on the EKG
- Structural heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, or a prior cardiac event
- Potassium or magnesium that will not stay in range, or liver values above threshold
- A medication that also prolongs the QT interval and cannot be paused safely, decided with your prescriber
- Active psychosis or mania, or a psychiatric history our psychiatrist judges the session would destabilise
- A repeat EKG or lab result on day 1 that does not match what we screened you on
What a no looks like here.
The reason in plain language, in writing. Any deposit refunded in full. Where we can, a referral to a clinician near you from the same US list we give patients we treat. Nobody is passed to another clinic for a fee.
The evidence, with its limits
4 studies we cite, and what each one does not show.
These are the papers behind the claims on this page. Read the limits column as carefully as the findings. A clinic that only quotes the findings is selling.
Brown and Alper · Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse · 2018
30 opioid-dependent people, treated at a clinic in Mexico
12 of 30 reported a 75% reduction in opioid use at 30 days. 1 in 3 reported complete abstinence at 3 months. No adverse events were reported in the study.
Limits: 30 people, no control group, self-reported outcomes. PubMed record
Noller, Frampton and Yazar-Klosinski · Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse · 2018
14 opioid-dependent people in New Zealand, followed for 12 months
Drug-use scores on the Addiction Severity Index fell significantly from baseline to 12 months, and depression scores fell with them. Withdrawal scores dropped in the days after dosing.
Limits: 14 people, 8 completed every interview. 1 participant died during treatment under medical supervision. PubMed record
Mash and colleagues · Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2018
191 inpatients, 102 opioid and 89 cocaine, in a monitored facility
Opioid withdrawal scores fell within 36 hours of dosing. Craving fell in both groups at discharge and at 1 month. No serious adverse events or deaths at the doses used, in an inpatient setting with medical monitoring.
Limits: 1-month follow-up only, no control group. The safety result is from a monitored setting, not from ibogaine in general. Full paper
Alper, Stajić and Gill · Journal of Forensic Sciences · 2012
19 deaths linked in time to ibogaine, 1990 to 2008
Deaths occurred between 1.5 and 76 hours after ingestion. In 12 of the 14 cases with enough post-mortem data, pre-existing conditions, mostly cardiovascular, or other substances explained or contributed to the death. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal seizures were flagged as additional hazards.
Why it matters: this paper is the reason our screening is a cardiologist reading an EKG, not a form. PubMed record
Ibogaine is not approved by the FDA and is a Schedule I substance in the United States. In Mexico it is not a scheduled substance, and it is administered in licensed medical facilities. In 2025 the State of Texas funded $50 million of clinical trials, led by UTHealth Houston with UTMB Health, into ibogaine for addiction and other conditions; the trials were being set up through 2026 and will take years to report. Until they do, every number on this page comes from small observational studies, and we will not dress them up as more.
Questions about eligibility
Am I a case you treat?
The answer to most of these depends on your EKG and your medication list, which is why the screening call exists. These are the answers we can give before it.
Do you treat fentanyl dependence?
Yes, under the opioid protocol. Fentanyl exposure is asked about directly on the screening call, including the timing of your last use, because it changes how the physician plans days 1 to 2. Fentanyl is in most of the illicit opioid supply in the US now, so the question is never a judgement.
I am on Suboxone or methadone. How long before I can be treated?
Long-acting opioids have to be out of the system before dosing, which means a planned transition to a short-acting opioid first. The timeline is measured in weeks, is set by our psychiatrist with your prescriber, and depends on your dose and how long you have been on it. Nobody is asked to stop on their own, and no deposit is taken until the plan is agreed in writing.
Do you treat benzodiazepine dependence?
No. Benzodiazepine withdrawal can cause seizures, a safe taper takes months, and ibogaine does not shorten it. If you use benzodiazepines alongside an opioid, alcohol or stimulant dependence, the benzodiazepine has to be tapered under your own doctor before we can screen you for the other one.
Do you treat PTSD, depression or brain injury?
Not as the reason for coming. Trials for those conditions are under way, and if they show what some people hope, the answer may change. For now, treating them with ibogaine would be research without the safeguards of research. If you have one of these alongside a dependence we treat, our psychiatrist reviews it during screening.
Do you treat cocaine or methamphetamine dependence?
Yes, with the strictest cardiac screening on this page: an extended cardiac history, a lower QTc threshold, and an echocardiogram whenever the cardiologist asks for one. We decline a higher share of stimulant cases than opioid cases, and the evidence beyond 1 month is thin. Both facts are said on the screening call.
Can I be treated if I have a heart condition?
Usually not. Ibogaine slows cardiac conduction and can prolong the QT interval, so a heart that is already compromised is the risk we will not take. Some findings are correctable, like low potassium, and those are a not yet. Structural disease, heart failure, conduction disease and a prior cardiac event are a no. The cardiologist decides on the EKG, not on the phone.
Is 1 session enough, or will I need another?
We do not know in advance, and anyone who tells you otherwise is guessing. The program is 1 supervised dose and 90 days of follow-up. If, during those 90 days, the psychiatrist and you agree that a second session is medically justified, it is screened from the start, EKG and labs included. It is a medical decision, not a sales one, and it is never promised at the outset.
Not sure which list you are on?
Ask before you pay anything. A no costs you nothing here.
3 questions on the contact page. A physician or nurse calls you back within 1 business day and tells you which tests to order at home. The answer comes in writing, whichever of the 3 it is.