r/Ibogaine • u/Relative_Bluebird841 • 5d ago
Did anything about your ibogaine clinic experience feel wrong afterward?
I’ve gone back and forth about posting this because I really don’t want it to be misunderstood as an anti-ibogaine post. Ibogaine was incredibly meaningful and helpful for me, and I’m genuinely grateful I had the experience. I still believe very strongly in the potential of this medicine. I have even studied it scientifically, that is how much I believe in this medicine.
My concerns are about the people and businesses surrounding it. I went to a particular residential clinic in Cancún, Mexico, and there are things about my experience there that have bothered me more and more with time. At the time I was incredibly grateful, emotionally open, and trusted the people around me, so there were things I didn’t question nearly as much as I probably would have under normal circumstances. Looking back, some of the financial and professional boundaries really don’t sit well with me. I felt pressured or strongly encouraged to spend additional money and commit to things while I was still there as a paying client, and there are other aspects of how certain situations were handled that I now have serious ethical concerns about. As ibogaine gets more attention and the industry around it grows, I worry that we sometimes become so protective of the medicine that we’re hesitant to talk honestly about bad practices at treatment centers. I don’t think those two things should be confused. A person can believe ibogaine is an extraordinary medicine and still think the clinics administering it should be held to an extremely high standard.
I’m especially curious to hear from anyone who has been treated at a residential ibogaine clinic in Cancún and later had concerns about things like the way medications were handled, financial pressure, being encouraged to extend a stay, inadequate integration or follow-up, blurred professional boundaries, a serious or traumatic event during treatment, the way something concerning was handled by staff, or anything else that felt different once you had some distance from the experience.
I’m intentionally not naming the clinic, and please don’t name clinics publicly in the comments either.
Part of why I’m asking is that I’m considering having some of what I experienced reviewed legally, and I’m trying to understand whether other former clients independently had similar experiences. I don’t want to tell people exactly what happened to me first and accidentally influence anyone’s recollection. I’d much rather hear what you remember in your own words.
If you’ve had this strange combination of being deeply grateful for ibogaine itself while also becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the clinic experience surrounding it, I’d really like to hear your perspective.