Author of the article: Chrisantem “Nzambe” Macháček, founder and owner of the e-shop Pachamama herbs

Pachamama herbs is one of the few e-shops where Iboga can be purchased freely at any quantity.

How to microdose Iboga to effectively and safely help improve quality of life?
This article is a follow-up to my first article on the Iboga plant, where you will learn how to dose Iboga and how to do a home ceremony with a higher dose of Iboga.

I myself know that I did not address the topic of microdosing in detail in the first article, so now I am filling this gap.

I am writing this article in Gabon during my second iboga study trip. I find that the way my African friends use Iboga is quite different from how we use it in Europe, but there is definitely something similar. This article should answer some important questions that may arise with microdosing Iboga at home. Despite the fact that this article is based on my experiences and on the experiences of other people I accompany through iboga processes, experiences are always subjective by nature and can vary greatly from person to person. What works for me may not work for you.

I recommend that you find out information from other sources as well, and if you have any doubt or question, look for the most competent person. If I should be the “competent person”, you can use the comments form below or use any contacts here.

The birth of the Kumachenge temple
I went to Africa in June 2022 with a request that, if I am a suitable person to share Iboga in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, iboga would show me the way to it.

And it happened that Iboga very clearly conveyed several encounters to me and led me to a place where I underwent my initiation into Bwiti with a very strong dose of Iboga. I won’t go into more detail about it now, because I want to make a video and write a special article (and probably a book) about it…

In any case, I gradually had a clear vision of how I can and should share Iboga in the Czech Republic, and that’s how the Iboga “Kumačenge Temple” was born.

The health and safety during use of Iboga… is there really a risk of death?
It is possible to find in the scientific literature that there have been several cases of death after the administration of Iboga. Apparently, however, it was always a so-called “flood dose”, how would we translate it? “Full blast” is probably the most telling description. Most of these deaths were attributed to fatal interactions between Iboga and other drugs the person was taking at the time, or because the person was trying to end a serious long-term drug addiction and the body was abnormally weakened. These incidents were usually caused not after using the powder from the Iboga bush, but its highly concentrated extracts, i.e. ibogaine HCl or ibogaineTA (Total Alkaloid).

Other deaths are said to “routinely” occur directly during initiation ceremonies in Gabon or neighboring countries, where Iboga has been used for centuries by indigenous tribes there in a tradition called Bwiti. For the sake of completeness of information, it should be noted that the doses of Iboga that one person consumes during such ceremonies can range from 50-250 grams within a short period of one or a few nights (days) in a row. We received an estimate of between 40 and 60 grams at the initiation in Gabon, and we all survived of course 🙂

However, there are apparently no real “hard numbers” on how often someone dies from Iboga. Of course, no one keeps track of how many people use Iboga every year in all the countries of the world, it will surely be thousands and thousands…

I certainly don’t want to play down the risk, but I think the risk of dying with Iboga is very small. In my opinion, Iboga is not doing badly, especially when we compare it to the unfathomable harms of alcohol, cigarettes, sugar, salt, the meat and dairy industry, etc., etc., tolerated by all the governments of the world.

Is it necessary to see a doctor before iboga therapy?
I want to ask if it is recommended to go for heart tests and blood tests even with microdosing?

In connection with Iboga, it is often mentioned on some websites and discussion forums that it is very risky and dangerous, it is often recommended to see a doctor before using, who will perform an EKG screening. Is it necessary? And is it also necessary for microdosing?

I dare to say that with microdosing it is absolutely unnecessary to visit a doctor and do any tests. If you are going to take a higher dose of iboga at home (meaning from about 10 grams to some 25 grams), and you are healthy or “averagely healthy”, then even there, I dare say, there is no need to worry about visiting a doctor. But, if you have any doubts about yourself and your condition, it can certainly be advisable to consult with someone who knows your condition, intention and dosage. I you want to get someone to “look after” you during this experience – contact me.

Unsuitable combinations with other substances
While microdosing is very safe, the problem with Iboga is that during longer microdosing schedules, the Iboga alkaloids build up in your body system, so there is a small chance that you may have an adverse reaction if you take other drugs or medications.

Particularly problematic substances that are not recommended to be combined with Iboga are, for example:

MDMA,
amphetamines,
prescription stimulants,
cocaine,
opiates,
MAOIs,
steroids,
beta blockers,
antidepressants,
antipsychotics
and other psychiatric drugs.

So if you want to play it safe, it’s best to avoid all of these during the time of your microdosing and ideally as long as the Iboga is in your system (3 days to a week after finishing your last dose).

I find that in order to get the most out of Iboga, it is good to work exclusively with it, then you feel its effect best and it produces the best results.

Instructions for home microdosing
Recommended test dose before microdosing itself
Experience shows that before you start with the microdosing itself, it can be very very advantageous to first take an amount of approx. 1-2 grams (women) or 2-4 grams (men) for example on a weekend when you know you have a spare time.

Everyone has a different sensitivity to Iboga, and this experimental moderate dose will give you an experience of what Iboga, what condition, can convey to you, what levels you can reach with it, what topics you tune into with it.

This test dose is still very safe, even more sensitive individuals can handle it quite well, the worst that can happen is that you experience a mild iboga process, i.e. you lie down for several tens of minutes to hours, play some pleasant music and rest , and observe yourself, your thoughts and you will be in harmony with Iboga. How strong this test dose will be for you is very individual. I recommend, as I wrote, to give 1-2 grams for women, for men it can be 2-4 grams. Wait at least 2 hours, if you don’t feel anything noticeable, you can increase the dose according to your feeling and inner guidance (about 1 gram each).

This test dose will help you tune in to what you can get in a small micro dose, you will feel how Iboga can interact with you in your system.

We have found that this initial first dose is very suitable in nature, alone, quiet and free of distractions, so you can really tune into yourself with Iboga, but if for some reason you don’t want to or can’t go into nature, that’s okay. Find a calm environment without excessive influences at home.

Tip: A good activity for a test dose of Iboga is, for example, cleaning your room or household, that you have put off for a long time and that you didn’t want to do…

How to know that Iboga is working?
You are very likely to feel “grounded”, to slow down, to feel in a “meditative state”, your attention is focused inward, you don’t feel like talking much. You will notice that you are apathic and that it doesn’t bother you at all 🙂

However, you can also feel very encouraged to doing something you haven’t done for a long time, for example something creative, or the already mentioned cleaning, a walk…

Since Iboga is active in the body for at least 12 hours, I recommend taking this test dose in the morning, not in the evening. If you take Iboga in the evening, there is a risk that you will not sleep. But if you count on it, it’s up to you..

Why can’t I feel anything?
Occasionally, some people report that they “feel nothing” when taking Iboga. They can even swallow up to several grams and still not feel much. There may be several reasons.

1. The person has a system that is simply not compatible with Iboga.
It can happen, but rather in rare cases, that someone takes a full flooding dose and it will have “no effect” on them. It happened to me more than once when accompanying some “specific cases”. For someone, 8 grams is enough and he is already in the full process, someone can take even 20 grams and still claim that he “does not feel anything”.

If you are a person who wants to get rid of any drug addiction with Iboga, then the dosage will probably be much higher than the dosege for a “normal person”. Iboga has to “wash” with the drug inside the bodily systems and thus resets its unwanted devastating effects on the body, and so Iboga does not affect the brain centers as strongly as it affects healthy individuals.

2. Something is happening, Iboga works, the effect occurs, but the person is not able (willing) to admit it
I have witnessed enough people even with a strong dose of Iboga saying that nothing is happening, even though they are knocking, they can’t walk and they keep repeating the same thing. Something is obviously going on, but they don’t see it, or they won’t allow themselves to see it. They have strong defense mechanisms against themselves.

I’ve found that people who are very stuck in their mind/intellect are less likely to see what’s going on, while people who are even by default a little more in their body are much more likely to report an effect. It is as if Iboga works in the space behind the mind, on the subconscious/unconscious, so people used to perceiving the world from a very cerebral or neocortical position may have trouble discerning changes in their perception. So you shouldn’t be staring so much at what’s in front of you, but at your actual perceptual apparatus that’s making the perception to be observed.

Even people who have gone through a lot of different psychedelics and expect to experience something related to the more popular tryptamines and phenylethylamines may claim that nothing is happening, simply because they expect something completely different. Quite different rules apply to Iboga than, for example, to LSD, mushrooms or MDMA…

3. People look for the effects of Iboga with their head (mind), but what is important is the inner understanding that they do not notice
For Iboga, “hallucinations”, the fact that one’s head spins or one “sees stars” or various “hallucinations” are not so important, but much more important is one’s inner state, experience, feeling one’s Self from a new perspective, accepting oneself as , as not until then.

Iboga root bark is medicine for the body as well as the mind. Sometimes I feel like the way Iboga works is very much in the intuitive/feeling realm. Iboga in root bark form seems to bring people back into the body, grounding, redistributing your energy, releasing energy blockages to make you feel better throughout your body as a whole.