I grew up and lived all my life fighting depression, ptsd and addiction. I had a chaotic emotional and personal life. My professional life was a mess for more than 15 years.
I came to Iboga treatment during a phase of reconstruction. I was in therapy for 5 years, engaged in a healthy relationship (but not able to be emotionally stable and present enough) and I was going through a lot of anxiety, avoidance and pain as i still was suffering from depression and addiction regular relapses.
Through the treatment, I only wanted to get rid of the addiction relapses; addiction that I did not succeed to get rid off in the last 25 years.
A friend of mine introduced me to Bilal and after speaking with him I felt reassured and trusted him to go through with the treatment.
Bilal gave me all the information I needed, he listened a lot and gave back expert and relevant feedback.
During the experience, Bilal was constantly present and focused on my safety and well being. He did not rest or sleep in the first 24h and was monitoring my vitals as well as my environment. As part of the treatment, he was not in the room with me but close by and answered and came in the room right away, each time I called him. This made me feel safe and helped me so much during the treatment.
In the weeks and months following the treatment, Bilal was available each time I needed to share what I was experiencing and going through. He helped me understand and accept my perceptions and also clear my doubts or not feel threatened by them.
Going through the treatment gave me much more than I expected.
Not only it helped me to get rid of the unmanageable and irresistible cravings but It made me also much more in touch with and aware of my senses and my emotions.
I feel much more at peace with my self. My anxiety level is in an acceptable and manageable bandwidth. My craving is extremely rare and I have the inner resources to manage it.
My wife is amazed by my recovery and emotional health improvement. My professional life and relations have improved along with my interpersonal skills.
Of course I still have a long road ahead. I will always have to monitor myself to avoid being overwhelmed by anxiety or cravings.
I have a marriage to build and nurture, a family to take good care of, but going through the treatment made me feel more confident that I will achieve these goals and live a healthy life, having the resources to fight for my health and loved ones each time I will have to.
Idriss
The best decision I ever made!
The Harambe Center welcomed me with open arms from the very beginning. Despite all my questions and concerns, they handled everything with compassion, knowledge and care, not only for me, but also for my family.
The center came highly recommended by a friend, but I truly understood its power only once I experienced it myself. They didn’t just provide treatment, they offered a home, a sanctuary, and a life-changing journey.
My ibogaine experience was more profound and healing than I ever could have imagined.
Catherine and Bilal, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are true masters at offering people a second chance at life. I am forever grateful.
With love,
Sara
I came to Harambe this summer as a last resort to get help with my opioid addiction. Kathy and Bilal were so welcoming, generous, and immediately gave a serious impression. Even their two children were incredibly welcoming and super nice, making me feel “at home” right away.
However, my experience of the treatment turned out a bit different, because I had not been truthful about having quit opioids before the treatment. In the period leading up to it, I had been taking high doses of the stomach medicine loperamide hydrochloride, which in such doses can lead to serious heart rhythm disturbances. I stopped taking this medication only a few days before my Iboga treatment, but since it has an extremely long half-life in higher doses, it was still in my system when I started the ibogaine treatment.
Before starting the treatment, both Kathy and Bilal asked me several times if I had taken any medications beforehand, and I denied it (in other words, I lied to them) – something I am deeply ashamed of today, as it could have cost me my life.
The combination of ibogaine and loperamide hydrochloride caused me to suffer from severe heart rhythm disturbances. This was quickly noticed by Kathy, Bilal, and the nurse who was monitoring my ECG at their home at the start of the treatment. Thanks to their quick observation of my serious condition, they decided to stop the treatment, even though at that moment I didn’t want them to. Because they recognized the severity of the situation and acted fast, I was able to get to the hospital and eventually ended up in the intensive care unit due to multiple episodes of torsades de pointes, a life-threatening arrhythmia caused by the dangerous stomach medicine I had taken before the iboga treatment, combined with my dishonesty about it.
Despite all this, they treated me with kindness and warmth, and I have them – and the nurse they work with – to thank for being alive today and for the fact that my children still have their mother. Even though I did not receive the full dose of the treatment, I believe I still got what I needed. To this day, I have not had a relapse, and soon it will be two months since I began the treatment with them. I owe them so much, and I believe that after what happened, a new and better chapter of my life is about to begin.
But I also want to share my story as a warning to others: never be dishonest about what medications you have taken before treatment, because it can have very serious consequences. Ibogaine is a powerful, potent medicine, and I truly believe in its miracles and its ability to initiate change for people with opioid addiction. At the same time, I am fully aware that this is only the beginning, and that you must continue to consciously work on yourself and your behavior every day.
For a long time, I struggled with an addiction to psycho-stimulants, and it was very difficult for me to overcome it. I tried therapy as well, but without success. Eventually, I started searching for information on my own, and that’s how I came across ibogaine as a tool in the fight against addiction, as well as Kathy and Bilal, who welcomed me with open arms and guided me through the entire process.
They are truly wonderful and kind people, and the conversations I had with Bilal while we were sitting alone were incredibly helpful in understanding myself and how this all really works. You can truly rely on him – just remember to listen to what he says, because he genuinely knows what he’s talking about.
So come with an open mind, good intentions, and, most importantly, a sincere desire to change – and you will definitely succeed. I wholeheartedly recommend them, and once again, I send my warmest greetings and deepest thanks to Kathy, Bilal, and their amazing children for everything I experienced here.
First of all thank you so much Cathy and Bilal, this experience has truly brought me from a dark looping mess to a light smiling future in such a short time.
I’ve been to detox clinics before and the problem i found was, its ok to detox in a clinical setting but then stepping out into the real world again is a big struggle, as real life hits you immediately, the noise and stress come rushing back and it can be a bit over whelming. What Catherine and Bilal provide is a private family environment with lots of friendly interaction with there whole family including Jama, a very friendly dog and their 2 wonderful children.
I booked in for 5 days. The treatment was more intense than expected but both Cathy and Bilal were with me the whole time for guidance and reassurance. With a registered nurse also monitoring me the whole way.
Truly like nothing I have ever experienced.
This short treatment has cleared my head and my heart and given me the space and time to assess the causes of my looping negative thoughts that created my bad habits and also shown me some tools to deal with future triggers that might trick me back into old habits.
From the moment Bilal pick me up to the moment he dropped me off, I felt welcomed with lots of stories and laughter even when I didn’t feel like it.
I highly recommend anyone might be struggling to check them out as I can sincerely say this has diverted me from a dark path into the light and I know I have made some very cool new friends.
Thank you guys
Leon
One day after the treatment, I feel more blissful than I have in years. Nothing in the world could have prepared me for the medicine, and it’s nothing like you hear online, but it’s more than worth it all the way through. The stay was great and the hosts were amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience overall, even if I was a bit nervous in the beginning. I can’t recommend this place enough and I can’t wait to come back
It is incredibly dificult to comprehend what Kathy, Bilo, their amazing family and iboga have done for me. The beauty of working with Bilo and Kathy is not only that they are ‘just amazing people’ but that their approach to administration Is bespoke and holistic, they curate a very safe environment which is imperative when undergoing such a powerful treatment.
It is tremendously labour intensive work Kathy and bli do and the amount of care and attention they place on your well-being is munificent, they are real humanitarians, the conversations I had with bilo about B B king, roasted peanuts and the pueblos Jovenes (surprisingly therapeutic), how present and attentive Kathy was to my relaying of my traumas, it all meant so much to me , so thank you for that.
One must consider when undergoing this treatment whom it is they are being looked after by, as someone who as a result of being treated appalling in the past by those who were supposed to be looking after me I find the company of others, especially strangers unnerving- I have never felt so comfortable amongst unfamiliar faces.
I realise now, that before taking iboga there were parts of me that didn’t want to change, to heal, I was able to understand why that was, come to terms with it and now the thought of healing evokes excitement and hope opposed to angst and fear.
Although iboga in and of itself is incredibly healing what makes the medicine so special are its precursory effects, Iboga allows you to not only prosses your trauma but serves as an avenue for hope and an impetus for change.
Understanding that change comes from within and that we are capable of change is no easy task and to go one step further and act on that belief when in a place of severe hardship is almost futile, Iboga altered my entire sense of self – which, prior to taking iboga was very negative, that is no longer the case.
I urge anyone who is struggling in their lives with trauma and addiction to undergo this magnificent treatment, I am absolutely stunned by the e.icacy of iboga.
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