Meryl Horne

And it was during his illness that Holly really found herself needing drugs to cope.

This went on for years.

And, you know, ultimately she found a new and supportive partner, but she was still struggling with drugs.

So she gave Ibogaine a go.

And it was also a hard experience for her.

She kind of felt like she was confronting the darkest parts of herself.

But then going through that really changed something in her.

So what was it like coming out of this experience?

And yeah, I also asked Holly, so what happened to your withdrawal symptoms and cravings after the Ibogaine?

Well, we actually do know more about how it might be helping people.

Like we know more about that than how it just makes us trip.

Oh, okay.

So basically it could be encouraging neuroplasticity and scientists think that maybe because the trip is so long, it could be opening up this like big window where the brain can remake itself.

And we have animal studies backing that up.

So researchers have found that injecting ibogaine into rats can lead to the release of growth factors, proteins that encourage neurons to make new connections.

And they found that that was happening in parts of the brain that are rewired during addiction, like the reward centers of the brain.

Oh, cool.

And we don't have a lot of research on humans yet, but I did find a study on this in veterans with traumatic brain injuries.

So scientists gave them Ibogaine and looked at what sorts of brain changes happens.

And they found that after the vets got Ibogaine, parts of their brains were thicker.