#63 - Hilda Sánchez:  Is Ibogaine Safe?

#63 - Hilda Sánchez:  Is Ibogaine Safe?

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction? This conversation on Root Medicine takes you behind the scenes at Beond, where lead nurse Hilda Sánchez explains what it really takes to keep people safe during ibogaine treatment.

Hilda shares how her career shifted from high-pressure hospital emergency rooms in Mexico to a psychedelic healing centre where, as she puts it, “deep listening is deep medicine.” Instead of racing between six patients on a ward, she and her team stay with each guest around the clock, asking everything from how they want to be woken up on treatment day to whether they prefer a female nurse or specific music while they’re on the medicine.

Safety is front and centre here. You’ll hear how Beond uses advanced cardiac life support training, continuous heart monitoring, and carefully rehearsed emergency protocols to reduce ibogaine’s known cardiac risks. Hilda walks through the process step by step: pre-arrival medical screening, cardiology consults when needed, EKGs “with love,” and daily multidisciplinary rounds where more than 100 staff coordinate care. The episode also breaks down flood dosing versus fractional dosing in simple, practical terms.

Flood doses are intense, “cannonball into the pool” style sessions, while fractional dosing uses smaller amounts of ibogaine over several days to lower cardiac risk and often make recovery gentler—especially for older guests, those with heart histories, or people who know they’re highly sensitive. Beyond the clinical detail, this is a story about human connection.

Hilda talks honestly about a challenging early guest who almost made her quit, and how staying with that difficulty transformed her as a nurse and as a person. Her message to anyone on the fence about ibogaine? “The only way out is through.” If you’re curious about how a modern ibogaine centre balances structure, heart, and serious medical safety, this one might give you plenty to think about.