What Is IV Vitamin Therapy?
Intravenous (IV) vitamin drip therapy contain minerals and vitamins delivered directly into your bloodstream in safe therapeutic doses. This delivery system means you get the benefits straight away without the need for your system to digest the nutrients. IV vitamin drip therapy improves the absorption of the vitamins by your body’s cells.
Taking high doses of vitamins orally does not guarantee their effectiveness. They may not be activated or absorbed properly through digestion. And, taking high doses orally can cause side effects such as nausea and stomach cramps.
Using IV vitamin drip therapy, uses the purest forms of minerals and vitamins. All IV vitamin therapy is tailored to meet your personal needs based on the recommendation of your health practitioner.
What Is IV Vitamin Therapy Used For?
The use of IV vitamin therapy is wide ranging for many conditions. It can be beneficial for people with health conditions that make it difficult to process or retain nutrients.
You are probably asking ‘do IV vitamin drips work’?
I personally used IV vitamins to good effect when suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. When my illness was at its worst and due to several gut issues I was unable to absorb nutrients from my food or effectively detox.
Additionally, I could not take oral supplements as my system was in such a fragile state that supplement use would cause a whole bunch of further uncomfortable symptoms.
However, my body was in desperate need of nutrients to support my healing and IV vitamins and minerals did a lot to help kick start my recovery. My personal IV cocktail was high dose Vitamin C, B12, B6, Magnesium and Glutathione.
The cost is quite high which put the brakes on how often I could have the IV drip, but in the early stages I had a treatment once each 10 days, then gradually spaced the treatments out further as I felt improvement in my symptoms. As my recovery really got going I was then able to switch to oral nutritional supplements.
Nowadays, if I feel like I’m coming down with a cold, flu or some virus I try to have a high dose IV Vitamin C drip as soon as I feel the symptoms and it definitely helps nip it in the bud.
What you should know is there have been no clinical studies to show whether this type of therapy is good or not. But IV vitamin therapy works on the premise it is good for your health. The nutrients used in IV drips are normally in the food you eat when you have a healthy diet, but in higher dosages for therapeutic effect.
IV Vitamin Therapy Is Commonly Used For:
- To improve iron deficiencies.
- To reduce symptoms of colds and flu, glandular fever, shingles and asthma.
- Correcting vitamin deficiencies caused by medical conditions such as surgery, malnutrition and chronic illness.
- Providing immune support to some cancer patients.
- Jet lag.
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Parkinson’s disease
- To assist people with high stress levels
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Hepatitis
- Hypertension
- Macular degeneration
- Wasting disease.
What To Expect When You Go For A Treatment
What you can expect when you go for a treatment will vary depending on where you go. In general, you will have a consultation with the clinic’s doctor.
The doctor assesses your needs and looks at your medical history to make sure IV vitamin drip therapy is suitable for you. Then they tailor a therapy that suits you and your needs.
Before your treatment starts a pharmacist will mix your particular prescription solution of vitamins and minerals according to the doctors requirement. A nurse or healthcare professional will access a vein and secure the needle in place. Your nurse will monitor the vitamin drip during treatment to ensure the vitamins and minerals are administered correctly.
If like me you use an independent clinic you should check with your health practitioner on which vitamins and minerals and the dosage of each you require. On arrival at the clinic you can then discuss this with the clinic doctor.
How long it takes to administer the IV vitamin drip therapy depends on the type of therapy you receive. It can take anything from around 20 minutes to over an hour. If it is your first treatment the nurse generally sets the drip to a slower speed to make sure you are comfortable, so expect to be there at least 45 minutes or so. Once you have had a few treatment sessions and are used to them, you will be able to speed up the rate of the drip.
When you go in for your therapy treatment:
- Wear comfortable clothes, a short sleeved shirt or sleeves that can be easily rolled up.
- Have water available to stay hydrated.
- Take a tablet or smartphone to listen to music or watch a movie.
- Take a book or magazine to read.
The nurse will find a suitable vein located on your inner arm and insert the needle then attach the drip to it. If you don’t like needles, sorry but there’s no way around this.
You may be able to relax and take a nap. I generally find it a pretty relaxing experience, time to switch off and visualize all of those beneficial nutrients passing into your bloodstream.
Why Have IV Vitamin Drip Therapy?
Hospitals use IV vitamin drips for patients deficient in a certain nutrient or who are too sick to eat. Patients are carefully monitored. And, this should be the same in any clinic you visit for an IV vitamin treatment.
IV Vitamin Therapy Benefits
In today’s world, chronic stress is common. Many people do not eat properly or get enough sleep. This leaves them feeling run down, exhausted and in pain. Many people can benefit from IV vitamin drip therapy to correct nutrient deficiencies and for optimal health. Some of the benefits include:
- Shortens an athlete’s recovery time.
- Increases energy.
- Improves the body’s hydration levels.
- Regulates the immune system to improve the symptoms of chronic conditions and autoimmune flare ups.
- Assists in the symptoms of asthma.
- Improves moods.
- Relieves allergies, the flu and colds.
- Helps to improve the symptoms of depression.
- Reduces the occurrence of headaches.
- Helps to reduce stress.
- Improves skin quality
- Optimises performance.
- Improves your body’s endurance.
IV Vitamin And Mineral Drips Available
Many types of vitamin and mineral IV drips are available including:
MAGNESIUM to assist with a lack of energy, insomnia, no appetite and frequent headaches.
CHELATION THERAPY with DMPS to treat acute metal poisoning from aluminium, lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium. It helps your body to detox heavy metals and prevent illnesses and imbalances from metals in your system. Symptoms of toxicity from heavy metal include:
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- Trouble concentrating and the feeling of your brain being clouded in a fog
- Mood changes
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Autoimmune diseases
- Difficulty learning and remembering new information
- Muscle and joint pain
- Decline in the cognitive function
- Neurological disorders.
GLUTATHIONE is your body’s master antioxidant and it prevents heart disease, cancer, wrinkles and dementia. While your body makes its own glutathione, today’s modern society makes its production difficult. Things like pollution, medications, stress, poor diet, toxins, trauma, infection and ageing all affect your ability to produce glutathione. Glutathione boosts your immune system and energy to assist in fighting off flu and cold symptoms. It also protects you from toxins, pollutants and processed foods enhanced by GMOs. IV therapy using glutathione can assist the following:
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- Supporting cancer patients
- Autism
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Liver conditions
- Neurodegenerative disorders including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease
- Chronic illnesses
- Drug addictions
- Fibromyalgia
- Kidney diseases
- Glaucoma
- Muscle recovery
- Emphysema
- Mercury poisoning
- Drug addictions
- Hepatitis
- Respiratory conditions
- Smoking.
VITAMIN C is water soluble and needs to be consumed daily as your body does not store vitamin C.
It can help treat:
- Hepatitis
- Mono
- Toxicity
- Fatigue
- Cancer
- Viral infections
- Overall weakness in the body
- Compromised immunity
Vitamin C also lowers the risk of stroke and heart attack and boosts the immune system to fight off bacterial and chronic viral infections. It boosts the production of collagen to improve your skin, nails and hair and restores your body’s hydration.
This useful vitamin is becoming increasingly seen as beneficial in assisting cancer patients undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. But it is also used to fight of the side effects such as nausea, vomiting and fatigue. It also improves memory function and helps regulate sleeping patterns.
Vitamin C is also crucial if you are suffering from adrenal fatigue syndrome as your adrenals use huge quantities of this vitamin when under stress. Having IV Vitamin C can be an easy and effective way of getting high dose your adrenals need particularly in the early stage of your illness.
VITAMIN B12 to assist in:
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- Brain function
- Depression
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Osteoporosis
- Relieves stress
- Boosts the immune system
- Regulates sleeping patterns
- Boosts your energy
- Improves memory
- Regulates cell metabolism
- Fights of viruses.
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VITAMIN D or IRON to correct any deficiencies when levels of either are low.
ZINC is good for fighting off colds, helps balance hormone production, boosts digestion, the immune system and energy levels, and can help to prevent cancerous cell growth.
MYERS COCKTAIL is a mix of vitamin C, B vitamins and magnesium already made up. Unfortunately it’s not as delicious as the cocktails you are familiar with, but it is way healthier.
A Myers Cocktail is effective for:
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- Fibromyalgia
- Migraine headaches
- Fatigue in general and chronic fatigue syndrome
- Chronic asthma
- Chronic sinusitis
- Acute muscle spasms
- Pain relief
- Depression
- Relief of anxiety
- Cardiovascular disease
- Allergic rhinitis caused by seasonal changes.
- Symptoms of depression.
Are There Any Risks?
It is important to understand that excessive minerals and vitamins can cause harm to your system. What makes it worse is your body stores fat soluble vitamins instead of eliminating them. Examples are large doses of vitamin E can stop your body absorbing other vitamins. Also, vitamin A in high doses can damage your bones and liver.
You need to make sure the clinic you go to for IV vitamin drip therapy has a doctor on staff. Make sure you have an appointment with the doctor before having IV vitamin therapy.
Most clinics do not have access to your medical history. They will not know what pre-existing conditions you have. They will also not know what contraindications you have that could make high doses of vitamins dangerous. The clinic doctor should also be advised of any medications you are currently taking as well as any over the counter medications.
Having IV vitamin drips on a regular basis could mean getting excessive amounts of nutrients that can harm you. While the amount of nutrients varies from person to person, it is possible get more vitamins and minerals than your body can handle. This is why safe levels of vitamin and mineral intakes have been established when taking them orally.
But some people are less tolerant of receiving high doses through IV vitamin therapy. An example is iron. Your body can store iron and continual high doses can cause haemochromatosis. Haemochromatosis can cause tissue and organ damage which can potentially cause premature death. Regular blood testing should be undertaken to monitor iron levels if supplementation is used.
Anything administered via needle into the bloodstream has risks. These include air bubbles entering your bloodstream, infections and allergic reactions if someone does not have the qualifications to administer substances via injection. It is vital that whoever administers your IV vitamin drip therapy is a professional. These types of clinics do not have regulatory processes to govern the safety of the therapies they administer.
Putting It All Together
IV vitamin drip therapy has a lot of benefits but it is important to go to a clinic that have professionals on staff. The industry is not regulated so make sure you consult a doctor before having a vitamin IV administered into your system. Also make sure you understand the risks as well as the benefits.
Check out clinics thoroughly for safe practices and ask a lot of questions. Make sure they understand your medical history before committing to IV vitamin therapy. Better yet, use the recommendation of your naturopath/functional medicine practitioner to find a suitable clinic. They will also help you tailor an IV drip prescription that suits your particular health condition.
There are no clinical studies on the safety or benefits of this type of therapy. But, in general, it is safe if your do your research. Choose the clinic that answers your questions and has trained medical staff.
IV vitamin therapy does not replace good nutrition or a healthy lifestyle. It should be used in conjunction with a healthy diet to assist you in areas that need a nutrient boost.
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