What is IV vitamin therapy?

Written by Dr. Salim Olabi | Medically reviewed by Editorial Team

Last updated on: May 27, 2018

When Annie first suggested the topic of IV vitamin therapy as a blog post I’ll admit I didn’t know much about it. After delving into her background and finding that she’d cured herself from chronic migraines using natural therapies I was interested to find out more. Annie is a qualified naturopathic practitioner and today we’re lucky that she’s sharing her knowledge about the little known area of IV vitamin therapy. – Elly xx

What is IV vitamin therapy?

Licensed naturopathic physicians use IV vitamin therapy as a tool to replenish a patient’s micronutrient and nutritional status. Studies have found that IV vitamins can be a great way to improve many health conditions and achieve optimal health and wellness. IV vitamin therapy is an effective and efficient treatment at replenishing vitamins and minerals because it bypasses the digestive system, allowing for 100 percent absorption.

Food or medications such as multivitamins, must be chewed or swallowed whole. They pass down the esophagus to the stomach where the acidic environment begins the breakdown. The small intestine then starts the process of digestion and absorption. Enzymes break the food stuff down into their smaller molecular pieces, and eventually to amino acids (the building blocks of proteins).

The small intestine absorbs these amino acids, and passes them into the blood where they are carried to the liver. The liver acts as our primary detoxification organ. It receives everything that we put into our body and processes it to be transported in the blood or excreted as urine or stool.

Assimilating the vitamins and minerals from our food is a long and complex process. There are many steps that can be interrupted, and this is where vitamin IV therapy comes in.100 percent absorption is ensured through IV vitamin therapy because the vitamins and minerals can be administered directly to the blood. Therefore, many different types of patients can benefit from vitamin therapy, and much more efficiently than by taking food or medication orally.

What is a Myer’s cocktail?

A Myer’s cocktail is a Nutritional IV Therapy. It is named so after Dr. John Myer and is commonly misnamed a ‘Meyer’s cocktail.’

It is unknown what the true “Myer’s cocktail” was, as there was no written account of the exact treatment. Patients of John Myer reported that he used a 10-mL syringe to perform a slow vitamin push of various nutrients into the vein. Today, IV nutrient therapy or IV vitamins is used interchangeably with the name Myer’s cocktail and consists of various different vitamins and minerals in combination to treat specific diseases. The Myer’s cocktail is now done in an IV bag, rather than a vitamin push from a syringe. The patient receives more hydration and nutrients this way.

Common nutrients found in IV vitamin therapy are:

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)
B complex
Magnesium chloride
Calcium chloride

The Myer’s cocktail can be personalized to any patient for their specific needs. For example, a “migraine cocktail” can be formulated for a patient suffering from chronic migraines.

The Myer’s cocktail also differs from a ‘banana bag,’ which is administered in the hospital. This is because it it has many more vitamins and minerals and it is formulated to treat specific conditions for each individual patient. A typical banana bag contains thiamine (vitamin B1), folic acid, and magnesium sulfate and is in either normal saline or dextrose water.

What are the benefits of IV vitamins?

The benefits of IV vitamin therapy are many! As discussed above, nutrients traveling through the digestive system can have many interruptions or problems. Because IV vitamin therapy bypasses this system, 100 percent absorption of the vitamins and minerals can be achieved. For this reason, vitamin IV therapy can correct micronutrient deficiencies. This improves the overall nutritional status of an individual, allowing for the relief of many symptoms.

Some benefits include:

Increased energy
Reduced symptoms of stress
Improved hydration
Regulation of the immune system, improving the symptoms of chronic illnesses and treating
Autoimmune disease flare-ups
Improved skin quality
Reduction in headaches
Improved symptoms of depression
Improved symptoms of asthma
Shortened recovery time for athletes, optimal performance, improved endurance
Relieves allergies, colds and flus

Is IV nutrient therapy safe?

Nutritional IV therapy is safe when administered by a qualified practitioner who has completed the certification course and knows how to calculate the osmolarity of the solution being administered. Our practitioners at Bay Wellness in Vancouver have completed the relevant qualifications to be able to administer IV vitamin therapy safely.

Some individuals get a feeling of warmth from nutrient pushes, most likely due to the magnesium and/or calcium. However this is rarely found to be intolerable. It is also important that the patient has eaten something before being administered IV vitamins because the B vitamins can cause nausea if given on an empty stomach.

Rapid administration of magnesium can also lead to hypotension (low blood pressure). In this case, the IV is stopped until symptoms resolve and from there it can be administered more slowly.

The elderly and frail patients require special consideration. For them, the IV or the vitamin push can be administered more slowly. Alternatively, IM injections can be performed instead to avoid any adverse effects such as hypotension. Special attention should be paid to those patients taking diuretic medications who are losing excess potassium. This is because the administration of magnesium can then cause adverse effects.

Patients who suffer from renal disease or renal failure, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency have an increased risk of adverse effects. All patients should be tested for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency before receiving 10 grams or more of ascorbic acid.

Who can benefit from nutritional IV therapy?

Everybody can benefit from vitamin drips! Today, most people are under chronic stress, not getting enough sleep or adequate nutrition, and are feeling run-down, tired and in pain. Vitamin IV therapy is a great way to address any deficiencies in vitamins or minerals and reach optimal nutrient levels and hydration status.

In acute cases, vitamin IV therapy is a great tool to treat migraines, headaches, colds, flus, seasonal allergies, morning sickness during pregnancy, fatigue and hangovers.

In chronic cases, IV therapy can be used to treat diseases such as:

Rheumatoid arthritis
Cancer
Crohn’s disease
IBS/IBD
Ulcerative colitis
Lupus
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Asthma
Depression
Drug addiction
Fibromyalgia
Adrenal insufficiency or adrenal fatigue

No matter how clean you eat, food today doesn’t have the same nutrient density that it once did. Therefore IV nutrition therapy can be a fantastic place to start to receive the missing nutrients. Furthermore, for nutrients to reach the blood, food has to be digested and absorbed efficiently. Gut health must be optimal for this to occur.

How much does IV vitamin therapy cost?

Vitamin infusion therapy varies in cost from clinic to clinic. At our clinic, Bay Wellness Centre the cost is $150. The average cost can range from $120-$200. It will be higher reaching in some cases of cancer-specific treatments with very high doses of vitamin C. These types of treatments should only be done by FABNO trained naturopathic physicians.

Where can I get IV nutrition therapy done?

Naturopathic doctors’ offices can provide IV vitamin therapy if they have completed the extra training and certification. They also need to be located in provinces and states where it is licensed.