Therapeutic IV Therapy

(Not just a bag of vitamins)

If you are struggling to gain control of your health, IV therapy may help you reach your goals. At CIM we perform an intake that helps determine the most appropriate IV for your condition. This is critical in ensuring a positive outcome. At times, the IV therapy may be adjusted dependent on your response and current set of symptoms. In addition, other therapies may be implemented to enhance the efficacy of an IV and patient response. These may include hormones, botanicals, peptides, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, PEMF, injections, etc. In most cases IV therapy is meant to be part of a comprehensive wellness plan and not always a single therapy.

At CIM we specialize in treating all disorders- from exercise recovery/overtraining, chronic dehydration, chronic stress and fatigue, to chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, COVID/Long COVID, Lyme disease, multi-systemic infectious disease syndrome, and cancer.

So, if you are looking to feel better and want a comprehensive approach to your health care consider IV therapy at CIM.

IV Therapy has certain advantages over conventional treatments, oral nutrients, and herbal supplements.

IV therapy causes fewer side effects than do many conventional drugs used to treat the same conditions.
IV therapy delivers a higher concentration of nutrients directly into the bloodstream that could never be achieved by taking the same substances orally or through injections.
Many vitamins and minerals taken orally are not well absorbed in the digestive tract. That is not an issue with IV vitamin drips, which bypass the digestive system.
IV therapy can often provide quicker improvements in your condition

Center for Integrative Medicine IV therapy options:

Nutrient IVs

This type of IV might be something like the classic “Meyer’s push” or a much more potent dose of a multivitamin/mineral combination including: vitamin C, B12, B5, B6, B complex, calcium, magnesium, zinc and selenium. These IVs are great for people experiencing chronic fatigue, cachexia, poor nutrition, malabsorption, decreased immune function or acute/chronic illness.

IV Vitamin C

There are two ways to use IV vitamin C. The first way is in low doses (under 7.5 grams vitamin C) that produce an antioxidant effect. As an antioxidant, vitamin C works to deal with free radicals—molecules that are produced by the breakdown of inflammation, viruses, bacteria, and toxins. Low dose vitamin C IVs are therefore great for acute illness or anything that involves a pathogen (aka virus or bacteria) or poor immune function.

The second way to use vitamin C is in high doses (anything over 7.5 grams) that produce an oxidative effect. In high doses, vitamin C is taken up preferentially by cancer cells due to its molecular similarity to glucose (cancer loves sugar). Once this happens, vitamin C converts to hydrogen peroxide which is cytotoxic (oxidative) only to cancer cells. There is a very large body of research that has been published regarding the use of vitamin C to help fight cancer (Check out the Integrative Oncology tab for more information and for other IVs that are helpful for cancer).

Glutathione

While vitamin C is our body’s main extracellular antioxidant, glutathione is our main intracellular one. Our bodies make glutathione from the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine is made endogenously by mammals and is also found in certain food sources and supplements (i.e. NAC). Glutathione works inside our cells to clean up oxidative stress caused by microbes, inflammation, and byproducts of immune stimulation. Giving glutathione in IV form is much more effective than trying to take supplements like NAC or oral forms of glutathione. In IV form, it gets directly into your bloodstream and transported to cells instead of going through the gut where it is poorly absorbed due to its water insolubility.

Rehydration IVs

By using a slightly hypo-osmotic IV solution, we can use IV therapy to drive water into dehydrated cells. These IVs can also include a small dose of nutrients like b vitamins and minerals like calcium and magnesium. Rehydration IVs are great to consider when you are recovering from an illness or endurance athletic event.

IV Ozone

Ozone IV therapy, like high dose vitamin C, is an example of an oxidative therapy. This means that we can directly improve oxygenation utilization by increasing the NAD/NADH ratio for healthier mitochondrial function. Decreased oxygen utilization is caused by aging, inflammation, stress, diet, toxins and others and results in excessive free radicals. When ozone reacts with plasma you get H202 and lipid mediators that increase cytokine activity, increase the production of nitrous oxide, upregulate antioxidant enzymes and stimulate neutrophil production. Ozone IV therapy is the treatment of choice for those suffering with chronic or recurrent illness, long-haul COVID or any disorder of an under-functioning immune system.

In this treatment, we drain approximately 500ccs of your blood and mix it with medical grade ozone before infusing it back into you. This is done twice and takes about 2 hours. We expect patients to notice an effect even after just 1 ozone IV.

Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA)

ALA is a naturally occurring compound that is synthesized in small amounts by all living organisms. It works as a powerful free radical scavenger and is both a fat- and water-soluble antioxidant which potentiates the production of other antioxidants including glutathione and CoQ10. In IV form, it has been shown to improve peripheral neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy, slow the growth of cancer cells, repair liver damage and chelate heavy metals.

NAD

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is a coenzyme that helps our body create energy and repair DNA. As we age, our body produces less NAD resulting in a decline in cognitive health and slower metabolism. It has been shown that IV NAD is a potent treatment to combat the effects of aging, aid in muscle recovery and increase athletic performance, treat anxiety, depression and addiction, amongst others.

Hydrogen peroxide

The most important physiologic or “natural” substance causing oxidation in the human body is hydrogen peroxide. When administered intravenously, an enzyme in the blood called catalase splits the hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water which oxidizes viruses and other pathogens. Therefore, IV hydrogen peroxide is great for acute or chronic illnesses that involve a virus or bacteria.

Chelation Therapy for Heavy Metals

Chelation is the process of removing heavy metals and/or minerals out of storage and into the bloodstream where they are excreted via the GI and renal systems. Throughout our lifetime, we accumulate a whole host of heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, and arsenic. These metals get stored in our brain, kidney, liver, and bones. While our body has a very smart way to detoxify heavy metals, it is inevitable that we will have some metals build up in certain organs which can lead to system-wide malfunction. At the Center for Integrative Medicine, we test for your heavy metal burden via a 6-hour provoked urine test. This involves the administration of two chelating agents—calcium EDTA and DMPS—and then a 6-hour urine collection. The sample is then sent to a lab where the type and number of metals are compared to a non-provoked sample. We then develop a chelation plan that usually involves both oral and IV chelation. Chelating heavy metals doesn’t happen overnight and you can expect to be recommended to complete 20+ chelation IVs over several months to really make a dent in the metals that are stored.

Chelation Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease

A specific form of EDTA called Disodium EDTA can be used in a specialized IV to slowly chelate calcium plaques (aka atherosclerosis) that have deposited in our heart arteries. These disodium EDTA IVs are 3 hours in duration to ensure we are not chelating your body’s own minerals too quickly. We also administer a multivitamin/multimineral IV after every third disodium EDTA IV to make sure we are replacing nutrients appropriately during the chelation process. To really see an effect on cardiovascular health, you will need to commit to at least 20 sessions. In addition to this IV, there is a concomitant treatment plan to address cardiovascular health that will include diet, lifestyle, and supplement recommendations.

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