Intravenous Therapy FAQ
Why even use Intravenous Therapy?
Intravenous Treatment allows our Naturopaths to bypass the digestive tract and facilitates 100% absorption.
IV drips can create serum concentrations that are not possible when the same substances are taken orally.
We are able to give dramatically higher amounts of natural substances when done intravenously.
One favorite use of infusions at our office is to increase brain levels of particular substances for mood and cognitive enhancement.
Because of the large serum spikes attainable through IV Therapy administration we are able to drive more across the blood brain barrier.
What we've observed at our Edmonton office is that oral, sublingual, or intranasal administration of the same products rarely appreciably and obviously improve fatigue, mood or cognition.
Likely because these other routes of administration cannot achieve the high serum concentrations that are attainable with intravenous administration.
How does Intravenous Therapy work?
Because of the aforementioned high serum levels attainable through IV Therapy, it can allow for more effective cellular repletion.
The large rise in the serum concentration from Intravenous Therapy provides a window of opportunity for deficient cells to take up needed intermediates.
As the cells are “flooded” repeatedly from intravenous infusions those levels can build.
It appears that some patients feel better and function better when they have higher levels (cellular and blood levels).
Some explanations of the mechanisms behind intravenous therapy suggest that certain natural substances have been shown to exert pharmacological effects, that is, effects that are different that their standard biochemical effects
How much does a IV Treatment cost?
Intravenous Treatments unfortunately are not cheap.
Average prices in Edmonton costs range between $130 and $200 on average per intravenous treatment
How often do I have to come for Intravenous Therapy?
The frequency of IV Therapy depends on the condition being treated as well as the IV being given.
For instance, for energy, our Naturopaths usually administer one IV Therapy treatment per week (administration time is usually less than 20 minutes) weekly for 3-4 consecutive weeks to achieve sustained cellular and blood levels.
Further intravenous treatments are done every 4-8 weeks as a "booster" to maintain the effect.
Some patients are able to complete a series of IV treatments and can go without further IV Treatments for long periods of time.
They then can "drop in" periodically for a booster treatment as needed a few times per year.
Is Intravenous Therapy Safe?
Yes, despite being somewhat invasive, IV Therapy is a safe and has a low risk of adverse side effects when appropriate doses and administration rates are used.
Before undergoing any intravenous treatment, we always review your health history and assess labs to make sure there are no contraindications to treatment.
Doses used are adjusted to the individual needs of a given patient, and every IV therapy treatment in under medical supervision.
We've administered over 14000 Intravenous Therapy treatments at our Edmonton office with an almost non existent incidence of adverse effects.
Occasionally patients feel discomfort at the IV site during concentrated IV treatments.
If needed we may dilute the IV or may apply heat to the site.
Rarely, do patients feel more tired or "out of sorts" the next day after an infusion.
Who administers the Intravenous Therapy?
Your Intravenous Therapy will be administered by one of our IV licensed Naturopathic Doctors or by a Nurse.
Our NDs have done both basic and advanced IV Therapy training in addition to their standard training as Naturopathic doctors.
How do I prepare for my Intravenous Treatment?
Staying hydrated the day before and day of your IV treatment is helpful to increase the appearance of your veins.
Also feel free to use one of our heating pads to warm your arms right before your treatment.
Eating a snack or a small meal before your treatment is also great to reduce chances of nausea or lightheadedness.
Our Naturopaths do a lot of IV Therapy at our Edmonton office and generally do not have issues with IV administration, even in those with "tricky" veins.
Is IV Therapy safe for children?
Although we don't do IV Therapy in young children frequently, it is possible to do and safe to use in children.
Naturally doses are adjusted downwards based off of bodyweight.
Can you do Intravenous Therapy if you are pregnant?
We do a limited amount of IV Therapy in pregnancy.
Commonly, hydration is sought out by pregnant patients.
How long do Intravenous Treatments take?
The length of time for an IV Treatment differs depending on the therapy chosen.
Our fastest drips can be 10 to 15 minutes whereas hydration or cancer infusions can take two to three hours.
Can you create specific an IV Treatment based off my individual needs?
Our Naturopaths do offer advanced testing our Edmonton clinic to determine if you need any additional substances in particular.
How quickly does someone feel better after an Intravenous Treatment?
IV Therapy can give rapid results.
For energy, with a short volume drip or push, we usually see positive effects within 24 hours.
Improved sleep and reduced anxiety can happen the same day as a IV Treatment.
Some of our mitochondrial oriented IV treatments can frequently improve energy and cognition the same day as the treatment, often beginning right after the treatment ends.
Fatigue
IV therapy is most commonly used for fatigue
Cosmetics
Drips for skin lightening and brightening
Our clinic uses numerous IV bags for patients looking for cosmetic effects.
The skin lightening properties of Naturopathic infusions is thought to be primarily related to stimulation of lighter pheomelanin pigment synthesis rather than darker eumelanin.
Our Experience: We've seen some patients respond favorably over time to these skin infusions.
Very frequently patients do 1-2 cosmetic oriented IV treatments weekly for 8 - 12 weeks.
Immunity
IV Therapy be used to enhance immunity
We are able to give various natural substances that have immune boosting properties.
IV administration of the substances allows for pharmacologic effects such as viral inhibition.
Case reports from Gaby demonstrate the powerful effect of naturopathic IV Therapy for infections.
A middle-aged woman with a 3-week history of viral pneumonia was given an intravenous immune oriented infusion. Halfway through the infusion, she became symptom-free, and at a follow-up visit 1 week later her symptoms had not recurred.
A 20-year-old male with severe fatigue secondary to mono was given an immune oriented IV every other day for a total of 3 treatments. He felt markedly better within 48 hours, and he recovered uneventfully without a recurrence of symptoms.
Our Experience: We've seen many patients feel dramatically better after receiving IV therapy for colds and flus.
We usually recommend an IV as soon as possible at the onset of acute symptoms.
Longevity
Our Clinic has substances that are reputed to impact Longevity.
Impacting lifespan and healthspan is popular amongst our patients looking for enhanced Longevity.
Various studies demonstrate the Longevity promoting effects of sirtuin activation.
In one 2016 study, 50% of regular mice died within 3.5 months, and all had passed by 5 months whereas nearly 80% of those fed a sirtuin activator survived over 10 months.
Our Experience: Quantifying longevity is challenging, however many patients remark that they feel more energetic and younger when they receive substances that are reputed to be prolongevity.
IV therapy for longevity is usually given once weekly for 4 weeks to build up levels and most patients drop in once monthly to keep their levels sustained.
Athletic Performance
IV therapy and IV fluids can give an edge.
IV Therapy can be a powerful way to enhance energy, stamina and focus for sports performance.
We often start our Edmonton athletes off with a simple concentrated IV for energy.
IV Therapy is the superior way to improve hydration status for athletes - we can easily deliver additional fluid prior to events or afterwards to enhance recovery.
Using ingredients that improve mitochondrial function has proven to be tremendous for enhancing energy and focus and can easily be done concurrently with a rehydration bag.
Our Experience: Our athletes have remarked that they have better stamina, and less downtime after their events if they regularly use IV therapy.
We usually recommend preloading the IV treatments before an event.
Fertility
IV therapy can be a useful adjunct in both female and male fertility.
Both egg and sperm quality can be enhanced with IV Therapy.
Numerous studies indicate that increasing levels of key natural substances can improve sperm, egg and embryo quality.
We are able to deliver some of these main fertility oriented substances intravenously.
Intravenous delivery can achieve superior levels compared to oral intake.
Our Experience: Our Naturopathic Doctors frequently use IV therapy as part of our fertility protocols especially if female patients have reduced ovarian reserve which occurs with age.
Your fertility oriented Naturopathic Doctor will determine if infusions are right in your case.
Mood
IV Drips play a crucial role in both anxiety and depression
We can compliment our oral mood treatments with IV therapy.
Vitamin, hormone and neurotransmitter testing is often used to uncover the causes of your mood issues.
IV delivery can typically increase brain levels of key biochemical substances for anxiety and depression much more robustly than taking those same substances orally.
Certain ingredients we use in our infusions can increase production of SAMe, which is involved in production of Serotonin and Dopamine (along with BH4).
Our Experience: IV Therapy for mood is a preferred treatment because, in our experience, it can give rapid results like no other natural treatment can.
Additional Conditions
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Migraine
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IV ingredients that improve mitochondrial function are key
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Lyme
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IV drips that serve to improve nerve restoration
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IBD
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IV therapy bypasses a disrupted digestive tract in IBD
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Heart Disease
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Infusions are available that restore the lining of blood vessels
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Cognition
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Certain substances can improve energy production in the nervous system
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Interested in IV Therapy?
Call our Naturopaths!
(780) 757-8378
Iron Infusions in Edmonton
Experts in IV therapy in Edmonton since 2010
Our office added Private Iron Infusions to our expand our suite of IV therapy treatments for our Edmonton patients.
When Iron is given intravenously, it can dramatically increase Iron levels.
In less than 60 minutes, you can optimize your iron levels with an Iron Infusion.
There's a small incidence of anaphylaxis using IV iron but most commonly we see a range of "hypersensitivity reactions" with intravenous iron which include, but are not limited to the following: hives, rashes, joint swelling and pain, fever, headache, chills flu-like symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea and constipation as well as muscle pain and cramping.
We usually test iron levels about a month after you've had your last infusion.
And like our other nutritional IV therapy treatments, most only require one or two iron infusions.
Iron infusions are not prescribed by naturopathic doctors in Edmonton. We are fortunate to have a nurse practitioner on staff who can facilitate prescriptions for iron infusions when indicated.
See our iron page
The top IV therapy treatments in Edmonton are: IV NAD, IV Glutathione and various vitamin drips, injections and infusions such as the Myers Cocktail.
Our Naturopaths give a wide range of doses of NAD+ IV therapy Treatments.
NAD+ injections are most often dosed150-400mg at our Edmonton office.
Most commonly we use NAD injections to improve energy in our Edmonton patients.
Because if it's strong relationship to mitochondrial function we use NAD infusions in fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Our office has basically pioneered NAD IV Therapy in Edmonton as we have been doing it since 2018 and have administered literally thousands of NAD injections
It is common to experience side effects related to the rate of administration with regards to intravenous NAD - it cause nausea, headaches, lightheadedness and chest pressure.
We tend to run NAD fairly slowly especially if it's your first time getting an NAD injection at our office.
Glutathione infusions in Edmonton
Our naturopaths have extensive experience with Glutathione IV Therapy.
We have worked with high dose Glutathione IV treatments since 2010- our naturopaths have given thousands of Glutathione injections at our Edmonton office.
Even with high doses, glutathione IVs are extremely well tolerated.
Intravenous Glutathione infusions are often combined with intravenous vitamin C and is administered administered fairly rapidly in drip or IV push format and is typically added to the end of other IV treatments.
Intravenous glutathione injections are most commonly sought after for cosmetic purposes at our clinic in Edmonton.
For skin health we often use 1-2 weekly Glutathione injections.
For neurological health, such as Parkinson's, ALS, MS - we may suggest Glutathione injections daily initially with a nutrient bag prior to the glutathione to enhance its action.
Most commonly we are using glutathione injections for the following: Inflammation, multiple sclerosis, Skin Brightening, skin Lightening, Detoxification and Parkinson's and Lyme disease.
Glutathione has been colloquially named "gluta" by some of our patients.
As discussed, Glutathione is extremely well tolerated when given intravenously in our experience it has an almost non-existent incidence of side effects.
Vitamin Drips, Injections and Infusions in Edmonton.
We offer Edmonton IV Vitamin drips including the Myers Cocktail.
We've given thousands of Vitamin IV Drips to our Edmonton patients.
We offer our Myers Cocktail in a small volume IV Vitamin Drip format and most frequent uses are energy, mood, cognition, athletic recovery and infections.
Our Naturopaths typically suggest IV drips once weekly for about a month.
Effects of IV drips are quick!! Most patients feel a boost by the next day.
And it only takes about 15 minutes to administer a Vitamin IV Drip.
Most commonly we use IV Drips for Fatigue, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, Depression, and Low Mood.
Our Naturopaths have administered literally thousands of Vitamin Drip IVs at our Edmonton office with a very low incidence of side effects.
Questions about IV drips?? Get in touch!!
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