At Holistica Integrative Care, we are advocates of healthy eating, high quality nutrient supplementation, and optimal digestive function, and our work concentrates intensely on these areas. However, despite adherence to a healthy diet and lifestyle, sometimes patients cannot reach an optimum nutrient level in their bodies to stay well and ward off pathogens, toxicities, and other disease causing agents. For many patients, IV nutrient therapy is the most direct way to re-establish a higher nutrient status. By giving vitamins, minerals, and/or amino acids intravenously, we can by-pass the gastrointestinal system and digestive issues in order to get nutrients directly into the cell for maximal absorption and effectiveness. Additionally, we can often get greater amounts of the nutrient into the cell than if we took the nutrient orally. Take a moment to check out our various IV nutrient therapy offerings, and ask your doctor which one is best for your condition. NOTE: If you are not an established patient in our office, you must schedule an initial consultation/evaluation, and fill out a consent form in order to have IV nutrient therapy that same day.
IV nutrient therapy can improve the following conditions: Also known as the Meyer’s Cocktail, this is our most popular IV nutrient therapy, as it replenishes nutrients that support immune function and increases energy. This IV can provide relief for patients who suffer from fatigue, Fibromyalgia, immune dysfunction, viral infections, hives, rashes, eczema and more. It is also perfect for athletes as a pre-competition boost and post-competition recovery plan. Recommendation: two infusions per week for more acute issues until resolved; one per week for more chronic conditions; and as needed to maintain a strong immune system. Are your adrenals completely zapped? Are you tired all the time and can’t seem to drag yourself out of bed or stay awake after lunch? Sometimes your body’s inability to absorb nutrients will impair your ability to gain full benefits from oral supplementation. A series of Energizing IV’s will boost your adrenal glands and help you regain some vitality in your everyday life!
Recommendation: series of 1-2 infusions for 4-6 weeks. This preparation has multiple nutrients, including high dose vitamin C, minerals, amino acids and B vitamins. You can choose either an IV “Push” when you feel the first signs of a virus or infection coming on (takes approximately 20-30 minutes), or a full IV (takes approximately 1-1.5 hours) when you are already sick and need to stop the course of the illness. Recommendation: Ideally, you should call the day you feel symptoms for the best outcome. We will do our best to get you in that same day or the next day. This infusion is ideal for patients pre-surgery, with an injury, or with any kind of wound (e.g. post-plastic surgery, ‘road rash’, radiation burns, leaky gut syndrome, etc.). Recommendation: Depending on the nature and extent of the injury or the type of surgery, you should consider a series of infusions. This revitalizing IV helps those suffering from issues related to malabsorption or malnutrition (e.g. leaky gut syndrome and other digestive disorders).
It is our number one choice for anyone undergoing chemotherapy or who has decreased nutrient status due to gluten sensitivity and the resulting nutrient deficiencies. Recommendation: based on individual circumstances This IV is formulated to contain heart-specific nutrients in therapeutic doses to stabilize abnormal heart rhythms. This infusion can help address acute and chronic asthma and provide relief from wheezing, shortness of breath, and coughing. This IV needs to be accompanied by a treatment plan that supports lung health, which your doctor will create with you to support your specific needs. This blend of amino acids and nutrients will help support neurotransmitters that affect anxiety. Used in conjunction with a dietary and neutraceutical plan, this formulation can be a wonderful adjunct support for anyone struggling with an imbalance of neurotransmitters. This IV can also support withdrawal for benzodiazopenes. This preparation is used for those who have heavy metal toxicity or cardiovascular disease.
This IV should be done weekly over several months for optimal outcome. Talk to your doctor for more details about how it works and the long term benefits. Recommendation: personalized for each patient’s specific detoxification needs This IV benefits neurologic conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or patients in need of detoxification support. It is given over many treatments and serves to support neurologic tissues, fatty liver disease, hepatitis, liver tumors, chemical sensitivity, and immune support. Recommendation: based on individual circumstancesPeople feel they are under constant pressure and stress, sluggish, irritable and fatigued during most of the day and they are desperately trying to clear up that mental fogginess with coffee or other stimulants, just to crash worse afterwards. Although it’s been widely accepted as the “common way of living in a working, modern society” it is not normal! The adrenals produce hormones like cortisol that help balance the blood sugar and manage the daily ebbs and flows of energy.
Low levels of adrenal cortisol can result in symptoms such as hypoglycemia, fatigue, muscle aches, low blood sugar, sugar or salt craving and shakiness relieved with eating. Also one may suffer from moodiness, food sensitivities, allergies, recurrent infections, dizzy when standing, low blood pressure, decreased ability to handle stress, “brain fog”, swollen ankles that are worse at night, muscular weakness, difficulty getting out of bed, wiped out with exercise and the inability to tolerate thyroid replacement. The most important anti-stress hormone in the body is cortisol. It protects the body from excessive adrenal fatigue by: Cortisol sustains life via two opposite, but related, kinds of regulatory actions: releasing and activating the existing defense mechanisms of the body, while shutting down and modifying the same mechanisms to prevent them. In the right situation and using the right dose, hormone replacement can be of great benefit for people with adrenal dysfunction.
Medical science is just beginning to find out that a person can feel horrible and function poorly even with a minimal to moderate hormone deficiency that is clinically undetected by routine blood tests. This is evident in the case of adrenal fatigue. Some physicians, notably Dr. Jefferies in the mid 1980s, have advocated low dose cortisol as safe for long-term use. Dr. Jefferies found that as long as the adrenal hormone level is kept within the normal range, the main toxicity that a patient might experience was a slight upset stomach, due to the body not being used to having the hormone come in through the stomach. There are side effects when using cortisol. If the dose is too high, one may feel shaky and the dosage should then be lowered. If cortisol causes upset stomach, the patients should take it with meals or lower the dose. If taken too late in the day, it can disrupt sleep. At a dose of over 20 mg a day, one will begin to see the more toxic side effects of cortisol. Clearly higher doses are not recommended unless the benefits do clearly outweigh the risks.
In an article published by Dr. Kent Holtorf in the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome about therapeutic doses of cortisol for patients with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, he states: “Because treatment with low physiologic doses of cortisol (< 15 mg) has been shown to be safe and effective and routine dynamic ACTH testing does not appear to have significant diagnostic sensitivity, it is reasonable to give a therapeutic trial of physiologic doses of cortisol to the majority of patients with CFS and FM, especially to those who have symptoms that are consistent with adrenal dysfunction, have low blood pressure, or have baseline cortisol levels in the low or low-normal range. Physiologic replacement of cortisol at doses of 5 mg to 15 mg a day are safe, with little or no associated risk. Such physiologic doses don’t carry the risk of adrenal and immune suppression or bone loss, which are well known risks of pharmacological doses of corticosteroids. Cortisol treatment carries significantly less risk and a greater potential for benefit than standard treatments, such as antidepressants, muscle relaxants, anticonvulsants and narcotics.”