What side effects can IV vitamin drips cause?
A change after a vitamin drip is easy to shrug off and just as easy to panic over. Below, each kind of change gets sorted by urgency.
Why no single list fits every drip
Drips are mixed from different ingredients, so the side effects differ from one bag to the next. Sorting a change into "can wait" or "call today" is the part you can do yourself. The person who prepared your drip can tell you what went into it and what they would count as expected.
Ranking a change after a drip
- Can wait: a change you were told to expect, that is mild and not getting worse. Note it and mention it at your next visit.
- Call the same day: a change nobody mentioned, or one that keeps getting worse, such as pain or redness spreading where the line went in. Call the office that gave the drip, or your own physician.
- Urgent: trouble breathing, a racing heart you cannot explain, chest pain, fainting, or swelling that spreads fast. Call emergency services.
If you want to read up on one ingredient at a time
No single source lists the side effects of every drip, so the reading starts with a general article, then goes ingredient by ingredient and ends with a supplement testing view. For a general view of IV vitamin drips, read the Harvard Health article asking whether IV vitamin replenishment is a health boost or an expensive placebo. If you were offered NAD+, read the real-world comparison of how IV NAD+ and IV nicotinamide riboside were tolerated, which tracks how people tolerated two infusions in a real-world setting. For a supplement testing view, read the supplement testing site's answer on whether IV vitamin infusions are safe and beneficial. None of the three is a side-effect list for every drip.
Keeping track around a Long Island City drip
Ahead of the drip, list your medicines, allergies and health conditions and hand the list to whoever prepares it. Afterward, record what you notice and when it began. If you cannot tell which group a change falls into, call your physician and describe it.
Who can say what is expected for you
What counts as expected for you is for your own physician, with your records open, to judge.