The Best IV infusion Therapy to Help with Long Covid Syndrome (LCS)
11/07/2023 2024-03-12 1:32The Best IV infusion Therapy to Help with Long Covid Syndrome (LCS)
The Best IV infusion Therapy to Help with Long Covid Syndrome (LCS)
Sara Bricker, BSN, RN 
At our center, the fight against Long Covid Syndrome has become personal. It’s affected the health of our staff and our loved ones, and we’ve lost significant time helping patients due to the ravages of this difficult virus that often goes away just to come back again even stronger. Two of our team members — our founder Beth Ballen, MD as well as our integrative holistic nurse practitioner SJ Struckmeyer — have long covid syndrome, and their knowledge in treating it comes from their own personal experiences in addition to their medical backgrounds.
Also, please note: there is no miracle cure for long covid, and we are still learning a lot about the virus and its many different effects on different patients. There is constant new information about the condition itself as well as frequently updated treatment protocols. We make it a priority to keep up with the latest knowledge, and to filter that knowledge with our firsthand experiences treating patients and ourselves.
How can integrative health and IV therapy help with long covid treatment?
As an integrative mental health center in Denver, we’ve always focused on treating the root cause of a patient’s challenges and not simply putting a band-aid on their symptoms. This has often put our focus on our patient’s immune systems, as well as conditions like inflammation that underlie numerous health issues — both mental and physical.
This has put us in a unique position to help treat long covid syndrome (LCS), as treating inflammation is one of the biggest factors in reducing the severity of LCS flare-ups and bringing relief to patients. Helping our patients improve the health of their immune system is also key, as our body’s natural defenses remain one of the strongest factors in fighting this chronic condition.
At our center, we’ve found IV therapy to be one of the strongest ways to help treat Long Covid Syndrome, and there are four major IV therapy treatments that have become featured heavily in the most common current protocols shared by the integrative and long covid medical communities.
Although there’s no cure for LCS at this time, these four treatments have made a difference for most of our patients — as well as in our own care and the care of our families.
What exactly is Long Covid Syndrome?
Since 2020, many of us have been dealing with the intense symptoms of Covid-19. These symptoms usually last for weeks, however, about thirty percent of those who contract Covid develop Long Covid Syndrome (LCS), also known as Long Haul Covid or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC).
LCS refers to a wide range of lasting symptoms and health complications that a person can experience for weeks, months, or even years after their initial infection. Some of it’s many symptoms can include: brain fog, fatigue, coagulation issues, fevers, shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, sleep problems, joint or muscle pain, changes in menstruation, depression, anxiety, and post-exertional malaise (worsening of symptoms after physical or mental exertion).
One reason why the symptoms are so varied is because LCS can affect different organ systems in different patients. This has made treating LCS a challenge, but fortunately our knowledge of this syndrome is constantly improving.
What IV infusions are best used for long covid treatments?
At Ballen Medical and Wellness, we’ve spent a lot of time researching and developing protocols to help clients suffering from LCS. While our protocols include much more than IV therapy, IV therapy is one of the most important parts of our treatment programs.
The four types of IV infusions we use as part of our protocols are:
1. IV Ozone therapy with UBI (Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation)
2. High-Dose Vitamin C Infusions
3. NAD+ Infusions
4. Ketamine Infusions
These recommend IV therapies can be done separately or in combination for the best outcomes.
1. Ozone Therapy with UBI (Ultraviolet Blood Irradiation) for Long Covid Treatment
Ozone therapy with UBI is a treatment that introduces ozone (the purest form of oxygen) into your blood while utilizing ultraviolet blood irradiation light to enhance your body’s oxygen utilization. When employed to treat Long Covid Syndrome, the benefits are numerous. Ozone treatments alleviate lung inflammation and damage, reduce overall bodily inflammation, and lessen the severity of brain fog.
Here are some of the other key benefits:
- Ozone serves as an antiviral agent in the body, combating resistant viruses while bolstering immunity.
- Ozone therapy also improves pro-inflammatory markers and blood oxygenation, thus equipping your body with a stronger defense against Long Covid Syndrome symptoms.
- Ozone can enhance coagulation markers in the body. This reduces instances of immune thrombosis (blood clotting). This improvement in coagulation markers may also protect against acute coronary syndromes and mitigate reperfusion damage and occurrences in the heart.
Our recommendation to effectively utilize this treatment would be high-dose ozone once a week for 10 weeks.
2. IV High-Dose Vitamin C Infusions for Long Covid Treatment
Another promising treatment for reducing the effects of Long Covid Syndrome is High Dose Vitamin C. Vitamin C infusions have been successful in treating various illnesses without conventional cures, most notably cancer. Patients with Long Covid Syndrome, similar to cancer patients, experience chronic fatigue, sleep disturbances, and lack of concentration. High Dose Vitamin C has proven effective in minimizing these symptoms in Long Covid Syndrome patients.
Key benefits of High Dose Vitamin C include enhancing the body’s antioxidative capacity and boosting our natural immunity. Proper oxidation and immune function help prevent cellular waste build-up that can damage DNA. Our immune systems can function at its maximum when oxidative stress is low, thus clearing the body of toxins that accumulate during long covid syndrome.
High-Dose Vitamin C infusions work well in combination with High-Dose Ozone therapy. Following ozone treatment, the body can maximize its utilization of Vitamin C as cells become more receptive to absorption and uptake.
Our recommendation for High-Dose Vitamin C infusions would be two times a week for 10 weeks.
3. IV NAD+ Infusions for Long Covid Treatment
Another infusion that offers relief from Long Covid symptoms is NAD+ (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). NAD+ is a naturally occurring coenzyme in our bodies that functions at a cellular level, optimizing oxidation and enabling ATP (energy in all cellular processes) to work more efficiently. When we have the additional stress that chronic illness puts on our body, NAD levels are lowered. This makes all cellular processes more challenging for the body to accomplish.
NAD+ supplementation has demonstrated numerous benefits in treating Long Covid Syndrome. Optimal NAD+ levels help alleviate brain fog, boost energy, and enhance the health of tissues and blood vessels, which in turn reduces chronic pain.
Furthermore, SIRT1 is a protein in our bodies regulated by NAD+, and research indicates that the Covid virus inhibits SIRT1 activity. NAD+ infusions reactivate these proteins and reduce inflammation in the body, enabling proteins and metabolites associated with inflammation and antioxidant metabolism to be significantly reduced.
We recommend 6-10 NAD+ infusions of 750mg each, administered as close together as possible.
4. IV Ketamine Infusions for Long Covid Treatment
Ketamine therapy is typically used to help relieve chronic pain, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Many of these conditions are also present in Long Covid Syndrome.
Research has shown that ketamine helps repair brain pathways and synapses that are affected by the stress of chronic illness. This leads to improvements in neurological issues such as depression, anxiety, and brain fog. Clients also report enhanced clarity of thought and a more positive attitude, along with a reduction in negative mood symptoms. Ketamine also downregulates several inflammatory cytokines in the body, resulting in decreased pain and inflammation.
Lastly, coping with a chronic illness without a cure or established care plan can be traumatic. Repeatedly seeking help without relief can lead to feelings of hopelessness about the future. Ketamine has been a proven treatment for PTSD and alleviating these symptoms, and we’ve witnessed these results for over ten years now.
We recommend 6-9 ketamine infusions administered as closely together as possible.
Make sure to develop a personalized plan
In conclusion, Long Covid Syndrome presents a wide array of debilitating symptoms, so it’s essential to work closely with your healthcare team and develop a personalized plan that addresses your individual needs.
We realize living with long covid syndrome can be overwhelming, because we have it too. But with the right support and treatment, you can regain control over your life and well-being — and IV therapy is currently one of the most effective components of this treatment.
Are you looking for help treating Long Covid Syndrome in the greater Denver area?
Our integrative mental health and wellness clinic is located in Englewood, Colorado, just 2 minutes south of the Denver Tech Center.
If you’d like to learn more about our IV therapy programs and how we can help you address your long covid symptoms, please call our patient care team at (720)222-0550 to book an appointment, or visit here for a free 15-minute consultation. You can also contact us using the inquiry form at the bottom of this page.
Sara Bricker, BSN, RN
Sara is passionate about IV therapy and the role it plays in the emerging fields of integrative health and psychedelic medicine. As the manager of our infusion suite, she specializes in integrative infusion therapy for mental health, wellness, addiction recovery, and optimizing physical and cognitive performance. Sara prides herself on continuously furthering her education as well as doing her best to share her expertise with her clients and fellow practitioners. As a champion of patient-centered care, she enjoys working with her IV nursing team to ensure her clients get the best care possible — including the best results.
