NAD+ IV: the one I feel while it’s still going in

I’ve had NAD+ drips in rounds for years, here in Bangkok. Of everything I’ve tried on myself, it’s the only one where I notice something while it’s still going in, not the next day or the next month. This page covers what that’s like, what happens after, why it takes two hours, and the list I was handed before I sat down the first time.

 

Jump to: Why I tried it · In the chair · That night and the next day · Why it takes two hours · Am I still doing it · What other people tell me · The capsule question · What I was told NAD is · What the research is looking at · Side effects · Who this isn’t for · Medicines that matter · Questions

 

Why I tried it

There wasn’t a reason beyond the rule. We don’t offer anything we haven’t tried on ourselves first, so before NAD+ was offered to anyone, it went into me. I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t unwell, and I wasn’t chasing anything in particular. I wanted to know what it did before anyone else asked me.

 

In the chair

It happens during the drip. My head goes clear, and it happens right there in the chair. That’s the whole of it, and I’d rather leave it at that than dress it up.

 

What fills the two hours for me is conversation. I spend most of them talking to whoever is in the next chair. A lot of what I know about how differently this lands for different people comes from those afternoons.

 

That night, and the next day

That night I sleep well. The next day I have more energy. That’s my pattern, round after round. I’m careful with it, because “I was fine” is not the same sentence as “you’ll be fine,” and the next section shows how much people differ.

 

Why it takes two hours

This is the part nobody puts at the top of the page, so I will. It takes about two hours, and it goes in slowly, by pump. Slow isn’t an inconvenience. It’s the point. What I was told is that it should go in over at least two hours, because the uncomfortable things on the side-effect list further down tend to turn up when it goes in too fast.

 

In practice, that means it doesn’t fit into a gap in your day. It takes the middle out of it. When I’m ill I’ll have a Myers’ drip, and after I’ve burned at the beach I’ll have glutathione. Those take about an hour and I don’t plan around them. This one I do have to plan around, and because it’s always here, there’s always next week. I’ve put it off for exactly that reason more than once. Then I make the time, and I’m glad I did.

 

Am I still doing it?

Yes. Regularly, in rounds, not continuously. It isn’t something I did once and ticked off.

 

How often, and how much, isn’t something to copy from a stranger’s website, mine included. That gets set by a doctor after they’ve seen you in person.

 

What other people tell me

I meet a lot of people who have this, most of them in that next chair. When I put their accounts side by side, a few things come up again and again.

 

The most common is energy. People tell me they get through a working day and still have something left in the evening. Next is sleep: people say they fall asleep more easily and sleep more deeply, and one person warned me you’ll probably go to bed earlier and wake earlier than usual. Then focus: a clear head, less fog in the morning. Some notice it during the drip, as I do. Some notice it that first night. Some feel nothing that day and only notice after a few sessions.

 

I put very little weight on any one of those stories, mine included. What I do put weight on is that they don’t all match.

 

The capsule question

I’ve taken NAD+ as capsules too. I didn’t feel anything. That’s my experience, not a verdict on capsules.

 

The explanation I was given is that NAD+ itself is fragile: light, moisture, heat and acidity all affect it, so it doesn’t keep well in a capsule. That’s why many capsules contain precursors instead, like nicotinamide or nicotinic acid, which the body has to convert step by step, so they arrive more slowly. The case for the drip is about how much arrives and how fast. I was told that, given into a vein, it’s taken up by the tissues quickly, within the first couple of hours. Which route suits someone is a question for a doctor, and the rules on both differ from country to country.

 

What I was told NAD is

I’m not going to explain the biology in my own words, because it isn’t mine to explain. The explanation I was given is this.

 

NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a coenzyme found in every living cell. It’s needed for hundreds of reactions in the body. The four roles I was told about are turning food into energy, repairing damaged DNA, supporting the systems cells use to defend themselves, and setting the body’s internal clock.

 

Part I found more interesting: you make it yourself. The body builds it from things you already eat, tryptophan and the vitamin B3 family (nicotinamide and nicotinic acid). Nobody is handing you something your body has never met.

 

I was also told that NAD+ levels fall steadily with age, and that in animals, raising them back up has been linked to healthier ageing and longer life. That was animals, not people.

 

What the research is looking at

None of this is something I’ve experienced, and none of it is a promise. It’s what I was told the research is still asking.

 

• Metabolism and weight. People with obesity have been found to have lower NAD+ levels, and some researchers think raising them could help with the metabolic slowdown that comes with it. Whether it helps with weight loss is far from established, and most of the work so far has been in animals, using precursors rather than NAD+ itself.

• The body clock. Because NAD+ is involved in setting the internal clock, it’s being studied for jet lag and other body-clock problems.

• Muscle. In studies, raising NAD+ levels improved muscle function, strength and endurance as animals aged.

• Brain. Inside brain cells, NAD+ helps control a protein called PGC-1α, which appears to protect cells against oxidative stress and failing mitochondria. Researchers link both of those to age-related brain conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

• Heart and blood vessels. With age, blood vessels such as the aorta get thicker and stiffer, and NAD+ is being studied in that context.

• Low levels. Low NAD+ has been linked to diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and vision loss.

• Fertility. In studies on older animals, raising NAD+ was linked to better egg quality. I’ve written about that on the IVF and fertility page.

 

If you came here because of one of these conditions, the person to ask is a doctor who knows your history. I can only tell you what happened in my body.

 

Side effects

I’ve never had one. Not once, and I’ve had a lot of rounds. Here’s the list anyway, as it was given to me.

 

The ones named specifically for NAD+ are tightness in the chest or abdomen, a burning sensation, and headache. The explanation I was given is that nobody is sure why they happen; one idea is that NAD+ affects calcium signalling in inflammatory cells. Also reported: nausea, flushing, dizziness, a fast heartbeat and a feeling of anxiousness. I was told they usually settle once the session ends.

 

And the thread running through all of them is speed. They’re linked to it going in too fast.

 

Who this isn’t for

This is the list I was handed, close to how I got it.

 

The clear no’s:

• a known allergy or sensitivity to NAD+ or related substances

• pregnancy or breastfeeding, because its safety there hasn’t been well studied

• severe kidney or liver problems, because those organs are involved in processing and clearing it

• being acutely unwell at the time

 

Then a second list. These aren’t a no, but they are a talk-to-the-doctor-who-looks-after-you-first:

• anyone taking medication (more on that below)

• a history of certain heart conditions, because it can affect heart function

• neurological conditions, seizures among them

• psychiatric conditions, because it can influence mood

 

Medicines that matter

This list is longer than the one for most things I use, and it’s worth knowing before you sit down rather than after. The groups I was told about:

• blood pressure medication, because NAD+ may affect blood pressure

• diabetes medication, insulin included, because it may affect blood sugar

• psychiatric medication, antidepressants and antipsychotics among them, because it can influence mood

• heart medication such as beta-blockers and anti-arrhythmics, because of heart rate and rhythm

• immunosuppressants and corticosteroids, because it may affect immune function

• chemotherapy

• blood thinners such as warfarin

• antiplatelet medicines such as aspirin or clopidogrel

 

There’s a practical side to the same point. NAD+ is normally given on its own, not mixed with anything else in the same line. The explanation I was given is that it exists in two highly reactive forms, reacts with a lot of other medicines, and breaks down quickly in acidic or alkaline solutions. So you mention everything you take, even a cold remedy. Interactions differ from person to person, which is why that conversation happens before the drip, not after.

 

Questions I get asked

Does it hurt?
No. It’s a line in your arm and a couple of hours in a chair. Afterwards you go home and carry on with your day.

 

How long is a session?
About two hours. It’s given slowly by pump, for the reasons above.

 

How quickly will I notice anything?
For me, during the drip. Other people tell me that night, or after a few sessions, and some don’t notice much at all. Most of what I use takes weeks, so this one is unusual.

 

Can it be combined with other things?
It goes in on its own, not mixed into the same line. Plenty of people I meet have it on the same trip as other things. That’s a question for the doctor, once they know everything you take.

 

Is it for everyone?
No. Go back to the two lists above before anything else.

 

Related: NAD+ & more · Exosome IV · Placenta extract

 

Everything above happened in my body. The person in the next chair will tell you a different story about the same two hours.

 

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I’m George. Thirty years in business, then ten years trying this whole field on myself before offering it to anyone else.

This is where I write down what I use, what I stopped using, and what I’d never do again. More about me →