Gastrointestinal disorders can really throw a wrench in your plans, especially during a flare-up. It may seem like you can’t enjoy anything without pain or having to run to the bathroom. Treating these problems can be tricky, especially with the side effects of some of the medications. However, IV therapy could be an option for you.

At Shine Health and Wellness, our team specializes in many different treatments for medical conditions, including gastrointestinal disorders. Dr. Kimberley Shine is our functional medicine specialist, who offers IV therapy as a treatment option for a number of different conditions.

What is IV therapy?

IV therapy is a way for you to get fluids, vitamins, or medications directly into your bloodstream through a small catheter in your vein. You may think of an IV when you think of the emergency room or surgery, but it’s used for routine treatments as well.

There are a lot of places that offer IV nutritional therapy, but at our facility, you’re supervised during your infusion, and Dr. Shine oversees your specific type of IV therapy. Even though this type of treatment doesn’t have a lot of complications, if it’s administered by someone other than a health professional, there can be terrible outcomes.

IV therapy is used for a number of different conditions or ailments to control symptoms or get you hydrated. It’s so effective because the fluids go right into your bloodstream, whereas oral medications have to go through your GI tract to be able to be absorbed into your body.

Oral medications are a problem when you suffer from certain GI disorders, because you aren’t absorbing food or nutrients like you should be. This could be that you’re deficient in not only your medications, but other important nutrients as well.

Common GI disorders

Many of us suffer from the occasional bout of diarrhea or a stomachache. But when you have stomach pain most of the time or trouble with your bowel habits, you may have a condition in your GI tract. There are several types of GI disorders, and some of them include:

Celiac disease

Celiac disease happens when your immune system responds to gluten that’s in food. When you have celiac disease and eat food with gluten, your immune system attacks your small intestine, causing damage.

Crohn’s disease

This condition is considered an inflammatory bowel disease, meaning it leads to inflammation in your intestines and GI tract. This can lead to myriad different symptoms, including diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fatigue.

Ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis is another type of inflammatory bowel disease and affects the large intestinal lining. This condition causes inflammation in your GI tract, along with sores and ulcers as well.

Peptic ulcer disease

This disease is similar to ulcerative colitis, except that it leads to ulcers in your stomach and small intestine, instead of your large intestine. These ulcers can be quite painful, causing a lot of discomfort when you eat.

If you’re suffering from any of these gastrointestinal disorders, IV therapy could be just what you need to start feeling back to yourself.

IV therapy: Does it really help?

Many of the conditions that affect your GI tract lead to issues with dehydration and your nutrition. Severe or chronic diarrhea affects your electrolytes and other nutrients, along with making you dehydrated. If you can’t eat  because of the pain, you aren’t getting the nutrients you need.

This is where IV therapy can help. Not only does IV therapy help you replace the fluids that you lose with GI disorders, but it can also help you replace vital vitamins and nutrients that you may be missing.

Dr. Shine determines what type of IV vitamin therapy is best for you through a detailed physical exam as well as a review of your symptoms. She also may draw labs to check the levels of essential vitamins in your blood.

Once Dr. Shine is confident in knowing your diagnosis and what vitamins and nutrients you’re missing, she makes an IV cocktail specifically tailored to your condition. If you’re dealing with a gastrointestinal problem, we design your IV cocktail to rehydrate your body and replace vital nutrients that you could be missing.

Because GI disorders may affect the way you digest and absorb food, your electrolytes and other vitamins could be lacking. This is where Dr. Shine helps you replace these much needed components into your body.

If you would like to learn more about how IV therapy can help you, don’t hesitate to book an appointment online or over the phone with our team at Shine Health and Wellness today.