Evidence checked, 25 October 2026. Published prices checked on the same date. General information, not individual medical advice.
What does a vitamin C IV drip do?
A vitamin C IV drip raises the concentration of vitamin C in your blood far higher than tablets can, because intravenous dosing bypasses the gut, which tightly limits how much you absorb orally. That much is pharmacology. The harder question is what the higher concentration achieves. For someone with a confirmed deficiency, correcting it is sound, established treatment. For someone who is healthy, trial evidence that high-dose IV vitamin C improves immunity, energy or recovery is currently lacking.
At The Wellness, vitamin C is included in the Energy Support (£425) and Recovery (£450) infusions, and the Beauty Glow infusion (£475) carries a high dose alongside glutathione, magnesium and zinc. The first step there is a suitability discussion covering your symptoms, medical history and medicines, before any treatment is arranged. Discuss IV treatment with The Wellness team
Why take vitamin C intravenously instead of orally?
Vitamin C is an essential nutrient. Collagen formation, wound healing, iron absorption and antioxidant defence all depend on it, and deficiency still occurs, particularly in smokers, older adults and people eating restricted diets.
The case for the drip is absorption. Oral vitamin C uptake saturates: beyond a few hundred milligrams, each extra milligram adds progressively less. Intravenous dosing produces blood concentrations many times higher than oral dosing can reach, and laboratory research shows that vitamin C can behave differently at these very high concentrations, which is why it is studied in intensive care and cancer research.
Whether that difference benefits people who are already well is a separate question, and so far the trials have not shown that it does.
What does the evidence say about IV vitamin C?
Three findings are worth knowing before booking.
First, correcting a confirmed deficiency works and is the clearest reason for treatment. If blood tests show low vitamin C and your symptoms fit, replacement is straightforward medicine, usually oral.
Second, the largest modern hospital trial was a caution. The LOVIT trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2022, randomised 872 critically ill adults with sepsis who were receiving vasopressor support in intensive care to IV vitamin C (50 mg per kilogram every six hours) or placebo. The vitamin C group had a higher risk of death or persistent organ dysfunction at 28 days. [1] This was intensive-care medicine at high repeated doses in the sickest hospital patients, not wellness dosing, and it does not settle the wellness question either way. It does show that high-dose IV vitamin C is biologically powerful, and that powerful interventions can harm as well as help, which is why benefit claims in healthy people need direct evidence that does not yet exist.
Third, the use of high-dose IV vitamin C in cancer care is investigational. It is studied alongside conventional treatment in research settings, but it is not an established cancer therapy.
The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin's review of intravenous vitamin injections reached a similar overall conclusion for the wellness sector: interest and marketing have run ahead of trial evidence. [2]
Is high-dose IV vitamin C safe?
The answer depends on the person, and two checks matter before any high dose.
- G6PD deficiency. This inherited red-blood-cell condition is often undiagnosed, and in people who have it, high-dose IV vitamin C can trigger haemolysis, a destruction of red blood cells. A published case describes a patient who haemolysed after a 75 g infusion and was found on earlier testing to have low G6PD levels. [4] A responsible provider checks G6PD status before giving high doses.
- Kidney health. Vitamin C is metabolised to oxalate, and oxalate nephropathy, a crystal injury to the kidney, has been reported after intravenous vitamin C. [5] Anyone with reduced kidney function or a history of kidney stones needs assessment first.
High vitamin C levels can also interfere with some blood-glucose measurements; the LOVIT trial had to amend its glucose monitoring plan after a severe hypoglycaemic episode in the vitamin C group. [1] As with any infusion, there are smaller procedural risks: bruising, vein irritation, infection and, rarely, allergic reaction.
How much does a vitamin C IV drip cost in London?
Published prices checked on 25 October 2026. Effect Doctors lists its vitamin C IV drip from £205 in clinic. IV Boost UK on Wimpole Street lists a high-dose vitamin C drip but does not publish a price. At The Wellness, vitamin C is included in Energy Support at £425 and Recovery at £450, with the high-dose formulation in Beauty Glow at £475.
Prices vary between providers with the dose, setting and what is included, and each provider's page states what its fee covers. Whatever provider you choose, two questions are worth asking: will G6PD status be checked before a high dose, and who reviews your medical history? Ask about a clinic or home IV appointment
Who should consider it, and who should avoid it?
A vitamin C infusion is a reasonable discussion when blood tests or diet history suggest low levels, when absorption is a problem, or when you simply wish to consider it with a clear view of the evidence. It is not a substitute for investigating new or unexplained fatigue, which deserves a GP consultation and usually blood tests first; The Wellness can arrange both. And it must never be presented as a treatment for cancer or for acute illness. Severe symptoms such as chest pain, severe breathlessness or collapse mean calling 999, not booking a drip.
How do I arrange vitamin C IV therapy with The Wellness?
Message the team with what you are hoping to address and any relevant medical history. A clinician will discuss whether vitamin C, another infusion, blood tests or none of these fits your situation, and any high-dose treatment follows the appropriate safety checks. Sessions take place in the Marylebone clinic, and home visits are available.
- WhatsApp: message The Wellness team
- Call: 020 3951 3429
- Email: team@thewellnesslondon.com
- Menu and booking enquiry: IV therapy at The Wellness
Frequently asked questions
Does IV vitamin C boost your immune system? Vitamin C supports normal immune function, and correcting a deficiency helps restore it. There is no good trial evidence that high-dose IV vitamin C improves immunity in people whose levels are already adequate.
How is IV vitamin C different from tablets? IV dosing bypasses the gut's absorption limit and produces much higher blood concentrations. The higher concentrations are proven; health benefits from them in healthy people are not.
Why might I need a G6PD test before high-dose IV vitamin C? G6PD deficiency is a common inherited red-blood-cell condition in which high-dose IV vitamin C can cause destruction of red blood cells. It is often undiagnosed, so careful providers test before giving high doses.
Can IV vitamin C treat cancer? No. It is studied as a research adjunct to conventional treatment, but it is not an established cancer therapy and should never delay or replace oncology care.
How much does a vitamin C IV drip cost at The Wellness? As of October 2026, vitamin C is included in Energy Support at £425 and Recovery at £450, with the high-dose formulation in Beauty Glow at £475.
Sources
- Intravenous Vitamin C in Adults with Sepsis in the Intensive Care Unit (LOVIT), N Engl J Med 2022;386:2387-2398
- Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, Intravenous vitamin injections: where is the evidence?
- Mayo Clinic Press, IV vitamin therapy: benefits and risks
- Haemolysis after high-dose intravenous vitamin C: case report (PMC)
- Oxalate Nephropathy and Intravenous Vitamin C, American Journal of Kidney Diseases
- Advertising Standards Authority, healthcare: intravenous nutritional therapy
- Effect Doctors, vitamin C IV drip
- The Wellness, IV therapy service and clinic price menu
- IV therapy cost in London, compared