Cristina Andrews, 48, is lounging in an oversize beige leather chair in the Park Avenue South office of Dr. Jeffrey Morrison, who specializes in nutrition and integrative medicine. It’s a Wednesday afternoon, and she’s checking her e-mail and relaxing. With her perfectly coiffed blond hair and an Hermès belt cinching her waist, the chic Murray Hill resident looks like she’s ready for lunch at Il Mulino — except for the thin tube connected to her arm.
“I get B-12 and other vitamins, and I come for two hours, sometimes three, because I like to take them slow,’’ she explains of her monthly IVs that run about $130 per session.
“I’m a little tired immediately after, but the next day, I feel I can do anything.’’
Andrews is one of a growing number of New Yorkers — from the night-life crowd to the yoga community — who have been getting intravenous cocktails to keep up their energy, combat colds, stay youthful or simply look better. Though they are not FDA-approved as treatments, IVs are being administered at the offices of even prominent physicians.
In many cases, patients first begin with a blood workup, to determine what nutrients they need. Then, they sit with a drip from 30 minutes to an hour, at a cost ranging from $130 to $1,000 per session.
“It’s basic biochemistry; when the body has its building blocks, it works better,’’ says Morrison, who recommends weekly drips during particularly stressful periods for a span of four to six weeks.
According to Morrison, IVs first started to become popular with athletes about five years ago, when Major League Baseball players were rumored to use them, because the treatments allowed them to enhance their performance legally. The financial community then followed suit.
“People on Wall Street are working long hours, and they are looking for a natural way to sustain a high level of functioning,’’ says Morrison, who frequently administers a “Myers’ Cocktail’’ of calcium, the trace mineral selenium, vitamin C and B-complex (it’s named after the physician, John Myers, who invented it).
Though doctors in a large range of specialties are now offering the IVs, critics say they are nothing more than snake-oil salesmen.
“There is no evidence-based medicine to support the use of vitamin drips; they are just moneymakers,’’ says Elizabeth Kavaler, a urologist and assistant clinical professor at Weill Cornell Medical Center.
This hasn’t stopped celebrities from hopping on the IV bandwagon: Rihanna tweeted a photo of herself getting a drip after a night of partying last May.
“We get a lot of inquiries because celebrities are talking about it,’’ says Dr. Marcia Harris, a gynecologist, who gives IVs at Patients Medical on Second Avenue. Though each session costs $150 to $300 (packages are available at a discount), and one to two visits per week are suggested, she reports a 33 percent increase in requests for them this year alone.
“You know, if Simon Cowell doesn’t get his fix . . .” she quips of the TV personality, who publicly describes the infusion as “an incredibly warm feeling’’ that gives him energy for days.
In New York, word has been spreading among the social set.
Magen Banwart, a 44-year-old health and life coach, first got introduced to IV drips about a year and a half ago by Sharon Dorram, a renowned colorist who is a partner in the Sally Hershberger salon. She now gets IVs from Dorram’s doctor, top oncologist Mitchell Gaynor, who charges $1,600 for an initial visit (drips range from $300 to $1,000, depending upon the combination of vitamins, minerals and amino acids).
Banwart also takes supplements prescribed by Gaynor, including vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbs, to help everything from brain function to joint health. “Supplements are an additional insurance to strengthen my immune system,’’ she says. The whole package costs her between $400 and $2,000 a month, and that’s with her discount as a health coach.
“The room is very Zen, so I meditate when I get my IVs,’’ says Banwart. “When I was there recently, I opened my eyes and saw two people I know sitting across from me receiving the same treatment. It’s a very Upper East Side experience, like everyone going to the same colorist or same dermatologist.’’
Dorram’s own IVs contain the amino acid glutathione. “It’s referred to as the mother of all anti-antioxidants,’’ says Dorram. “I’ve never had cancer, but I don’t want it. I’m very passionate about this. I work with chemicals and live in NYC. I can’t take 50 vitamins and all the drinks he wants me to, but I can sit there for 20 minutes and do my e-mails.’’
Many people make a point of getting dosed before a trip.
Vanessa Arteaga, a 38-year-old media consultant who lives in Tribeca, gets “Myers’ Cocktails” at Patients Medical for $225 a pop, and says drips allow her to keep up with a hectic travel schedule. “I go to film festivals and media conferences internationally, and I re-energize through vitamin cocktails once a month,” she says. “But if I ever feel a cold coming on, I get one, and honestly I never get sick.’’
Night-life vet Adam Spoont says the IVs he recently started getting at Fountain Medical Group on East 69th Street are his salvation.
“How the hell can you not like it?’’ asks Spoont, 29, the former director of hospitality at Abe & Arthur’s and Catch, who is preparing to open his own night-life spot downtown this summer. “Since I’ve been getting the IVs, my recovery time in the morning is so much quicker, and I have more stamina at night. I just power through without a problem.’’
Socialites and nightclub owners aren’t the only ones swearing by the tube treatment.
Lisa Carrion, a 42-year-old chiropractor and soccer coach who lives in Hackensack, NJ, decided to try a “Myers’ Cocktail” when her husband and kids were under the weather.
“The day after I did the IV, I felt more invigorated,” she says. “I was like a machine: I had all this energy and was able to take care of my family when they needed me.’’
The drips are even being used to prepare for bikini season: Chiropractor Ilan Bohm’s Madison Avenue office is filled with IV enthusiasts getting ready for summer. “About 60 percent of our patients have been doing it,’’ reports Dr. Bohm. “It’s an amazing boost to people’s immune systems, and once you have vitamins you’re less hungry.’’
While most people visit doctor’s offices for their drips, IVs have moved beyond medical establishments. At the Delano in Miami, even the beach cabanas have been equipped with IVs, while a Miami IV shop called Reviv — which opened last July — is scheduled to unveil an outpost at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas next month. Chicago has a freestanding IV place called Revive (no relation to Reviv), which is currently looking for a New York location that it says will open this summer under the new name “IV ME.’’
Most medical practitioners who offer drips see them as an invaluable tool in dealing with urban challenges.
“New Yorkers who are aggressive in business and lead stressful lives realize that having vitamins in their bodies gives them the ability to keep their edge in a competitive world,’’ notes Dr. Pericles Lantz, a Park Avenue physician. “My IV patients aren’t sick; they are the worried well.’’