The $25 Upgrade: Which Add-Ons Are Actually Worth It for Your Drip?

Every IV practice has an add-on menu, and every client eventually asks me the same question: 'Which of these should I actually get?' It deserves an honest answer, because the right add-on for a bride prepping for photos is the wrong one for a runner recovering from a marathon. Here's how I advise clients to think about the menu — the full pricing lives on our Add-ons & Upgrades page.

First: What the Base Drip Already Covers

Every Summit Elite drip starts with 1,000 mL of balanced saline and, in most formulas, a vitamin base. So start from an honest question: what does the base formula already include? If you've chosen Immunity Booster, you already have 5,000 mg of vitamin C — adding more isn't a safety problem, but it may be money your body simply excretes, as the NIH notes at high oral-dose saturation.

The Add-Ons I Recommend Most

For nearly everyone: extra fluids ($40 for 500 mL, $70 for a full extra liter). Volume is the foundation of the whole treatment, and most clients are more depleted than they think. For the tired and foggy: B12 or B-Complex — cheap, fast, and effective when there's a deficit (read my B12 guide for who benefits). For athletes and the stressed: magnesium, which supports muscle and nerve function and is chronically low in American diets per the NIH's magnesium fact sheet. For beauty and longevity goals: glutathione, covered in depth here.

The Situational Ones

Zinc makes sense during heavy travel and exposure seasons — the NIH zinc fact sheet documents its role in immune function. Anti-nausea and comfort medications are the right call for hangovers and stomach bugs — that's what the Hangover Rescue family is built around. NAD IM is a cellular-support upgrade for clients already committed to the NAD path — see our NAD program for the full context.

The Add-Ons I'd Skip (Sometimes)

More is not better — it's just more. Stacking five add-ons on top of an already-rich Premium formula mostly produces expensive urine and a longer session. My rule: two add-ons max per visit, matched to a stated goal. Tell your nurse what the week looks like — a flight, a race, a wedding, a cold going around the office — and let the menu answer it. That conversation is free, and it's more valuable than any single upgrade on the list.

The Takeaway

The $25 upgrade is worth it when it has a job to do: fluids for volume, B12 for a deficit, magnesium for training stress, glutathione for oxidative load, zinc for exposure season. Book your session, pick your formula, and tell us the goal — we'll build the bag around it instead of the brochure.