What Goes Into an IV Drip? The Ingredients Explained

Clinically reviewed by Dr. Ponlawat Pitsuwan, Physician, Takecare Clinic Phuket. Last reviewed: September 2026

A patient came in last month after a full day on the water between Rawai and Nai Harn. She had skipped lunch, lost count of her drinks by mid-afternoon, and by evening she could not keep water down. She had already been handed a drip menu at her hotel and wanted to know what the difference was between the "Immunity Boost" and the "Rehydration Plus." My answer was the same one I give every week: the name on the menu tells you almost nothing. What matters is what is physically inside the bag.

Most IV menus in Phuket lead with branding and bury the actual ingredient list. Some ingredients have solid clinical evidence. Some are genuinely useful for the right patient in the right situation. And some of the trendier add-ons are ahead of what the science currently supports, which I will tell you plainly. Here is what actually goes into an IV drip, and why it matters.

The Base Fluid: Saline vs Lactated Ringer’s

Every drip starts here, and the base fluid does a significant share of the clinical work on its own.

Normal saline is sodium chloride in sterile water. It matches the concentration of your blood closely enough to flow in safely. For straightforward dehydration or heat exhaustion after a long beach day in Phuket’s humidity, saline gets the job done.

Lactated Ringer’s is my preference when a patient has lost significant fluid through vomiting or diarrhoea. It contains sodium, potassium, calcium, and lactate, which the body converts into a buffering compound. When someone comes in after a rough night from a Patong hotel buffet, Lactated Ringer’s replaces what they actually lost more accurately than plain saline. Most drip menus do not give you this choice. A physician does.

Core IV Drip Ingredients: What Each One Actually Does

Once the base is chosen, vitamins and minerals are added depending on the clinical picture.

B-complex vitamins include B1, B2, B3, B5, and B6. They are water-soluble, so your body does not store them well. Alcohol metabolism burns through B1 and B6 particularly fast. After a heavy night on Bangla Road, your B vitamin levels are genuinely depleted, and IV delivery bypasses your gut entirely. Evidence for B-complex in hangover and dehydration recovery is moderate and clinically sensible.

Vitamin B12 is often added separately. Most patients who eat meat are not deficient, but absorption can be poor in some people regardless of diet. I do not push B12 as a magic energy booster. If your levels are low, you will likely notice the difference. If they are not, you probably will not.

Vitamin C is one of the most frequently requested additions. At standard wellness doses, the evidence for immune support is limited but plausible. The standard dose is generally safe, though there is one important exception I cover in the safety section below.

Magnesium is the ingredient I consider most underrated in a drip. It is involved in hundreds of processes in your body and helps with headache and muscle tension. Patients who come in dehydrated and cramping often respond noticeably to it. Evidence is moderate to strong for specific presentations including migraine and muscle spasm.

Calcium and zinc round out most standard formulas. Zinc supports immune function and wound healing. For someone recovering from a reef cut on a day trip to Phi Phi or road rash from a scooter fall on the Patong hill roads, zinc as part of a recovery drip makes clinical sense alongside proper wound care.

The Myers Cocktail: What Is Actually in It

The Myers Cocktail is probably the most requested named drip we see at Takecare Clinic Phuket. It was developed decades ago by a physician named John Myers and has since become the baseline for most vitamin IV protocols.

A standard Myers Cocktail contains B-complex vitamins, vitamin B12, vitamin C, magnesium, and calcium in an isotonic saline base. That is it. The name is not trademarked and no formula is standardised across clinics, which means one clinic’s "Myers" may have meaningfully different doses from another’s. Ask for the actual ingredient list and milligram amounts. Any clinic that cannot or will not provide this should not be your choice.

Advanced Add-Ons: Glutathione, NAD+, and Amino Acids

These are the ingredients where clinical evidence and wellness marketing diverge most sharply.

Glutathione is an antioxidant your body produces naturally. IV glutathione is marketed heavily for skin brightening across Southeast Asia. The evidence for skin effects is limited, drawn mostly from small or short-term studies. Where glutathione has more credible clinical standing is as a general antioxidant in recovery contexts. I offer it, but I tell patients exactly what the evidence does and does not say.

NAD+ is a coenzyme involved in cellular energy. It is the newest major trend in IV wellness, and the human clinical data is still early-stage. Animal models look promising. If a clinic is charging a premium for NAD+ with strong outcome guarantees, that is ahead of what the science currently supports.

Amino acids like taurine and L-carnitine appear on some advanced menus. For a healthy tourist who is tired after a long-haul flight into Phuket, the base fluid and B vitamins will likely do more than an amino acid add-on.

Who Should Not Have Certain IV Drip Ingredients

This is the section most IV menus skip entirely. It is also the one that matters most.

High-dose vitamin C is contraindicated in patients with G6PD deficiency, a genetic condition affecting red blood cell stability. G6PD deficiency is more common in Southeast Asian populations than in European ones, and many patients do not know they carry it. A physician checks for this risk before adding high-dose vitamin C.

High-dose or frequent glutathione raises concerns in patients with kidney impairment. If you have any kidney condition, this needs to be discussed before you receive glutathione in an IV.

Patients with certain cardiac conditions, electrolyte imbalances, or on specific medications need their formula adjusted or, in some cases, IV therapy deferred entirely. A standard intake form does not catch these things reliably. A physician consultation does.

At Takecare Clinic Phuket, every patient is assessed by a physician before any drip is started. That is what makes the difference between a drip that helps and one that causes a problem nobody saw coming.

Common Phuket Situations and Which Ingredients Fit

The ingredient list should follow the clinical picture, not the other way around.

For dehydration after a full day at Karon or a dive trip: Lactated Ringer’s or saline, magnesium, electrolytes. Simple, fast, effective. The base does most of the work.

For a hangover after Bangla Road: saline or Lactated Ringer’s, B-complex, magnesium, and often ondansetron for nausea, a medication that can only be added appropriately after a physician assessment. That medication component is what separates a clinic drip from a spa drip for this presentation.

For post-flight fatigue after a long-haul from Europe: saline base, B-complex, B12, vitamin C. Reasonable evidence, and realistic expectations matter.

For recovery alongside wound care after a reef cut or road rash: base fluid, zinc, vitamin C, B12. Supportive alongside proper wound assessment, not a replacement for it.