Starting my NAD Journey
No one likes taking shots. Unless you’re that Drago guy from Rocky 4. Not me! I just look away. I don’t want to see the needle entering my skin. Since growing up, I don’t feel too much pain when I’m given shots. During COVID, I took those shots to stop the spread, like a good boy, I guess. I can take them, but I have always tried to keep taking shots at a minimum.
Today, I’m at Lior Luxe Studio Med Spa with my sister, Liza. We have many discussions about GLP-1s and peptides. They’re very popular and our clients/patients have asked about them. Yet, Liza and I cannot help but feel that this is a trend. Nothing more than the health mob looking for the next big fix to the “make me skinny, RIGHT NOW” problem. You can only burn fat off — you can’t lull it to sleep with a melody or wish it away with some cognitive force from God. Burning it off is the only way it leaves the body. The choice is a beautiful lie or the terrible truth. Sorry!
Liza placed the IV Drip towers near the massage chairs when we opened the spa. While the popularity of IV Drips is high, I’ve noticed that our patients have had a hard time finding time to sit for an hour with an IV Drip attached to their arm or wrist. Then I heard that these same supplements can be administered by an injection in a few minutes rather than an hour with an IV Drip. That was much more interesting.
What NAD+ and B12 Actually Are — and Why I Started
I took the time to debate with Emily, our registered nurse about the pros and cons of IVs and injections. The similarities are stackable. Both deliver the supplements directly into the bloodstream. Both can offer immediate body reaction (good or bad). The con is that the dosage for an injection has to be less than for an IV. The IV drips can provide much more than the injection because the fluid travels across the body in its natural journey through the blood stream, whereas an injection’s dosage is limited by the amount in a syringe and the ability of a human body to absorb the supplement.
Sorry for the big words, but I want to give you, the reader and client/patient, my real path towards the injections.
Studying NAD+ shows me that NAD is a natural compound in the human body that is in high amounts when we are pre-teenagers. These NAD compounds utilize the DNA of our bodies to instruct cell growth. During our pre-teen years, we had a Mount Everest sized energy that would have made the Energizer Bunny blast off into space like a SpaceX rocket. Remember, you could stay up past 2 in the morning, wake up at 6:45AM, eat breakfast and ride your bike to school in record time so that you could chat with your friends? Well, that was me. Also, puberty was in high drive. Voice changed. Embarrassing moments with pants (no more details will be given!).
NAD does this for us older people (I’m not that old, dammit!). NAD requires some time in the body to get itself fully operating as it should. However, it also requires many dosages of the injection to get enough to make a difference. This means that NAD does not do much in the beginning but after several weeks of weekly injections, the human body (an older human body like mine), begins to notice small victories.
NAD takes a while to get the benefits. As a marketing and sales expert, I knew that NAD wouldn’t sell to the public with a “hey, trust me” promise. I called Liza and told her that the only way we could offer our market NAD had to be NAD+ AND B12. B12 is a vitamin that helps the body with energy. If your doctor has ever told you to try B12 vitamins, it’s due to the fact that you are experiencing low levels of energy. B12 won’t keep you up at night counting an endless number of sheep, either. Good rest and steady sleep are typical for B12 shots. Therefore, NAD+ & B12 would be a winning combination that works both in the short term and the long term. Perfect!
One last thing, NAD isn’t a miracle drug. It’s a natural compound found in your body that diminishes over time. Reintroducing it at high levels in conservative dosages provides energy, digestive benefits, clear mind, and other benefits. It won’t make you a super hero, so cancel your Amazon red cape purchase.
Weeks 1–3 — The Skeptic Phase & A Small Victory
I must be brutally honest. I had never heard of NAD before and truly felt that this was going to be a waste of time and money. Wasteful amount of money because NAD+ bottles for clinics and med spas aren’t cheap.
Weeks 1 and 2 were both failures. I was extremely disappointed. I couldn’t believe I’d let myself get conned into buying bottles of NAD for the clinic, with no way to get our money back. It was a frustrating situation for me.
Of course, I was taking the B12 shots, but I knew what I was getting with B12—4-6 days of energy. If NAD was providing me the same, I wouldn’t know it since I was taking them both. However, NAD should be giving me more benefits than energy. It wasn’t. Damn!
Then Week 3 and the tables suddenly turned. It was a Tuesday that we had our Tox Party with a great deal per unit, and we invited many of our patients to get neurotoxins on one special day (see future blogs for more information about our Tox Parties). The following day, we were all discussing who attended and who didn’t, and suddenly I turned into Sherlock Holmes. I could recall not just names and faces, but what each patient wore — even the specifics, like the units of neurotoxins we recommended and the time they arrived.
I’ve always had a good memory, but now I was recalling things much more freely and without having to think too hard about it. In that moment I thought, it’s the NAD! I was right, because I was experiencing a new benefit other than energy. A mind that was clear from brain fog. I’m now ready to be a contestant on Jeopardy. And lose shamefully, of course.
Weeks 4–5 — The Turn
Weeks 4 and 5 were both similar with a new attribute that I was extremely excited to get. Since I’ve gotten to my late 40’s (turning 50 this February) I have been experiencing typical issues that come with every man of this age. Sleeping with interruptions that require a bathroom break. What’s worse about the bathroom break? A slow stream. Sorry for the visual.
In these weeks, something happened that made me want to continue NAD for the rest of my life. Sleeping through the night without any interruptions. Of course, not every night, but most nights. The first night that it happened, I noticed it immediately. It was a celebratory event to say the least. A night at Chuck E Cheese with some bad decisions is how this 49-year-old likes to celebrate. Yeah, boy!
Restful nights were a benefit beyond what I’d hoped for. It meant I could be awake in the morning without that groggy, restless feeling. Sleeping through the night also had compounding effects on my digestion, with other positive knock-ons for my nervous system and my heart health.
Weeks 6–8 — The New Normal
Weeks 6–8 were where the compounding effects from the previous weeks really showed. I’m happy to say that the slow stream (sorry again for the visual, ladies) was not slow anymore. It was the same stream I remember from my youth. The best part of it: peeing meant no more than a 30-second interruption rather than a 3-4 minute one.
I could also rest calmer. My resting heart rate dropped the moment I wanted to rest, instead of me waiting around for it to slow down. Resting was immediate rather than a process.
At this moment, you could argue that I was a true believer. NAD has made my life better, and each injection was quick. Emily gave me my shots (NAD+ & B12) in a matter of 4-5 minutes. All done! Everyone should do this!!!
The Removal — Cold Turkey
Ok, so Emily is our registered nurse who helped me on my path with NAD. Well get this! She had the nerve and the utter audacity to go on vacation for almost 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS! Without her giving me my NAD+ & B12. Something about seeing her family on the East Coast. Bah Humbug! (just kidding, Emily!)
For two weeks, NAD dropped out of my regimen. Now, I don’t want to paint you a picture that everything went back to normal as if not taking NAD shrivels me down to an old woman with a red apple searching for the fairest women in the land. The picture I would like to paint is more accurate. One week off the NAD regimen, and my energy levels dropped. That was first.
The other thing I noticed off NAD: my heart rate got harder to regulate than it had been on it. I don’t expect to regulate my resting heart rate with great certainty over the long term, but a little is all that I ask. And that was exactly what I had with NAD, rather than without it.
Emily is back, so I will get back to my NAD regimen and the plan to move her family to Roseville or nearby has started so that I never hear the “Vacation” word again from her. NO VACATIONS, Emily! Seriously, she has a beautiful family, a great husband and amazing kids, and she should take them everywhere when she can. Who doesn’t love Emily, C’mon!
A Word of Caution — This Isn’t a “More Is Better” Thing
Some of our client/patients have told me that they don’t need to take our NAD+ & B12 regimen since they know a “guy” who gets them NAD and use 500mg per dosage. Be careful of taking high dosages of NAD.
Take your time with NAD just like I did. If my example is any help to you, dear reader, it’s that NAD is stackable in the human body and requires a slow churn to give you the best results like it did for me.
Here’s the part I won’t soften: more isn’t better. Everything good I felt came from a sensible, supervised dose — for us, that’s a 100mg injection — not from pushing the number higher. Overdo it and you’re far more likely to end up nauseous, flushed, and cramping than superhuman. So if you’re ever tempted to go above the recommended dose, talk to your doctor first. This is one of those things worth doing right, under real medical supervision — or not at all.
Why I’m Going Back On It
I know that many of our clients/patients feel the same as I do about chasing medical trends. Not only do they nearly all seem to fail at some point, but they end up harming a lot of people. After meeting many of our wonderful clients/patients in our community, I have become close to almost all of you. You’re all dear to me and Liza. Our business will never thrive without the love we have for everyone who has supported us by using our services and treatments at Lior Luxe Studio Med Spa.
I am a true believer in NAD and will attempt to convince you of the importance of taking NAD. It truly will help you.
Due to this, I am happy to be your guinea pig with these treatments. Happy to report my findings to you. And above all, I am grateful to provide you with options and alternatives that better your life in any way. A business isn’t always successful from the profit it chases but from the people who find that business to be important to them.
Disclaimer
The information in this post is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and reflects the personal experience and opinions of the author. It is not medical advice and is not a substitute for professional diagnosis, examination, or treatment. Reading this post does not create a physician–patient relationship. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider before beginning, changing, or stopping any supplement, injection, or treatment, including NAD+ and B12 therapy — and especially before taking any dose higher than the recommended amount.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. NAD+ and B12 injections are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Individual results vary and are not guaranteed; the author’s experience is personal and may not be typical.
Disclosure: The author is a co-owner of Lior Luxe Studio Med Spa, which offers the NAD+ and B12 treatments described in this post.