Why We're Here:

It was early May of 2006 - a few days before our daughter's third birthday and our seventh wedding anniversary - when my wife came home one night and notified me that she wanted a divorce. We shared a bottle of wine, argued a little as usual, and that was it. Papers were filed and the divorce was finalized on September 11th, 2006.

Three years prior we had been separated for about four months. The anxiety was too much for me. I ran to my doctor, who decided to put me on Xanax instead of Prozac. I didn't get all the way through the first bottle before I realized that narcotics - prescription or otherwise - were not for me. Besides the constant hang-over and complete lack of reasoning skills, I got to the point that I couldn't give the police directions to the house that I was renting. They thought it best to put me in jail instead of letting me wander the streets.

This time, I thought, I'm three years wiser and I'm not going down that dark alley again. So in my new-found wisdom and intelligence I let myself drift into self-medicating with alcohol. We separated in May, and I got my DUI shortly before the Fourth of July holiday. Totaled a Land Rover, ruined a perfect driving record and completed the alienation of my wife in one fateful night swigging vodka sodas and listening to my best friend try to convince me how great single life would be. After the $30,000.00 and who knows how many hours of time spent sorting that mess out, I realized that I needed to find the right way to deal with the very real pressures that I was feeling. Ironically, the solution came from my wife's sister, who was a doctor trained in both typical Western medicine and the more holistic, naturalistic Osteopathic approach.

I contacted her for some help and she pointed me towards a variety of herbal supplements to try. The several different herbs were intended to address all the various physical problems I felt: No sleep, no energy, shallow breathing, constant racing thoughts, high blood pressure, upset stomach...the list was long. The results were, to me at the time, unbelievable.

I'd never really tried herbal supplements except Melatonin for my frequent overseas trips. I was an unqualified believer within a week. I started sleeping again, got enough energy back to start exercising, and managed to get on the other side of my anxious, racing thoughts to the point where I could return to some active participation in my business. Herbal supplements didn't save my business (sadly), but they probably saved my life in at least some philosophical sense. I really didn't care if I lived or died, and getting the various stress-related physical problems under control allowed me to get my mental state back to where it needed to be.

Now it is a few years since our divorce. I own two businesses, have a beautiful daughter with whom I am proud to say I have a great relationship, an amazing girlfriend, brilliant business partners and an outlook on life that even a high school senior on the morning after prom would envy. You could say that I adopted a supplementality - I think right, live right and try to do right - everyday. I've been fascinated by, and learning about, herbs and their effect on the body, ever since.

Herbal supplements are effective and natural. Like anything you put into your body, knowledgeable choices and moderation are the keys to safely maximizing their effectivity. If you are taking prescription medications, it is a good idea to check with your doctor or pharmacist before you take any herbs.  If you're pregnant, do not take any herbs until you have discussed them with your doctor.