Hi I’m Dr. Jamie- The Lifestyle Pharmacist ®. I graduated from pharmacy school at the tender age of 24 and stepped right into a successful career, comfortable salary, and was living what most people would call a dream life.  Admittedly, I am a goal setter and a planner so I of course had planned out my entire life. I was thrilled to check completing pharmacy school and a residency off the list. The next steps in my life plan were to get engaged to my boyfriend (at the time) who was a medical student and then open a primary care clinic and onsite pharmacy with him once he completed his studies. Over the next few years my professional life continued to soar, but my personal life was in shambles. Our relationship came to a heart wrenching end when I learned that he was secretly dating someone else and they shared a 3 month old baby girl. And just like that the plan for my life fell apart right before my eyes.

I wanted to DIE. I wanted to end it all. I could not eat, sleep, or even think. I was tired of crying, and tired of hurting. I no longer recognized the person I saw staring back at me in the mirror. I just wanted to wake up from this bad dream that had become my life. I was in a deep depression and wanted to take something go to sleep and never wake up so that the pain would stop.

My scrubs, white coat, and professional demeanor was the disguise that I wore to work every day.  My colleagues never realized that I was crying my eyes out during lunch instead of eating. I avoided my close friends and family so they would not see what a wreck I was. The dark thoughts I was having began to scare me so I admitted to my primary care physician that I was having thoughts about harming myself. I was prescribed an antidepressant and took it as instructed. I start having headaches, was dizzy and nauseated, and struggled to sleep. The side effects of the medication were too much to bear.  So, I had to try a different approach.

First up was hitting the gym every day. During those hours in the gym, I didn’t feel sad. I let the treadmill, elliptical, and dumb bells feel the wrath of my anger and other negative emotions. The gym became my therapy. And guess what happened? The endorphins released from the exercise stabilized my mood; the sadness and anxiety began to decrease. My appetite came back. I was able to sleep again. I overheard the gym regulars chatting about food blogs and healthy recipes, so I started reading about healthy eating and implementing what I was learning. Food became my medicine. These lifestyle changes LITERALLY saved my life! I looked like my old self again, but honey, I did not feel like her. I felt better than ever! The Lifestyle Pharmacist ® was born!