My Path to Natural Wellness

My Story

Expanding My Medical Toolkit

Beginning in the mid-1990s, after decades as the pharmacist and owner of The Medicine Shoppe, I became acutely aware of a disturbing pattern among my customers: Patients came in for prescriptions only to return days later with unwanted side effects and new health issues. More and more, patients would ask me about mixing natural supplements, such as herbs and vitamins, with prescription drugs, without the understanding of how they would affect their bodies.

As a pharmacist, I was committed to helping my patients manage their health problems and symptoms. However, little was being done to prevent disease and treat the root of their medical issues. Instead of masking their symptoms or taking medicine that makes them sicker, why not address their underlying health imbalances? 

It was then I began rigorous training in natural medicine, clinical nutrition, and herbology. After spending hundreds of hours training, I received diplomas in both Clinical Nutrition (DCN) and Herbology (Dip. Herb.). In 2001 the Natural Wellness Corner was born, and I began providing Concord with personalized holistic care and nutritional therapy.

Meeting Sharon

During our early days, one client sticks out in my mind: Sharon, who first came to us for clinical advice in 2003. Sharon was in a deep state of despair. After having her gallbladder removed in 1999, digestive issues still plagued her and severely impacted her daily life.

Years after the surgery, she continued to suffer from insomnia, weight gain, and extreme difficulty tolerating any food. Physicians at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Hanover, NH, prescribed medication to manage her symptoms, but she was reluctant to take it since one of the long-term side effects was liver failure.

I believe Western medicine and prescription medications can be lifesavers. However, the vast majority of physicians, like those who treated Sharon, simply don’t study nutritional medicine during medical training. When surgery and prescribed medication failed to address her digestive issues, Sharon had few options left to pursue.

Like a number of clients I see at the Natural Wellness Corner who are unaware of the benefits of natural medicine, Sharon was skeptical of my approach at first. If the medical minds at Dartmouth couldn’t do anything for her, how could I possibly help? I was eager to put my nutritional knowledge to practical use for Sharon, and help her achieve the comfort she deserved at long last.

In addition to homeopathic remedies, supplement recommendations, and lifestyle and dietary adjustments, I prescribed a multivitamin, a probiotic, and three different digestive supplements to treat Sharon’s digestive issues.

Regaining Life

After just a month of following our recommendations, Sharon explained she “was a changed person.” 

“The data sheet that I brought to Marty for our first consult lists my areas of concern—fatigue, chronic diarrhea, indigestion, bloating, cold hands and feet, insomnia, cramps, and weight gain. Today not a single one of these symptoms remains. Now instead of being on a downward spiral and barely surviving as a human being, I am on an upward spiral of health and savoring all that life has to offer. For any of you who wonder ‘what can a pharmacist do for me?’—Marty Donovan helped me get my life back.”

Rereading her chart and results years later still brings me immense satisfaction. In the ensuing years, I’ve helped hundreds of clients just like her. It’s the Sharons in our community that drove me in the early days, and continue to motivate my work in clinical nutrition and natural medicine.

Every day, I work with clients to resolve their underlying medical conditions through natural supplements, holistic care, changes in diet, and lifestyle adjustments. I want to do more than simply help you manage your symptoms. I want to help you create a life of lasting health and overall well-being.

Over the decades, me and my team at the Natural Wellness Corner have become the go-to source for nutritional medicine in New Hampshire. We still remember our humble beginnings, and how far natural medicine has evolved. Through it all, however, we’ve maintained the same professional and compassionate commitment to helping our clients feel better and get their lives back.      

Ready to begin your path to healing? Contact us or call (603) 225-2747 to schedule a complimentary 15 minute discovery consult with our in-house nutritionist today.