The Metaphorical Hot Tub: Taking Medications Before You’re Too Sick

—Bruce Gutman

I recently broke my ribs while body surfing. The ocean picked me up and slammed me into the sand, head and shoulder first. The force of the wave pinned me down, and there was nothing I could do as the weight of the water compressed my body until four of my ribs cracked.

I stumbled out of the ocean and spent the following weeks recovering.

During this time, I experienced that when you’re in constant physical pain, it’s nearly impossible to be present for your spouse or to connect with friends. All of your energy goes toward managing your pain, doing the bare minimum before needing to rest again.

A week after the injury, I went to a small gathering at a friend’s house. Normally, I’m very open and engaged, but this time, I felt like I was interacting through a barrier. The discomfort was so overwhelming that even small talk felt like a challenge.

Then I got into the hot tub, and for the first time since the injury, I felt somewhat normal. I was relaxed. I could finally talk with my friends and feel like myself again.

Now, you might be wondering why I’m sharing this story. So here’s the point:

To live well, you need to prioritize both physical and mental health. Physical health means proper diet, exercise, and quality sleep. Mental health means healing trauma and learning to thrive as the person you’re meant to be.

When your hormones are off, when you’re carrying excess weight, or when your mind is overwhelmed, it’s hard to even imagine what feeling good looks like. That’s when you need to find your own metaphorical hot tub—a way to experience what feeling good is like, even if just for a moment, to remind you that the effort to get there is worth it.

Symptoms like depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, fatigue, brain fog, low motivation, insomnia, emotional sensitivity, and loss of libido can indicate a need for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). As we age, HRT may become essential to feeling normal and living a full life.

Carrying too much weight can lead to chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, certain cancers, kidney disease, high cholesterol, GERD, metabolic syndrome, depression, and chronic inflammation. Medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide can help prevent these risks before obesity sets in, making exercise less painful and more rewarding.

You could spend years trying to quiet your mind, or you could take ketamine and experience mental clarity almost immediately. While ongoing work is still necessary to maintain that calm, it’s difficult to envision when you’re stuck in depression, anxiety, or chronic stress.

Well3 is about giving you the tools to heal before you’re too sick, before it’s too late. We want you to experience what it feels like to be your best self—to get in that metaphorical hot tub—so you’ll know that the work ahead is worth it.