Well, what can I say - I'm pushing 60, rarely see a doctor (in fact, it was about 20 years that I didn't see a doctor at all, but a couple of years ago, when I went to give blood, my blood pressure had gone up, so I conceded, and went to see what that was all about - think it has something to do with being old - duh!  Anyway, the "bp" has lowered back where it should be, and I should be off the medicine next time I see the doc.  Other than that, I have never missed a day of work in over 30+ years (before that, I missed some work having a couple of babies and staying home with them for awhile).  You'd have a hard time finding an aspirin or most any other medicine in our house - but we do use herbals for various things - like cornsilk tea and cranberries for bladder infection; slipperly elm tea for sore throats, my "famous" wound salve for cuts and wounds, etc.  I'll share some of these hints and the books that I like to use the most and my favorite herb store in the area.