My Story
I didn’t plan on starting this company.
I only started it because I saw what Protocol did for me—and what it could do for people like me.
For a long time, I was prescribed Adderall for ADHD. It worked in a way—it helped me focus and be productive—but it was a band-aid. Every day came with a crash. I’d crush it at work, locked in and getting everything done, but by the time I got home I had nothing left. No energy. Short fuse. Easily frustrated.
That’s not who I wanted to be at home.
It started affecting my family and my marriage, and I didn't want my wife and kids to be around me like that.
So I stopped.
To get through the day, I switched to energy drinks. Two to three cans a day. It gave me a similar push, but it came with the similar drawbacks—crashes, headaches, poor sleep. I was just trading one problem for another.
I felt like my personality and motivation were constantly changing based on what I did or didn't take. It was hard for me to connect with people and be sincere with them, because I was never actually myself. I was the result of that day's stimulant. I wanted to be myself and be genuine around people.
I needed something that actually worked without the downsides.
I’ve always been into pre-workouts, creatine, and amino acids, so I started exploring those ingredients. Buying different supplements, stacking them, trying to dial something in. It got expensive fast, and most of what I was taking had a bunch of garbage laced with it. Even then, I still didn’t have something I could rely on or feel good about putting in my body every day.
So I stripped it down.
I took what actually worked, got rid of everything else, and started building it from scratch—using full, clinical doses of the ingredients that mattered. Then I tested. Over and over again. Dozens and dozens of versions in my kitchen.
At first it was rough. Iteration after iteration it became manageable, then it became something I actually looked forward to drinking.
I didn’t expect much. I already knew these ingredients, and to some degree I had accepted that everything comes with side effects—I’d just have to see what mine were.
But within a few days, there was genuine change.
Task avoidance, restlessness, lack of focus, irritability, all of them were almost gone. I could focus without feeling wired. I could stick with a project while not neglecting my surroundings. My workouts improved. I felt like me if someone had taken a blanket or fog off of me and I was feeling normal for once. And for the first time, I wasn’t paying for it later—no crash, no headaches, no mood swings, and no hit to my sleep.
I could show up at work—and still show up at home.
It felt clean and it felt sustainable. It felt like something I could take every day and not think twice about.
And I knew I wasn’t the only one dealing with this.
My family and friends were going through the same things—low focus, procrastination, low energy, crashes, headaches, mood swings, just feeling off. I had them try it, and they started seeing the same kind of results!
There are a lot of things out there that kind of work.
But they always come with a tradeoff.
With Protocol, that was the goal—no tradeoffs.
Clear focus. Steady energy. No crash. No junk.
Something you can take every day and actually feel good about.
From my kitchen to yours, I hope it does for you what it did for me.
– David Quinn
Founder, Align Rx
