A few days after my mother's funeral in 2004, my first thought upon awaking was "I don't know if I can get out of bed today." Fourteen years of continual stress -a bad marriage, the death of my father, unemployment, divorce and, finally, a forced move to look after my mother who died a slow death due to Alzheimer's disease-and I was exhausted.

I decided to take some more time off work to recover. I joined an aerobics class, but after two weeks I was too tired to continue so took a break from that, too. In January 2005 I went back to the same class and became more exhausted than ever.

Finally, I turned to naturopathy. Dr. Martin of Enerchanges tested my blood, infused me with vitamins, gave me lots of supplements and told me to avoid certain foods. By week three, he had me in his gym with a personal trainer. He gave me a prescription to go dancing once a week and to take sailing lessons. And he told me I couldn't work.

By the end of June I had recovered, and I left the doc's care with lots of energy, a couple of new friends, my Canadian Yachting Association certification, and was a regular attendee at local dances. I'm a different person now. Friends say I'm bursting with energy.

-Ann McKenzie Vancouver, BC

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