Couchbound with ME/CFS, now much better after a self-taught hormesis routine
- Condition
- ME/CFS
- At worst
- Severe (mostly bedbound)
- Ill before improving or writing
- 5 months
- Last post
- Oct 2026
In their words
- Condition: ME/CFS
since I got CFS (mar 2025)
In context ↗ - At worst: Severe
I went from couchbound, severe headaches, muscle twitching, orthostatic intolerance, adrenaline spikes, sleeping maybe 12 hrs average and napping daily
In context ↗ - Now: Much better
I def still have cfs but it’s much better ... especially as someone who's mostly recovered too
- Began after: stress or burnout
I cold turkeyed my medication (not intelligent) with absolutely brutal withdrawals and then got a cold during this along with college stress which finally sent me over the edge.
Read from 8 of their posts and comments; links to the 4 this page draws on
Summary
Got CFS in March 2025, aged 21, after college stress, a cold and quitting an antidepressant; he was couchbound with headaches, orthostatic intolerance and brain fog. He credits a self-taught hormesis routine — nudging slightly above baseline then pulling back — for slow gains after a couple of months, later adding compression garments, salt, water, propranolol and LDN for sleep. By late 2026 he was mostly recovered but still had CFS.
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What they tried
Also tried
Their words about each treatment
- antidepressant · Not said
i was on an antidepressant which was hyper stimulating but for years I refused to get off it
In context ↗ - hormesis / nervous system stimulus reduction technique · Helped a lot
i started to notice that this technique did work after a couple months, literally everything made sense and progressed to a tee
In context ↗ - orthostatic compression garments · Not said
orthostatic compression garments
In context ↗ - High salt and water intake · Not said
High salt and water intake for orthostatic compression
In context ↗ - propranolol · Not said
propranolol (as needed)
In context ↗ - audio neurofeedback · Helped
You can even close your eyes while doing it, makes me feel more grounded and less anxious
In context ↗ - LDN · Helped
I’ve had success w LDN so far for my sleep!!
In context ↗
Approaches: Brain retraining
Their path
How ill they were on the ME/CFS severity scale, estimated from what they describe at each point, with time counted from when the illness began. Hover or tap a point. The first step with a time is 17 months after onset: the story doesn’t say how ill they were before that. The dashed part: the story doesn’t say when. 1 step says too little to place on the scale and is only in the table. Dates are when they posted. What the levels mean.
Show as a table
| When | What happened | Where they were |
|---|---|---|
| March 2025 | Got CFS after school stress, a cold and antidepressant withdrawalsince I got CFS (mar 2025)In context ↗ | Not stated |
| 2025 | Couchbound with severe headaches, orthostatic intolerance, brain fog, napping dailyI went from couchbound, severe headaches, muscle twitching, orthostatic intoleranceIn context ↗ | Severe |
| Aug 2026 | Sleeping normal hours, socialising about an hour a day, limited part-time work and online classeswork a part time job (albeit very very limited hours), and I’m able to do my online classes at schoolIn context ↗ | Mild |
| Oct 2026 | Says he is mostly recoveredespecially as someone who's mostly recovered tooIn context ↗ | Mild |
Adverse events
- Antidepressants (unspecified)“i was on an antidepressant which was hyper stimulating” In context ↗ Side effects
- Antidepressants (unspecified)“I cold turkeyed my medication (not intelligent) with absolutely brutal withdrawals” In context ↗ Withdrawal problems
Symptoms mentioned
Their words about their symptoms
- Post-exertional malaise
I stopped stressing about PEM or when I knew it was going to happen
In context ↗ - Brain fog
brain fog, impending doom feeling, forgetting words mid sentence
In context ↗ - Headaches & migraine
severe headaches
In context ↗ - POTS & dysautonomia
orthostatic intolerance
In context ↗ - Sleep problems
sleeping maybe 12 hrs average and napping daily
In context ↗ - Anxiety & low mood
impending doom feeling
In context ↗
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