How it went
Did it last?
- 7 of 55 said the benefit wore off (including the 4 who relapsed).
- 9 of 55 needed to keep doing it to stay well.
Read from what people wrote. A story that ends without a follow-up counts as lasting, so treat these as minimums.
| Outcome described | Accounts | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Full recovery | 5 | 9% |
| Near-full | 3 | 5% |
| Substantial | 16 | 29% |
| Partial | 26 | 47% |
| Relapsed | 4 | 7% |
| No benefit | 1 | 2% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | 1 | 0% | |
| Moderate | 9 | 0% | |
| Severe | 19 | 21% | |
| Very severe | 5 | 40% |
21 accounts don’t say how ill the person was.
Who published these accounts
Right-hand number: share describing a full or near-full recovery. Pages that sell something, and advocacy sites, tend to publish only the successes.
How often it comes up
Posts that mention Carnitine, BCAA, amino acids, per 1,000 posts each year. Hover a point for the count.
Show as a table
| Year | Posts mentioning it | All posts | Per 1,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8 | 184 | 43.5 |
| 2010 | 7 | 682 | 10.3 |
| 2011 | 18 | 704 | 25.6 |
| 2012 | 28 | 1,491 | 18.8 |
| 2013 | 26 | 1,708 | 15.2 |
| 2014 | 23 | 2,352 | 9.8 |
| 2015 | 26 | 2,158 | 12.0 |
| 2016 | 26 | 1,431 | 18.2 |
| 2017 | 29 | 3,110 | 9.3 |
| 2018 | 64 | 2,201 | 29.1 |
| 2019 | 33 | 1,075 | 30.7 |
| 2020 | 45 | 2,581 | 17.4 |
| 2021 | 31 | 1,867 | 16.6 |
| 2022 | 18 | 1,166 | 15.4 |
| 2023 | 20 | 1,000 | 20.0 |
| 2024 | 16 | 1,237 | 12.9 |
| 2025 | 12 | 1,019 | 11.8 |
| 2026 (so far) | 1 | 840 | 1.2 |
Posts in the forum threads we archived, 26,806 in all, counted per year. A mention means the post names the treatment, not that the writer took it. These threads all contain a recovery story, so they show what those communities discussed, not everyone with ME/CFS or long COVID. All trends
All 55 accounts
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Improvement story
Across several posts spanning 2023-2026, Gzephyr describes climbing out of EBV-reactivation-driven CFS using valacyclovir as a base, adding NAC and intermittent fasting, and finally a tonsillectomy in early 2025. He says he went from severe (~8/10 fatigue,…
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Good signs from coq10 - now what? (Mary)
Mary said 4,000 to 5,000mg of branched-chain amino acids daily, followed since 2014, cut her post-exertional malaise recovery time by more than half and improved her energy, with CoQ10 adding a further noticeable effect. She notes cheaper BCAA brands worked…
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[Case study] CFS/ME remission story severe patient [2008]
A severe ME/CFS patient documented in a 2008 case report used a year of tapering immunoglobulin dosing alongside gut-repair supplements and antibiotic treatment for mycoplasma, progressing from severe to mild over the 12 months of treatment. Immunoglobulin…
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Post-Exertional Malaise Busters for ME/CFS, FM and now Long COVID - Take II
BCAA (branched-chain amino acids) taken at the maximum recommended dose immediately after any exertion large enough to trigger post-exertional malaise, used as an ongoing as-needed strategy rather than a fixed course. Illness duration and severity are not…
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Substantial improvement with strange dietary adjustments
Wonkmonk built a highly specific elimination/adjustment diet after years of downhill CFS. He says he moved from borderline "very severe" to the lower end of "severe" - pain almost gone, able to get up, cook, and walk a few miles - and calls it "very…
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Sarah's Story
Sarah tried an extensive list of treatments without full success: many hyperbaric oxygen sessions (costing "thousands" and giving only temporary relief before triggering relapses), acupuncture, kinesiology, diet changes, breathing exercises with osteopaths,…
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Luteolin
Luteolin in small amounts from rosemary tea, roughly a twentieth of a liter with a quarter of the surface covered, or half to two teaspoons of rosemary added to food, was described by Percyval577 as calming and focusing when combined with tyrosine. She…
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I finally fixed post-COVID fatigue
D.Rabbie says a combination of the vasoactive drug heptaminol with cinnarizine, and later with modafinil, gave him "better energy and mental clarity" that he felt exceeded his pre-COVID baseline, after two to three months of unresolving post-COVID fatigue…
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l-citrulline boosting energy (and BP!)
L-citrulline, 2 teaspoons twice daily on an empty stomach before reducing to 1 teaspoon daily, was tried by Mary, a longtime ME/CFS patient and forum moderator. It noticeably boosted her energy and daily function for about four days, similar to short-lived…
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CBT for CFS: Luke Shares His Experience and Recovery
Luke combined self-directed CBT (working through his own negative thought patterns rather than with a therapist) with a methylation protocol developed by Rich Von Konynenburg (B vitamins plus folic acid), guidance from two books -- Kristina Downing-Orr's…
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What changes did you notice during recovery from a diagnosed carnitine deficiency?
Daily carnitine injections titrated to 600mg/day, for a lab-confirmed severe carnitine deficiency, let her do moderate strength training and calisthenics without the post-exertional malaise that even 10 push-ups used to trigger (previously a 2-3 week…
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Mitochondrial and Energy Metabolism Dysfunction in ME/CFS - Myhill, Booth and McLaren-Howard Papers
MrTwoToedSloth, mostly housebound and limited to about one activity a week before a week-long flare-up, assembled a broad mitochondrial-support stack (CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, nicotinamide riboside, creatine, D-ribose and more) and noticed improvement at…
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Treatments that have worked??
One to two weeks into a strict Fuhrman-style whole-food plant-based diet plus L-tyrosine, B12 and chlorella, reports sleeping well and exercising daily with "NO PEM, none whatsoever," resuming running and gaining muscle after years of losing it despite…
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L-carnitine is working for me.
After years housebound and heat-intolerant, L-carnitine fumarate (1g rising to 1.5g/day) brought her to "definitely feeling better" and making plans again -- an ongoing, partial gain dependent on continued supplementation.
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L-carnitine is working for me.
A very small dose of L-acetyl carnitine, about 1/6 of a capsule, "helped quite significantly and straight away," but triggered insomnia and excitotoxicity-type side effects that required adding GABA support to manage -- a real but complicated partial gain.
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L-carnitine is working for me.
L-carnitine 2g/day brought less tiredness and less brain fog within three days, but the gain plateaued: "I improved and then reached a plateau... it's not enough to increase my activities" -- a modest, capped improvement in day-to-day tolerance rather than…
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Anyone else have a massive improvement from Tyrosine?
ljimbo423 reports noticeable, sustained improvement in mental clarity from daily tyrosine over several years, later finding N-acetyl-tyrosine effective at an even lower dose, though too much of either causes hyperstimulation and sleep trouble. He describes…
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Anyone else have a massive improvement from Tyrosine?
drob31 says tyrosine "cuts through brain fog and fatigue like a knife through butter." He hit a two-week crash he attributes to combining it with caffeine, then resumed at a lower, less frequent dose with better results, suggesting the benefit is real but…
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I get chills for 2 weeks after a single attempt of killing gut microbes; permanent cure found: cod liver/oil or sashimi. See last post.
During a uric-acid flare she started supplementing with glutamine, after which chills she had been experiencing went away. No dose, duration or longer-term follow-up is given, so durability beyond that single report is unknown.
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What's worked for me
About a month into an mTORC1-activation supplement regimen, later adding YK-11, tramadol, leucine/glutamine and MYO-X, reports "less PEM, less fatigue, less pain and improved mood." Frames the gains as incremental and additive ("on top of my regimen") rather…
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GREAT Tips to improve (6 years experience)
Six years in, this poster describes a partial turnaround in energy timing and sleep - waking naturally without an alarm - after combining a supplement stack with a self-imposed "dopamine challenge" restricting stimulation after 6pm. He's explicit this is "my…
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Hematologic Ozone put me in remission
Underwent hematologic ozone therapy (about 200cc of blood drawn, treated with ozone, and reinfused), nine treatments by the time of posting, alongside curcumin 1000mg and acetyl-L-carnitine 100mg twice daily. Had been completely incapacitated and…
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Supplement - Increasing N.O. w/o crashing (arginine, lysine, etc.)
L-arginine, dose and duration unspecified, initially produced a big increase in energy, decreased inflammation and pain, and what the poster called extreme mental focus. This ME/CFS patient, for whom brain fog was one of the most troubling symptoms, then…
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Possible CFS success story. Got much better after 4-5 years. Here's what has helped.
Never formally diagnosed but self-describing as a mild case, this poster went from an estimated 20% to 70-90% of normal functioning over 4-5 years on a large stack (St. John's Wort, 15g/day D-ribose, melatonin/Seriphos, acetyl-L-carnitine, fish oil) plus a…
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My CFS Recovery
Began with weekly IV infusions of high-dose vitamin C, magnesium chloride, B-complex and liquid glutathione, then moved to a large daily oral regimen including glutathione, acetyl-L-carnitine, MTHFR-targeted methylation supplements and thyroid medication.…
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Hitting Rock Bottom Leads To Turnaround for Dan
Built a gut-healing protocol around digestive enzymes, phosphatidylcholine and L-glutamine, guided by his own hypothesis that the autonomic nervous system was the key link across his symptoms. Illness duration and severity are not detailed in the excerpt.…
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Monique finds her rocket fuel
Monique, previously athletic, developed ME/CFS after flu and worsened dramatically after her father's death, by 2004 hardly able to walk and fearing a wheelchair. She pursued an orthomolecular approach, describing two supplements as like rocket fuel,…
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A Proven Treatment-Cure for Chronic Epstein Barr Virus
After 19 years of illness including multiple chronic infections, Abdulrahman self-designed an antibiotic course for mycoplasma followed by a supplement-heavy antiviral protocol for EBV, and reports being "95% cured for 2.5 years," functioning better than the…
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has anyone really benefited ie cured by exercise?
This poster manages about 20 minutes of light weight training without a fatigue crash, but only after first addressing methylation with methylfolate/methylB12 plus L-carnitine fumarate and adenosylB12. He frames exercise as helpful only once the underlying…
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Tyrosine (L-Tyrosine) by NOW helping me! Would love input. (long)
With lab-documented low catecholamines and low morning cortisol, this poster settled on a half-dose of L-tyrosine after full doses caused jitteriness, reporting an ongoing mild mood lift - "feel a bit happy on it" - without the energizing effect he initially…
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Those who have benefited from B12 and methylation treatment
Ran a Freddd-style active methylation stack - L-carnitine fumarate, methylcobalamin, methylfolate and adenosylcobalamin, doses escalated then scaled back to around 2 tablets a day each - in what he called the "very early days" of trying it. He got an initial…
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Diet and improvement
Followed a strict "Practical Paleo"-book diet for 30 days, then eased off slightly, over about two months total. She reports "significant improvement" - much more energy, headaches and dizziness gone, and anxiety gone (though she notes that "could be from…
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Ten Years of healing: No more congestive heart failure, FMS, CFS and minus 100 pounds
Twenty years into disabling CFS, fibromyalgia and congestive heart failure requiring daily diuretics for 85lbs of water retention, he began an injectable methylcobalamin/adenosylcobalamin/methylfolate/L-carnitine protocol (the "Deadlock Quartet," later…
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Finally feeling like my normal (CFS normal) self again after SMP attempt
After about 10 years of suboptimal methylation function, he actually stopped the Simplified Methylation Protocol and switched to low-dose niacin, B1/B2, P5P and minerals, later adding NA-Tyrosine. Within 3 months he was "finally feeling 'my normal' again,"…
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Anyone have any success with GAPS?
After 12 years of CFS/Lyme, he combined GAPS with bone broth, high-dose probiotics, yogurt, kefir, coconut oil, glutamine and cod liver oil, reporting "significant improvement" after just one week. He cautions that one week is "too early to claim a…
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Anyone have any success with GAPS?
After 3.5 years of severe ME, she combined a GAPS/Paleo hybrid diet with aloe vera, glutamine, bone broth, juicing, liver-detox herbs and probiotics. She estimates the diet alone took her from "10% with pain to 40% with no pain," describing it as ongoing,…
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CBS success!
Seven years into ME/CFS with post-exertional fatigue and cognitive dysfunction, she used a CBS-mutation-targeted protocol of activated charcoal, magnesium, molybdenum, manganese and sulfur-food restriction. Cognition "started to clear" within hours of her…
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Skyline's Journal: Progress & Experiments
About a week into restarting a full methylation protocol (high-dose methylfolate, dual-form B12, folinic acid and potassium alongside L-carnitine and B-vitamins), this poster's self-rated daily tracking shows energy reaching "10," headaches nearly resolved,…
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Excellent results with LactoFermented Vegetables
After years of severe constipation despite other interventions, she began eating one daily serving of homemade lactofermented sauerkraut or beets alongside L-glutamine and grain elimination. She calls the results "amazing," resolving her long-standing…
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anyone find something that significantly improves cognition/memory?
Takes L-glutamine up to 2g a day, along with B12 and occasional low-dose stimulants. Says the L-glutamine "lifted some fog," with the effect reproducibly appearing when she starts it and reversing when she stops -- fairly convincing self-testing -- though…
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anyone find something that significantly improves cognition/memory?
Takes benfotiamine and Carniclear (L-carnitine) along with coconut oil every couple of days, saying they "work great for me" with an energy boost from the coconut oil in particular. The claim is stated positively but without much specific detail on…
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Muscle weakness and endurance: Solved (i hope)
Weak enough to struggle lifting a pan while on an Active B12 protocol, he began 2000mg/day of L-carnitine (fumarate/tartrate) and regained strength within 4 days. He deliberately tested the effect by stopping the supplement: weakness returned within days,…
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Improving steadily on Regimen, added hormones to the list
Runs a large daily regimen -- sodium ascorbate, glycine, lysine and proline at 2-5g per meal, 40,000 IU beta carotene per meal, Lugol's iodine, malic acid, DHEA, pregnenolone, weekly minerals/B vitamins, plus Tindamax and Benicar -- along with periodic…
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GPLC helping with sleep and energy
Takes 750mg of Jarrow GPLC first thing on waking. Reports better sleep and energy, and says heart palpitations have "almost completely resolved" -- an improvement she calls unexpected and describes cautiously, without long-term follow-up on durability.
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Latested Updated Regimen
Built an elaborate daily/weekly amino-acid, vitamin, mineral and chelation regimen (sodium ascorbate and amino acids with every meal, weekly LDN, sublingual B12 forms, EDTA chelation, periodic Tindamax courses and liver flushes). An earlier version of this…
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Fixing Leaky Gut Helps ME/CFS, and Sometimes Achieves Full Remission
Took a month of Xifaxan for gut dysbiosis after testing positive for leaky gut, enterovirus and H2S overgrowth, and separately tried glutamine, NAG, aloe vera juice, digestive enzymes and zinc. She noticed no changes from the month of Xifaxan alone, and…
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Fixing Leaky Gut Helps ME/CFS, and Sometimes Achieves Full Remission
Took a twice-daily leaky-gut supplement stack (S. boulardii, grape seed extract, zinc carnosine, vitamin E, NAG, triphala, glutamine, slippery elm bark, zinc) after years of severe IBS-D alongside his ME/CFS. Digestion was much improved within 3-4 days and…
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Gut healing - what seems to be helping me
After about 8 years of illness, 9 months of drinking raw-milk kefir resolved her multiple chemical sensitivity ("no longer feel like I'm choking" around perfume), completely cleared longstanding hand eczema, let her cut thyroid medication from 225mcg to…
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Tyrosine (L-Tyrosine) by NOW helping me! Would love input. (long)
A decade into an illness so severe she was awake only about six hours out of every 24, this poster reports 500mg/day of L-tyrosine on an empty stomach brought enough energy to walk a mile without an immediate crash and lifted her mood, sustained without…
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Freddd - have increased energy on your protocol!
Added L-carnitine fumarate to her existing simplified methylation protocol and reported "approximately 20% improvement in just a few days," saying she "haven't reacted this positively to a single supplement before." No follow-up post is visible to confirm…
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Freddd - have increased energy on your protocol!
After 13 years of severe exercise intolerance, including 4 years on the Simplified Methylation Protocol with negative effects, she switched to a carnitine-fumarate-centered regimen with methyl-B12 injections and Metafolin. She initially felt "more normal,…
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How to take d-ribose for energy - it really works!
Takes d-ribose one scoop three times a day alongside L-carnitine and other supplements. Titled her update "P.O.T.S. now SO MUCH BETTER!" and says she "can walk much better now" compared to previously being unable to walk more than a few steps, describing the…
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Stages of Recovery - personal experience
Followed Dr Myhill's standard protocol (B3, B12, magnesium, CoQ10, 15g/day L-glutamine, 10g/day BCAAs, 1g/day malic acid) starting Nov/Dec 2007, combined with an elimination diet of mainly white rice and chicken, FIR sauna detox, and Buteyko breathing. Went…
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John Bochenek's Recovery Story
Relayed by forum member sometexan84, John Bochenek credited full recovery from ME/CFS to a hormonal protocol of testosterone with anastrozole plus cinnamon/chromium and L-lysine. The original ProHealth article could not be fetched directly (it returned only…
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My complete protocol - recovering well from bad 7 years+ CFS
Ran a broad two-year self-built protocol - high-dose B vitamins, vitamin D3, D-ribose, CoQ10, acetyl-L-carnitine, a sublingual/nasal B12-folate methylation stack, amino acids, Buteyko breathing, infrared sauna and transdermal magnesium - layered onto months…