How it went
Did it last?
- 8 of 16 said the benefit wore off (including the 6 who relapsed).
- 2 of 16 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 | 1 | 6% |
| Near-full | 0 | 0% |
| Substantial | 6 | 38% |
| Partial | 3 | 19% |
| Relapsed | 6 | 38% |
| No benefit | 0 | 0% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe | 3 | 0% | |
| Very severe | 6 | 17% |
7 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 Corticosteroid pulses, 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 | 0 | 184 | 0.0 |
| 2010 | 1 | 682 | 1.5 |
| 2011 | 0 | 704 | 0.0 |
| 2012 | 29 | 1,491 | 19.5 |
| 2013 | 3 | 1,708 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 8 | 2,352 | 3.4 |
| 2015 | 13 | 2,158 | 6.0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 1,431 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | 61 | 3,110 | 19.6 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2,201 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | 9 | 1,075 | 8.4 |
| 2020 | 19 | 2,581 | 7.4 |
| 2021 | 14 | 1,867 | 7.5 |
| 2022 | 7 | 1,166 | 6.0 |
| 2023 | 4 | 1,000 | 4.0 |
| 2024 | 2 | 1,237 | 1.6 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1,019 | 6.9 |
| 2026 (so far) | 9 | 840 | 10.7 |
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 16 accounts
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Martin's Paradoxical Temporary ME/CFS Remission Story
Martin became ill after EBV reactivation, Lyme disease and food poisoning, and was bedbound for the last three of his ten years of illness with severe post-exertional malaise. Lyrica, benzodiazepines, tianeptine, quetiapine, rapamycin and methylprednisolone…
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Michelle
Michelle saw more than ten specialists and tried extensive medical treatment: beta blockers, the migraine drug Ubrelvy, meclizine for dizziness, two rounds of prednisone, B12 shots for neuropathy, and Paxlovid taken months after her initial infection, plus…
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From a nursing patient to a mountain climber: For four years I lay completely helpless and motionless in bed
Jan Even Raastad credits a Lightning Process course run in his home in late 2010 by Live Landmark and a medical student, after years of prednisone, Imurel, Remicade, Nexavir, antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, growth hormones and countless supplements had…
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Pulsed high dose methylprednisolone + inosine + inositol = cured?
Replying in the same thread, Martin reports moving from "very severe to severe" on a corticosteroid infusion but says the inflammation is "not very easy to keep in check afterwards," requiring ongoing herbal management - an explicitly partial and fading…
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Pulsed high dose methylprednisolone plus inosine plus inositol = cured?
After 30 years of illness, pattismith reports that a short pulsed high-dose corticosteroid course (with valacyclovir and inosine/inositol layered in) resolved her pain quickly, restored energy, and cleared her thinking enough to socialize again - "pain was…
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Pulsed high dose methylprednisolone (valentinelynx)
Valentinelynx, ill decades with fibromyalgia and CFS, tried a roughly five-day prednisone burst and felt probably less pain and more alert. She is explicit that the effects were not persistent.
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Pulsed high dose methylprednisolone (Martin aka paused/M.E.)
Martin said a similar corticosteroid approach moved him from very severe to severe, a real but modest gain. He adds that keeping the resulting drop in inflammation under control afterwards has been difficult, relying on herbs rather than claiming a cure.
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3 kings to lift you
From sleeping 22 hours a day and considering suicide about six years into illness, this poster describes a large, years-long stack - pulsed steroids, noopept-based nootropics, experimental NSI-189, and roughly twenty daily supplements - restoring the ability…
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WHAT DOES THIS POSITIVE EFFECT OF PREDNISONE MEAN?
A single high-dose cortisone injection made this poster feel "as if I didn't have ME anymore" for about three months, after which the effect wore off and symptoms returned; her doctor then declined to repeat it, calling cortisone a "double-edged sword."…
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WHAT DOES THIS POSITIVE EFFECT OF PREDNISONE MEAN?
Two months into a prednisone taper, this poster describes "breathtaking improvements" in PEM, neck/back pain, fatigue, muscle weakness, brain fog, joint pain and dizziness, while noting not everything resolved completely. She continues despite osteoporosis…
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WHAT DOES THIS POSITIVE EFFECT OF PREDNISONE MEAN?
After recently starting a low, intermittent dose of prednisone, this poster reports fatigue, brain fog, anxiety and depression all lifting, saying he feels "cured already" - hedged only with "so far," since treatment had just begun with no data yet on durability.
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I had Rituxan and I feel amazing
Ill 33 years with feeding-tube dependence, orthostatic blood pressure of 58/42, bedbound autonomic dysfunction and photophobia, she received 4 weekly Rituximab infusions (375mg/m2) with methotrexate and steroid premedication at Stanford, finishing mid-March…
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Feel better on Prednisone?
Tapering prednisone down to as low as 2.5mg/day over a month, this poster reports "no CFS symptoms!" at the lowest doses, but relief lasted only about four days after finishing the taper before malaise returned. She says she's "half-tempted" to keep…
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Feel better on Prednisone?
Using an occasional Medrol steroid dosepak only during acute sensitivity episodes, this poster reports sensitivities became manageable, with benefit reportedly lasting "several weeks" per course. He notes his doctor attributed the effect to "just the…
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Feel better on Prednisone?
An 8-day prednisone pack prescribed for a sinus infection also improved this poster's broader ME/CFS symptoms while on it, but she had withdrawal symptoms and a return of symptoms once the course ended - a fleeting, cessation-dependent improvement.
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More Fatigue with Famciclovir, I Must Continue
Index entry credits Hamsterman with prednisolone for preventing post-exertional malaise. Attempting to verify the linked post did not locate a prednisolone discussion on the fetched page, so no further detail on duration of illness, severity, or durability…