How it went
Did it last?
- 16 of 64 said the benefit wore off (including the 7 who relapsed).
- 8 of 64 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 | 11 | 17% |
| Near-full | 7 | 11% |
| Substantial | 19 | 30% |
| Partial | 17 | 27% |
| Relapsed | 7 | 11% |
| No benefit | 3 | 5% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 9 | 22% | |
| Severe | 28 | 32% | |
| Very severe | 13 | 54% |
14 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 Doxycycline and other antibiotics, 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 | 35 | 682 | 51.3 |
| 2011 | 18 | 704 | 25.6 |
| 2012 | 50 | 1,491 | 33.5 |
| 2013 | 39 | 1,708 | 22.8 |
| 2014 | 36 | 2,352 | 15.3 |
| 2015 | 41 | 2,158 | 19.0 |
| 2016 | 25 | 1,431 | 17.5 |
| 2017 | 85 | 3,110 | 27.3 |
| 2018 | 49 | 2,201 | 22.3 |
| 2019 | 51 | 1,075 | 47.4 |
| 2020 | 31 | 2,581 | 12.0 |
| 2021 | 11 | 1,867 | 5.9 |
| 2022 | 5 | 1,166 | 4.3 |
| 2023 | 12 | 1,000 | 12.0 |
| 2024 | 23 | 1,237 | 18.6 |
| 2025 | 13 | 1,019 | 12.8 |
| 2026 (so far) | 7 | 840 | 8.3 |
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 64 accounts
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I'm normal now. Here's my promised update for y'all
Started with IFN lambda combined with GS-441524 for underlying Enterovirus B infections, which brought about 60% improvement, then moved to a multi-drug antiviral regimen described as molnupiravir, GS-441524, Vermurafenib, ribavirin and pleconaril plus…
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Dysautonomia and unrefreshing sleep disappearing immediately after nasal application of dexamethasone
Lalique reports that a steroid/antibiotic combination nasal spray dramatically improved her dysautonomia markers within days - lower resting heart rate, disappearing stress readings and full "body battery" recharge on her Garmin, and refreshing sleep for the…
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Mild NAC success story (godlovesatrier)
During a relapse related to antibiotic treatment, this poster says NAC, built up very slowly from 25mg to 1.2g twice daily, was the main thing allowing him to function and helped him recover from the worst post-exertional crashes. He stresses the importance…
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Jennifer's Story
Jennifer followed an anti-inflammatory diet based on Andrew Weil and Patrick Holford's principles, alongside regular massage therapy, acupuncture, deep relaxation and meditation practices, and a custom-designed graded walk-training program, after early…
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Flo Stops the Leaks in Her Boat at Last
Flo became ill with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia after mold exposure roughly thirty-seven years before the post, at her worst unable to watch TV, read or follow conversations, with regular vertigo. Years of craniosacral therapy, PRP injections, hydrogen peroxide…
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My experiences with apoptosis treatment for HHV-6b, EBV subgroup ME/CFS
Built a long-running self-treatment stack over 15 years - artemisinin, galangal and magnolia bark to unblock apoptosis, a sublingual terpene mix (pinene, beta-caryophyllene, limonene) dosed 20-60 drops, curcumin, and doxycycline for the bacterial component -…
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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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A Rapamycin Resurgence: An MD Moves the Needle on his ME/CFS
Liver derivative complex (Nexavir) was one of more than a dozen treatments he listed trying, alongside antidepressants, antivirals, erythromycin, doxycycline, NAC and others, with no dose or duration specified for it individually. He had been very severely…
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List of ME/CFS Recovery and Improvement Stories (page 4-5 discussion)
unicorn7 used a De Meirleir-style multi-part protocol (SIBO antibiotics, LDN, B12, subcutaneous immunoglobulin, mesalazine, plus strict pacing) to move from moderate to mild ME/CFS, and reported repeating that same moderate-to-mild recovery a second time…
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I think insight and help to find strategies made all the difference for my daughter
The daughter, then 13, recovered from CFS/ME (triggered by glandular fever) by taking a Lightning Process course with instructor Ingvild Harila Feed in Sandnes. She had been bedridden for 13 months, losing all her energy and unable to continue playing…
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REMISSION! (suspected enterovirus, Dr. Chia treating)
Under Dr. Chia's care for suspected enterovirus, .jm. built up to running 40 miles/week by an April 2021 update (up from an initial "REMISSION!" post 18 months earlier), with insomnia and Raynaud's resolved, while tapering oxymatrine down to a maintenance…
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Our daughter was 10 years old, and every week mom had to carry her to her GP for help
Her parents credit a Lightning Process course taken in January, after preparing with Live Landmark's book, with their daughter's recovery from severe ME, following an earlier four-week stay at the Catosenteret rehabilitation centre for children and…
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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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You can recover completely!
Live Landmark credits the Lightning Process, a three-day course she took in London for 15,000 Norwegian kroner, with her recovery from ME, diagnosed by a neurology professor at Haukeland Hospital who told her "there is no cure." She had been ill for about…
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Does anyone with CFS get back to 100% ever?
uglevod's treatment was the Marshall Protocol (MP, per mpkb.org), an antibiotic-based regimen; the post doesn't give specific drugs or doses, only that it was "brutal," especially in the first 1.5 years, with blood work resembling "mild chemo." The post…
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The best thing I have done is to say: no way will I accept my daughter will suffer
Aftur, the then-14-year-old daughter in this account, had four weeks of intravenous antibiotics, a biopath-prescribed supplement regimen taken three to four times daily, a strict no-sugar, no-carbohydrate diet, and acupuncture, before doing a 3-day Lightning…
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ME/CFS Patient Goes into Remission After Taking Elixir of Youth (GDF11)
beatsmyth, bedbound for a decade with CFS/fibromyalgia, had already improved his gut and skin issues on an 8-month antibiotic protocol before adding BPC-157 and LL-37 peptides for three months, which he called "absolutely miraculous": remaining stomach…
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Getting Results, increased activity
Returning years after his 2014 ARV thread, describes a newer multi-drug stack - disulfiram (Antabuse) escalated from 125mg to 250mg twice weekly over four months with alpha lipoic acid the following morning, plus clarithromycin/rifampin/minocycline for…
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The Temporary Recovery Stories (Rose)
Commenter Rose, ill for about forty years, described having had seven remissions of varying length since her teens. She mentioned a recent near-remission week that followed a course of antibiotics for a chest infection.
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The Suffering of One - Relieved: Kyle McNease's ME/CFS Recovery Story Detailed
Kyle McNease, an Oxford student, became severely ill for three and a half years after arsenic poisoning from renovating an old barn, compounded by genetic detoxification impairments; at his worst he was emaciated, unable to communicate and near death. He…
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Sirin Gnadeberg Shares How She Cured Her ME/CFS and POTS
Sirin Gnadeberg added salt to her drinking water starting in April 2016, which significantly improved her POTS symptoms, then took 16 weeks of antibiotics after a Lyme specialist found elevated antibodies to Bartonella, Chlamydia and Mycoplasma (despite…
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Severe post-Lyme ME/CFS patient achieves full remission after Taymount FMT
Kasia Vermaire, left severely symptomatic with digestive collapse after Lyme disease was declared "cured" by antibiotics, and at one point contemplating euthanasia from desperation, received an FMT at the Taymount Clinic in June 2018. She reported full…
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Did finding an infection via Armin Labs have a positive influence on your treatment & recovery
Antibiotics for Borrelia found via Armin Labs testing gave her relief from "the unrelenting horror of Lyme disease pain and malaise," but she reports the years of undiagnosed infection left lasting autoimmune-type sequelae -- severe POTS, muscle weakness,…
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This illness will last for a long time. And why is that? Because I am already prepared to die – inside
Attended a one-on-one Lightning Process course over four days (22-25 April 2014) in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England, with trainer Heather Thomas, after her mother had already tried acupuncture, natural pills, syrups, oils, restricted diets and herbs…
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How I put ME/CFS into remission....& even better
Fecal microbiota transplant using encapsulated stool from his daughter, delivered partway into the small intestine after clearing his own gut flora with antibiotics, combined with a strict prebiotic diet for weeks to months, was credited for his recovery. He…
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How I put ME/CFS into remission....& even better
Cleared gut dysbiosis with antibiotics, then underwent 9-12 encapsulated FMT infusions from his daughter over two months alongside a strict prebiotic diet. Initially estimated "around 65-70% recovered," then reports surpassing his pre-illness baseline --…
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Antibiotics got rid of malaise
Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (Bactrim), taken twice daily over at least two separate courses roughly nine months apart. She had chronic ME/CFS with severe malaise that began two to three years earlier, on top of gut issues lasting around twenty years.…
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Choose the order: Oximatrine, Olmesartan, Famciclovir, Inosine Pranobex and Cycloferon.
Olmesartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker taken as part of a Marshall Protocol approach; he does not give his own exact dose, though he notes a severe ME/CFS patient he knew benefited on as little as 20mg daily within a few months. He reports the drug…
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KDM - success of fixing the gut
Cycled through antibiotics and probiotics for gut dysbiosis; after about three months she went "from moderate to mild," with IBS "almost non-existent," but overexertion caused a relapse and she now needs ongoing rifaximin to control bloating ("when I start…
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Gaps diet put me in direction to recovery
After repeated antibiotic courses over the years triggered his illness, he adopted a GAPS-like diet along with herbs for dysbiosis and probiotics, describing himself as "making good progress" in his recovery without claiming it complete.
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Need to delete this. [Deleted]
Was diagnosed with ME/CFS first, then four years later diagnosed with Lyme disease and treated with a combination of pharmaceutical and herbal antibiotics under a Lyme specialist, and separately started cholestyramine with EPA/DHA fish oil after also…
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Doing well on azythromycin
After 35-plus years of symptoms, including 15 years of joint/back pain and fatigue she likened to ankylosing spondylitis and feeling "half dead with pain and fatigue" going in, took azithromycin 500mg/day for bronchitis and found her joint and back pain…
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Need to delete this. [Deleted]
Treated a combination of CIRS/mold illness, Lyme, Babesia and antibiotic-resistant MARCONS sinus infection with doxycycline plus Diflucan, then a rotating four-times-daily binder regimen (Takesumi charcoal, diatomaceous earth, zeoBind, citrus pectin), a BEG…
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Objective CPET improvement & remission on ketogenic diet
Unable to tolerate a full ketogenic diet, this poster followed a looser low-carb, high-fat approach alongside antibiotic herbs and a course of Rifaximin, reporting energy "way up" and PEM "very much improved." Presented as a straightforward success with no…
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A Fibromyalgia Patient Finds Help with Antivirals
Melissa followed Dr. Lerner's antiviral protocol after testing positive for active cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus, taking unspecified antibiotics and antivirals; the page does not give exact drug names or doses. She had developed fatigue, postpartum…
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Rimfaximin seems to have helped my gut
After years of rolling gut pain, alternating bowel habits and frequent migraines, she took Rifaximin 400mg three times daily for 10 days, followed by five days of Azithromycin plus a probiotic and enzyme/fiber regimen. Following the Azithromycin course her…
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Do People Really Recover From ME/CFS and/or Fibromyalgia? An Inquiry (Alice)
Alice commented that after six years of fibromyalgia she felt much better than she had in years for about six weeks after starting a herbal antimicrobial protocol, a mushroom combination, megadose vitamin C, ashwagandha and L-phenylalanine. The improvement…
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Doing So Well On Modified Cowden Protocol
Nineteen years after a suspected tick bite left her unable to walk more than 10-20 minutes, a UK woman in her late 60s started a modified Cowden herbal protocol (Banderol/Cumanda, Andrographis 4/day, Japanese Knotweed 12/day for about three months, teasel…
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Clindamycin is a miracle drug for my CFS/ME/POTS/Fibromyalgia symptoms
Took clindamycin 300mg three times daily for 10 days on two separate occasions, once for a tooth infection and once for a throat infection. Reported it helped "tremendously with ALL of my diagnoses" (CFS, POTS, fibromyalgia and others), to the point of not…
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Thirteen years after occupational exposure - Doug is well
Doug developed ME/CFS after occupational exposure to a waterlogged building around 1996-2000, with constant flu-like illness, fever, joint pain and IBS, relapsing three or four times a year during a long partial-recovery phase. Over about thirteen years he…
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what has worked for you
Over several years of self-experimentation starting from very severe illness (Bell's disability score about 10, housebound 3+ years), he found graded exercise, the Myhill protocol, the Martin Pall protocol and various detox regimens made him worse, but…
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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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Feeling amazing after getting out of Mold/Mycotoxin home
After moving out of a mold/mycotoxin-contaminated home and combining methylation supplements, antifungals/antibiotics/antiparasitics, a bentonite clay binder and multiple hyperbaric oxygen sessions, she reports "amazing improvements" over the preceding month…
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Seeing some immediate improvement with ARVs
Started Isentress and Truvada after years of antibiotics for comorbid Lyme disease and ME/CFS (also XMRV-positive) had only kept him from "disability." Reports "immediate improvement" and, hedging with "if I had to guess," attributes "85% of my improvement"…
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One year follow-up valcyte, colchicine, and doxycycline
After 11 years of illness severe enough to force retirement from his healthcare career and keep him in bed roughly half the time, he took Valcyte titrated from 225mg to 900mg/day over 2.5 months plus colchicine 9mg/day, then added doxycycline 100mg twice…
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Has anyone on this site cured him or herself of CFS/ME? Did I?
Used a mix of doxycycline (which finally knocked out a persistent fever), roughly 20 doses of dexamethasone borrowed from a friend (temporary but "phenomenal" relief), Isocort, daily hydrocortisone gel, raw herbal teas, green powders, methylation support,…
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Lyme Literacy: A 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Chronicle' Pt. VI
Sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim (Bactrim) was one of several antibiotics she received intravenously, alongside Doxycycline and Azithromycin, under a Lyme-literate physician's care. She had been severely debilitated by chronic fatigue syndrome for about…
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Anyone have any success with GAPS?
After 12 years of CFS, six months on the GAPS diet "definitely lifted" his general health and "improved my cognition greatly," to the point he could take up artistic pursuits again. Starting Lyme antibiotics about six months after beginning GAPS "set him…
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Improving with ABX, finally?
After 9 years of illness with significant fatigue and brain fog, an antibiotic protocol (drugs/doses not specified in this post) produced about 4 months of a severe Herxheimer-type reaction before it passed. In the following roughly 10 days he gained 5kg up…
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Feeling generally better
Thirty years after a mono-triggered onset that left her housebound, unable to drive or cook, with severe vertigo and depression, she layered years of high-dose Famvir and Acyclovir and about two years of Mycoplasma antibiotics with, more recently, roughly…
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Starting to see moderate success on Valcyte against CMV
Four years into illness, after 3.5 years of antibiotics and antimalarials for Lyme and co-infections (Bartonella, Chlamydia pneumoniae, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Babesia) stopped helping, switched to Valcyte 2 tablets daily. After three months her CMV…
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Test results and antivirals success, what are high titers, what tests?
After one month of doxycycline for Lyme disease, reported feeling "enormously better," summing up the change simply as being "off the couch and cooking again." Posted as an aside in a thread otherwise focused on antiviral titers and testing, with dosing…
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Did KDM's treatment help you or did you get worse?
Treating co-infections including Borrelia and Bartonella with a trial-and-error mix of MAF314, antibiotics, biofilm-reducing enzymes, amalgam removal and chelation, he reports "MAF314 has been working well for me," a partial ongoing improvement achieved only…
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Did KDM's treatment help you or did you get worse?
Recently starting a KDM regimen of GcMAF, "4ME," lactoferrin, antibiotics, probiotics and B12, she reports "have seen an improvement" early in the course, though her disease "fluctuates a bit" and she remains financially dependent on family to continue.
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Did KDM's treatment help you or did you get worse?
Treating Lyme, Bartonella, Babesia and EBV, she reports her body "reacts terribly" to GcMAF, with worsening reactions across multiple injections that came "close to ER trips." She stopped GcMAF on her new practitioner's advice in favor of antibiotics and IV…
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Did KDM's treatment help you or did you get worse?
Under KDM's care for 18 months, six months of rigorous GcMAF use brought "a lot of improvement," but stopping for six months for family reasons was followed by a Lyme diagnosis that KDM was reportedly "almost excited" to find because it explained the case.…
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Migraine medicine made me feel slightly better next day
Took minocycline daily for 6 months and says it cut his migraines by about 90%, a substantial and clearly attributed effect. He had stopped it 4 months before this post and reports the benefit had faded since stopping, and is unsure it's safe to resume…
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My experience on Famvir
Relapsed with CFS in October 2010 after three months of stress, then started Famvir 250mg twice daily (briefly upped to 500mg twice daily for 5-7 days) combined with Cycloferon; within two to three weeks felt "substantially better," with milder headaches and…
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Please Tell Me Your Valtrex + Valcyte Story
In Ohio, combined Valcyte, Valtrex and doxycycline (the last for a mycoplasma co-infection) and after about five months said she was "not sorry" she had done the treatment. Where she previously "could do nothing and felt sick all of the time," she gained…
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What Treatments Have Cured People?
Doug, misdiagnosed for 7 of his 11 sick years before Chlamydia pneumoniae and EBV were identified, took inosine alone for a couple of short stretches with limited effect, then added DMAE about 1.5 years before posting; he described the fog lifting and…
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What treatments HAVE ACTUALLY helped?
Combined a large stack of B12 injections, CoQ10, Fibroenergy, amino acids, SAMe, magnesium, prescription vitamin D, Synthroid, three years of low-dose Minocin, three months of antivirals, and a gluten-free diet, without singling out one component as key. Now…
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Tagamet (cimetidine) for CFIDS (worked for me)
After a severe four-month relapse with fevers, shingles and swollen glands, faith.hope.love reports being "90% recovered" on cimetidine about a month into treatment, functional enough to return to work, with her recurrent shingles not returning and the other…
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Do CFS Patients Ever Get TRULY Well?
Combined a mold-avoidance protocol with cholestyramine taken in low-mold locations, three months of doxycycline for Lyme, Famvir, and then Valcyte started about three weeks before posting. Says she reached full wellness roughly a year before this post, with…
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What GcMAF dose?
As a patient of Dr De Meirleir, took weekly injectable GcMAF at 50ng in 2012, which she says "normalized my Nagalase and...improved my general condition," alongside separate antibiotic/herbal treatment for Borrelia and Bartonella co-infections between 2012…