How it went
Did it last?
- 5 of 27 said the benefit wore off (including the 2 who relapsed).
- 3 of 27 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 | 8 | 30% |
| Near-full | 7 | 26% |
| Substantial | 6 | 22% |
| Partial | 3 | 11% |
| Relapsed | 2 | 7% |
| No benefit | 1 | 4% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 3 | 33% | |
| Severe | 12 | 58% | |
| Very severe | 10 | 60% |
2 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 Graded exercise / graded activity, 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 | 4 | 184 | 21.7 |
| 2010 | 5 | 682 | 7.3 |
| 2011 | 1 | 704 | 1.4 |
| 2012 | 8 | 1,491 | 5.4 |
| 2013 | 2 | 1,708 | 1.2 |
| 2014 | 13 | 2,352 | 5.5 |
| 2015 | 7 | 2,158 | 3.2 |
| 2016 | 12 | 1,431 | 8.4 |
| 2017 | 39 | 3,110 | 12.5 |
| 2018 | 7 | 2,201 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | 2 | 1,075 | 1.9 |
| 2020 | 5 | 2,581 | 1.9 |
| 2021 | 9 | 1,867 | 4.8 |
| 2022 | 6 | 1,166 | 5.1 |
| 2023 | 2 | 1,000 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 1,237 | 0.8 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1,019 | 3.9 |
| 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
Side effects and harms people mentioned
Found by scanning the summaries for side-effect language, so this list is incomplete and may include a mention that isn’t about Graded exercise / graded activity itself. Read the story before drawing conclusions.
- Made symptoms worse
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 improved gradually week-by-week using kinesiology, ivermectin, high-dose probiotics, rotating antibiotic combinations and anti-biofilm supplements, then treated presumed Lyme/Bartonella with antibiotics, a simplified methylation protocol, GcMaf/Bravo probiotic and 1st Line/lactoperoxidase-thiocyanate - which he says had "the greatest effect" - taking his Bell's score from 10 to 50.
All 27 accounts
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A Recovery Story: From Life-Altering Chronic Symptoms to Living a Full Life
Credits trauma and somatic work, JournalSpeak, brain retraining and graded exercise. Steph was ill 2y with very-severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. 90% bedbound; Sarno/JournalSpeak trauma journaling.
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Losing a whole year - my Long COVID story
D.C. Elton tried a series of psychiatric medications for sleep and mood — Lexapro starting at 1 mg, trazodone escalated from 10 mg to 150 mg nightly (ineffective at any dose), sublingual Ambien, Remeron 10-15 mg (caused daytime sedation), and Wellbutrin 75…
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Shaun Moran's Recovery Story
Tried an extensive list of alternative treatments over the years - IV vitamin C, ozone therapy, acupuncture, cupping, EFT, homeopathy, matrix re-imprinting, amygdala retraining, qigong, restrictive diets, chiropractic and osteopathic care, hypnotherapy,…
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My ME/CFS Recovery, Part II: GET, CBT, and Brain Retraining
Credits graded exercise, CBT or psychological work and brain retraining. Jay was ill 10y with moderate ME/CFS and is described as almost fully recovered. GET worsened him; DNRS gave temporary gains; ~90% recovered.
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Has anyone recovered from CFS or been able to radically improve? (riotlady)
Treatment was non-pharmaceutical: an initial period of extended rest, followed by graded exercise therapy done very gently under a physiotherapist's guidance, plus vitamin D tablets, with riotlady saying no single measure was a magic bullet. The post does…
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Robyn Dale
Robyn's treatment combined short courses of propranolol, zopiclone and diazepam early on with medium-term amitriptyline for insomnia, mood and muscle spasms, alongside daily walking, yoga, meditation and graded activity. She crashed severely in December 2021…
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Dr. Thomas Levy -- How COVID Helped Me Regain Good Health
Took low-dose hydrocortisone at 20mg/day for over 20 years of ME/CFS, raising it to 30-35mg/day during a COVID infection, and added liposome-encapsulated vitamin C at 3-10g/day after reading a book pairing the two. Describes moving from roughly 4% function…
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World Physiotherapy Day
Credits pacing. Darren was ill 18mo with severe long COVID and reports a partial improvement. Advocates pacing over graded exercise; still ill.
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Does anyone with CFS get back to 100% ever?
Credits graded exercise. ScottTriGuy had ME/CFS, improved, then relapsed. Two full remissions returning to triathlon training; relapsed.
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At last, there was somebody who understood. This is why I was on the phone, crying because of the kindness of these strangers
Recovered following a self-owned graded activity plan designed with Hans Petter Fundingsrud, head of department at University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) in Tromso, after the family was connected to him via former footballer Arild Berg and a Swedish…
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The Man and the Map: Dan Moricoli on His Continuing Recovery
A Phoenix Rising member (fT3g0) highlighted Dan Moricoli's published recovery story crediting a personal exercise-and-yoga approach distinct from standard graded exercise therapy. The underlying Health Rising article was not separately fetched, so duration…
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ANS Rewire Program Works For Bed Bound 11 Year ME/CFS/FM Patient
Peter, a businessman, developed ME/CFS and fibromyalgia after stress and trauma, becoming mostly bedbound for 11 years and running up significant debt on other treatments. He enrolled in Dan Neuffer's paid ANS Rewire course, a mind-body program of…
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This Is Why I Quit Exercise Therapy
Graded exercise therapy, prescribed by an NHS specialist, started with five minutes of walking a day and increased weekly, reaching six minutes in week two and continuing upward. She had been unwell for roughly five months, with flu-like exhaustion, joint…
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Iron Man: How One Young Person Recovered From POTS / ME/CFS
Jack Schlanger fell severely ill with POTS and ME/CFS-like symptoms at 13 after an infection, unable to attend school full-time with near-constant stomach pain and exercise intolerance. Diagnosed with iron deficiency contributing to his POTS, he was treated…
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From the Bedside to the Outdoors: Green Girl Goes Green Again
An outdoorsy environmental scientist who blogs as Green Girl contracted Ross River virus in 2009 and relapsed severely in 2010, becoming mostly bedbound with fatigue and brain fog so severe she could only read small amounts. She used pacing, graded exercise,…
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Breathe Deep: Dan Moricoli on Yoga and Recovering From Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Gentle yoga folded into a broader rehabilitation program of pacing and heart-rate-based exercise, later developed into a regular practice of two Hatha classes a week combined with Kundalini yoga and meditation. His illness began suddenly and severely, with…
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Dan Moricoli - On the Path - and Recovering From ME/CFS
Started a heart-rate-monitored graded exercise and pacing program in 2008, beginning with two 5-minute walks every other day with 10-20 minute rest periods, alongside a sleep specialist referral that improved sleep from 2-4 hours to 5 hours nightly, a strict…
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On the Path: Dan Moricoli's Remarkable Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Recovery Story
Dan Moricoli, 71 at the time, had been severely ill since May 2006, at his worst largely housebound with myoclonic seizures, speech difficulty and comatose-like crashes lasting hours. He credits a carefully graded, heart-rate-based exercise program built…
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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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Tips and techniques of how I completely recovered from CFS / ME!
Credits pacing, graded exercise and CBT or psychological work. Emily was ill 2y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Full-time gym plus strict pacing; called it mind-over-matter.
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Heart Rate Monitor Based Exercise Program Improves Heart Functioning in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
A 28-year-old woman with ME/CFS, caught in a push-crash cycle and no longer able to work, used a heart-rate monitor set to beep whenever she exceeded her anaerobic threshold as a cue to sit or lie down, combined with gentle flexibility work, lying-down…
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Recovery from CFS: 50 Personal Stories
Credits graded exercise. Anna Hemmings had ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Olympic canoeist won world championship gold 9 months after recovery.
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Individual quotes
CBT and graded exercise therapy, delivered under what he calls a false-illness-beliefs model, are credited by a physician with worsening rather than helping his ME. He had been ill for more than a decade when a major relapse, which he attributes to GET…
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Starting Running After Covid Pneumonia
Credits pacing, graded exercise and physiotherapy. natswright was ill 4.5mo with very-severe long COVID and reports a partial improvement. Hospitalised a month, relearned to walk.
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Running and Long Covid
Credits pacing, graded exercise and physiotherapy. Gthants was ill 2.5y with severe long COVID and reports a partial improvement. Couch-to-5K thread; a replier reports full recovery.
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Graded Exercise Therapy for CFS ME and FMS: Friend or Foe
Credits brain retraining, graded exercise and diet. Dan was ill 6y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Argues GET only works paired with nervous-system retraining.
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Lynn Shares Her Thoughts on How to Recover from Fibromyalgia
Credits CBT or psychological work, diet, graded exercise and meditation. Lynn had severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Hit rock bottom first; 3-5hr daily meditation.