How it went
Did it last?
- 3 of 20 said the benefit wore off (including the 1 who relapsed).
- 4 of 20 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 | 2 | 10% |
| Near-full | 2 | 10% |
| Substantial | 10 | 50% |
| Partial | 5 | 25% |
| Relapsed | 1 | 5% |
| No benefit | 0 | 0% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 2 | 0% | |
| Severe | 6 | 17% | |
| Very severe | 7 | 29% |
5 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 Hydrocortisone / cortisol, 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 | 3 | 704 | 4.3 |
| 2012 | 10 | 1,491 | 6.7 |
| 2013 | 7 | 1,708 | 4.1 |
| 2014 | 3 | 2,352 | 1.3 |
| 2015 | 13 | 2,158 | 6.0 |
| 2016 | 3 | 1,431 | 2.1 |
| 2017 | 24 | 3,110 | 7.7 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2,201 | 0.9 |
| 2019 | 3 | 1,075 | 2.8 |
| 2020 | 5 | 2,581 | 1.9 |
| 2021 | 18 | 1,867 | 9.6 |
| 2022 | 14 | 1,166 | 12.0 |
| 2023 | 2 | 1,000 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 5 | 1,237 | 4.0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 1,019 | 7.9 |
| 2026 (so far) | 5 | 840 | 6.0 |
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 20 accounts
-
Has anyone achieved remission or recovery from treatment by any doctor?
Took 25mg of spironolactone plus 4.5mg of low-dose naltrexone (LDN), while already on physiologic cortisol replacement for non-functioning adrenals, following the approach from the Campo and Taylor 2021 clinical trial. The page does not state how long they…
-
ME/CFS patient substantially improved with spironolactone 100 mg daily
Poster combined spironolactone 25mg/day with LDN, a GLP-1 agonist and NP thyroid and states plainly "My CFS is cured, yes cured...my health is amazing," while noting he still needs cortisol supplementation. Because several drugs were changed together it is…
-
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…
-
Cortisol Pump For CFS
Used a cortisol pump (continuous low-dose hydrocortisone infusion) for eight months. Was bedbound with CFS beforehand. Reports the pump took him from bedbound CFS to working construction over that period. Duration of illness before starting is not stated.…
-
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…
-
I replace ALL my hormones. This brought me back to life.
thingsvarious systematically replaced testosterone, cortisol, thyroid, growth hormone and aldosterone after years of "nightmare"-level fatigue, largely managing it himself because, in his words, "many endocrinologists are shit." He says his energy moved from…
-
I replace ALL my hormones (SilverRose88)
SilverRose88, ill since adolescence and previously bedbound, says hydrocortisone, now 15mg down from 25mg, plus 75mcg of thyroxine got her from being bedbound to being able to be upright. She remains largely limited and expects lifelong hydrocortisone,…
-
Long-Term Daily mHBOT and Full Recoveries w/ Ongoing Maintenance
used_to_race combined daily hydroxychloroquine with mHBOT sessions 3-4 times a week for 45-90 minutes, plus fludrocortisone for POTS, and reported bad days becoming much less frequent, with capacity for 76-mile cycling weekends and full-time work plus…
-
Health Update #4: Recovery is a %*#*&$@!
Jennifer Brea had been managing severe ME for about 8 years with Valcyte, Valtrex, Mestinon, and fludrocortisone plus mold avoidance, which had only brought her from severe to moderate; in November 2018 she underwent three surgeries over six weeks — a…
-
Anyone else here have MCS too?
Followed the Pall Protocol, a methylation-support supplement regimen, then added dysautonomia treatment with fludrocortisone and verapamil, for severe MCS with CFS. Beforehand had near-syncope events, needed an epipen and sudafed, and was essentially…
-
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."…
-
how did you get out of "bedridden level" ??(even if you are still sick)
After roughly two years bedridden, this poster gradually stayed out of bed longer using a very restrictive diet, mineral/amino-acid supplementation and lifestyle changes, with hydrocortisone accelerating progress further; she notes in hindsight she hadn't…
-
Sleep Cycle Inversion (Awake At Night, Sleeping During Day): A Simple Technique Fixed This For Me
For years of severe middle-of-the-night insomnia, built an evening stack of 3mg sublingual Natrol melatonin, 500mg niacin with dinner (300mg more if woken at night), 100mg 5-HTP, 100mg L-theanine, magnesium glycinate, a calcium tablet, Seriphos for cortisol,…
-
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…
-
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,…
-
specific type of digestive enzyme has helped a lot
After four years on hydrocortisone for POTS-related symptoms, she began taking four Renew Life Digest More Ultra digestive enzyme capsules with each meal. She was then able to wean her hydrocortisone from 25mg to 12.5mg without her usual dizzy spells, and…
-
Stem Cell Treatments For Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Susan Lucey
Susan Lucey traveled to Panama for stem cell treatment across two visits (the first in May), describing it as the "30 day MS Protocol," and was able to titrate down from 40mg to 5mg of Cortef shortly after her second visit; the account does not specify the…
-
Vasopressin/ADH ... My Story
Added low-dose vasopressin (half pill twice daily) on top of thyroid medication, cortisol, aldosterone, testosterone and DHEA. Says he stopped over-urinating (previously about twice the volume he drank), fatigue improved, and his bench press rose sharply…
-
3 Things that Help the Most!!
Manages orthostatic intolerance with midodrine, fludrocortisone, time-released potassium, salt tablets, 3 liters of water a day, deliberately reclining to rest, and a folding cane/stool for standing tasks. Says this combination substantially improves her…
-
What worked for me
After 8+ years on Humira, Enbrel, Methotrexate and cortisol shots, switched to desiccated thyroid hormone (Armour, later Erfa) starting in 2003. Says her pain "disappeared," fatigue became "much much better," previous bone density decline reversed, and food…