How it went
Did it last?
- No one said the benefit wore off.
- No one said they needed to keep it up 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 | 0 | 0% |
| Near-full | 0 | 0% |
| Substantial | 1 | 33% |
| Partial | 2 | 67% |
| Relapsed | 0 | 0% |
| No benefit | 0 | 0% |
Only 3 accounts. Treat these percentages as anecdotes, not rates.
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 1 | 0% | |
| Severe | 1 | 0% | |
| Very severe | 1 | 0% |
0 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 Metformin, 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 | 0 | 682 | 0.0 |
| 2011 | 0 | 704 | 0.0 |
| 2012 | 0 | 1,491 | 0.0 |
| 2013 | 1 | 1,708 | 0.6 |
| 2014 | 0 | 2,352 | 0.0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 2,158 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 1,431 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | 13 | 3,110 | 4.2 |
| 2018 | 1 | 2,201 | 0.5 |
| 2019 | 0 | 1,075 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | 1 | 2,581 | 0.4 |
| 2021 | 0 | 1,867 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 2 | 1,166 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 6 | 1,000 | 6.0 |
| 2024 | 3 | 1,237 | 2.4 |
| 2025 | 3 | 1,019 | 2.9 |
| 2026 (so far) | 0 | 840 | 0.0 |
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 3 accounts
-
Metformin has been shown to reduce the risk of Long COVID (Melissa)
Melissa Mazur was prescribed metformin, the only drug her primary care doctor felt comfortable prescribing for her, though no specific dose or duration is given. Long COVID had been severe enough to force her to resign from her work as an attorney, and…
-
Metformin has been shown to reduce the risk of Long COVID
Rachel Hall-Clifford took metformin, titrating up slowly to minimize GI side effects, and continued taking it for several months after her infection, though the article does not give an exact dose. She developed Long COVID in 2022 and later had a SARS-CoV-2…
-
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…