How it went
Did it last?
- 12 of 53 said the benefit wore off (including the 5 who relapsed).
- 7 of 53 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 | 4% |
| Near-full | 4 | 8% |
| Substantial | 21 | 40% |
| Partial | 20 | 38% |
| Relapsed | 5 | 9% |
| No benefit | 1 | 2% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 7 | 14% | |
| Severe | 25 | 16% | |
| Very severe | 5 | 20% |
16 accounts don’t say how ill the person was.
How often it comes up
Posts that mention NAC and glutathione, 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 | 2 | 184 | 10.9 |
| 2010 | 7 | 682 | 10.3 |
| 2011 | 10 | 704 | 14.2 |
| 2012 | 18 | 1,491 | 12.1 |
| 2013 | 23 | 1,995 | 11.5 |
| 2014 | 35 | 2,707 | 12.9 |
| 2015 | 30 | 2,566 | 11.7 |
| 2016 | 15 | 2,023 | 7.4 |
| 2017 | 19 | 3,381 | 5.6 |
| 2018 | 26 | 2,523 | 10.3 |
| 2019 | 15 | 1,637 | 9.2 |
| 2020 | 39 | 3,318 | 11.8 |
| 2021 | 19 | 2,469 | 7.7 |
| 2022 | 24 | 1,871 | 12.8 |
| 2023 | 24 | 2,362 | 10.2 |
| 2024 | 17 | 2,176 | 7.8 |
| 2025 | 14 | 1,349 | 10.4 |
| 2026 (so far) | 7 | 899 | 7.8 |
Posts in the forum threads and blog comments we archived, 34,337 in all, counted per year. A mention means the post names the treatment, not that the writer took it. These pages all contain a recovery story, so they show what those communities discussed, not everyone with ME/CFS or long COVID. All trends
All 53 accounts
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Improvement story
Across several posts spanning 2023-2026, Gzephyr describes climbing out of EBV-reactivation-driven CFS using valacyclovir as a base, adding NAC and intermittent fasting, and finally a tonsillectomy in early 2025. He says he went from severe (~8/10 fatigue,…
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Recovery Protocol Cheat Sheet
Christy's posted recovery protocol lists an extensive regimen: pre-protocol, three months of Eliquis 5 mg daily and clopidogrel 75 mg daily; from February 2024 a "foundation" of nutritional antivirals including matcha green tea, coconut oil, unpasteurized…
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Relief! I still have CFS but am a MILLION times better
julienl42's own title is his hedge: after 13 years and a long, actively-managed stack of prescription, antifungal, sleep and supplement treatments, he has gone from being in bed all day with 3-4 crashes a month to about one crash every one to two months,…
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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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Treatments. Yes, they do exist.
In this follow-up post, Encephalogirl (Michelle) lists an expanded regimen: low-dose naltrexone, low-dose Abilify, guanfacine, about nine months of tenofovir as part of a planned minimum one-year antiviral course, six weeks of low-dose rapamycin at 1mg once…
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Long Covid Healing Resources
Followed a 10-point Mayo Clinic-informed protocol: a TruVaga vagus-nerve-stimulation device for 2 minutes three times a day, guanfacine at 0.5mg twice daily (with room to increase to 1mg twice daily), L-arginine 2000mg twice daily, vitamin C 500mg twice…
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18/6 intermittent fasting has benefitted me greatly
The same EBV-triggered patient at an earlier stage. He started 18/6 intermittent fasting in September 2024 alongside liposomal glutathione, noticing benefit within a week. Self-rated fatigue improved from 7 out of 10 to 5 and brain fog from 8 to 3 or 4, with…
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List of ME/CFS Recovery and Improvement Stories (page 14 discussion)
ixikd2025 credited a broad, kitchen-sink regimen spanning stimulant, mitochondrial, antihistamine/MCAS, and lifestyle interventions (meditation, running, acupuncture) for significant improvement. With so many concurrent changes, no single component could be…
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Severe ME/CFS 2013, Remission 2017, Relapse, Remission Dec 2022
Treating what she frames as underlying candida/parasite causes with a long, MD/PhD-supervised rotation of antifungals, antiparasitics and herbs, GlacierBloom reached remission by December 2022 after being severe/bedridden from 2013-2017 and again after a…
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Melody's ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia and Long COVID Recovery Story
Melody was infected early in the pandemic, hospitalised with double pneumonia, then bedbound for six months and homebound on supplemental oxygen for two and a half years despite thirteen prescription drugs and multiple specialists. She credits a combination…
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Radical Rest and Beyond
The author of Encephalogirl (who signs as Michelle) treats her ME/CFS-related dysautonomia and POTS with guanfacine and low-dose Abilify (titrated from 0.5mg down to 0.25mg after migraines, then back up to 0.5mg), an increased dose of low-dose naltrexone, a…
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Bromelain+NAC are really helpful to me
On the same NAC-plus-bromelain protocol, initially had a "large improvement in brain fog" and better blood flow, but the effect "regressed within a week." Attributes the fade to underlying immune dysfunction that anti-inflammatory action alone could not…
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Bromelain+NAC are really helpful to me
Took 600mg NAC plus 1000mg bromelain (1200 GDU) twice daily on an empty stomach for pre-COVID-onset ME/CFS, for 12 days before stopping due to insomnia. By day 5 reported "more energy, less brainfog, less joint pain and just felt better overall," and notes…
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Candida disappearing with Calcium
Calcium citrate initially replicated Hoosierfans' success, stopping his routine sore throat and improving sleep and gut motility. After adding NAC for three months he developed foot pain and agitation, then histamine-type reactions to the calcium itself…
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Efthymios's Artificial Intelligence-Aided ME/CFS Recovery Story
Efthymios became ill in 1999 after stopping a medication and had full-blown ME/CFS by 2004, functioning at about four out of ten. From late 2012 he logged his symptoms, diet and supplements for 434 days and used machine-learning analysis of his own data to…
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Mild NAC success story (cfs since 1998)
A long-term (25+ year) ME/CFS patient reports NAC combined with vitamin C helped her recover from a bout of COVID and swine flu, but only "back to where I was before" - i.e., a return to her prior baseline rather than any improvement beyond it. She herself…
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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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Mild NAC success story. Anyone else?
Three years after an EBV trigger and already on valacyclovir, adding 600mg of NAC daily for about two months reduced lymph node swelling and tonsil and sinus inflammation and raised the post-exertional malaise threshold tremendously, allowing walks and…
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AXA1125 had a successful trial in Long Covid patients, I'm trying it on myself
Katabasis, describing long-COVID brain fog, said that after a month or two on guanfacine plus NAC she could read for twenty to thirty minutes at a stretch versus about ten before. She is unsure whether one component or the combination was responsible.
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Impact of extended-course Paxlovid in established Long COVID (Case 4)
Case 4, a 51-year-old man about 6 months into Long COVID with fatigue, daily headaches, brain fog, mental exhaustion, PEM, racing heart, palpitations, tinnitus and visual/sensory disturbances, took a 15-day extended Paxlovid course in March 2023 alongside…
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The Guanfacine Gambit: Treating Brain Fog in Long COVID
Trudy takes guanfacine together with NAC, on a modified schedule of half the prescribed guanfacine dose every other day and a full pill on the days between. She had already had fibromyalgia for over 25 years and had been dealing with long COVID for 1.5…
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Digestive enzymes profound positive effect on me
Started Thorne Bio-Gest digestive enzymes after suspecting poor nutrient absorption, later adding zinc carnosine, whey protein, iron with vitamin C, a multivitamin, vitamin D, iodine and NAC, with no doses specified. He says he can now feel his body "healing…
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"Chronic Fatigue Gone" - After 16 Years Jason Figures It Out
Tried nebulized hydrogen peroxide himself, diluted to a 0.1 percent food-grade solution, along with glutathione, after reading about Jason's approach. Illness duration and severity are not detailed in this post. Reports personal success with the nebulized…
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Chronic Fatigue Gone - After 16 Years Jason Figures It Out
Jason developed ME/CFS after a viral illness in the early 2000s and was ill 16 to 20 years, bedbound for days after any exertion. He systematically tested many therapies and tracked the results in a journal. He credits hydrogen peroxide IVs, nebulised…
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Jason's Eclectic Mix of Treatments Returns Him to Near Normal Health
Jason Boyce fell ill in the early 2000s with what he believes was a flu or EBV infection and spent sixteen years bedbound for days after exertion and unable to play with his kids. He assembled an eclectic mix of treatments, crediting nebulised hydrogen…
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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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Sarah's Story
Sarah tried an extensive list of treatments without full success: many hyperbaric oxygen sessions (costing "thousands" and giving only temporary relief before triggering relapses), acupuncture, kinesiology, diet changes, breathing exercises with osteopaths,…
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My fatigue is gone. My poisoned feeling, gone. PEM, what PEM?
seamyb reports that a teaspoon of ordinary cumin eliminated his fatigue and "poisoned feeling" and blocked PEM, describing himself as "either in remission or super mild," and explicitly states he has no commercial stake in cumin. He notes the effect wears…
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Some Patients Are Reporting Recovery from Long COVID (Sherri)
Sherri Klipowicz used a plant-heavy, low-gluten, low-dairy diet, restorative yoga, magnesium and glutathione supplements, and ozone therapy, and worked with an insomnia specialist to fix her sleep. She had been sick with Long COVID since March 2020, and…
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ATP working well for me
After COVID worsened his decades-old condition, Keshav began sublingual ATP and reports dramatic improvement within 3 days, and within 24 hours of his first injectable ATP dose felt his "mind was much sharper," mood and energy much better. Follow-up posts…
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List of ME/CFS Recovery and Improvement Stories (page 7 discussion)
Relayed secondhand by forum member Cipher, Pyrrhus moved from moderately-severe to moderate ME/CFS with objective functional gains after roughly 12 weeks on an NAC-based methylation/glutathione protocol. Being a secondhand account, exact dosing and full…
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List of ME/CFS Recovery and Improvement Stories (page 7-8 discussion)
godlovesatrier, previously almost housebound, credited the same HASD protocol (v3.2, with EGCG and a broader supplement stack) as BrightCandle for progressing to tolerating low levels of exercise, with resolution of a sore throat, neck pain,…
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The Awakening - Bedbound to Housebound (1 Day a week)
N-Acetyl-DL-Leucine (3-5g) plus calcium and copper let him "get up and move around as if I didn't have ME/CFS." The effect "only works for a few days a week" and comes with a strong appetite-suppressant side effect, so it is a brief, recurring improvement…
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ME versus CFS: #Arztanfragen - Mein Therapieregime für die antiretrovirale Behandlung bei Myalgischer Enzephalomyelitis
Cistus incanus, 2100mg daily, taken as one part of a broader antiretroviral regimen, including tenofovir titrated up over seven months plus N-acetylcysteine, glutathione, niacinamide, reishi mushroom and green tea extract, that a mother, Katharina Voss,…
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Full Recovery of 27 Severe Mycotoxicosis Patients (O2 / FIR / Sups / Antifungal / AIET) + POLL
On a Shoemaker-based CIRS protocol built around cholestyramine (the only conventional medicine she tolerated), plus FIR sauna and liposomal glutathione, and after relocating to a house with an ERMI in the lowest 25th percentile, she reports now passing the…
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Anyone else here have MCS too?
Built a detox-focused supplement stack of low-dose liposomal glutathione, activated charcoal, chlorella, R-lipoic acid, magnesium, B vitamins, phosphatidylcholine, milk thistle and acupressure, later adding NAC and turmeric, aimed at underlying infection and…
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Anyone else here have MCS too?
Removed all the metal from his mouth and made other unspecified changes, later adding milk thistle seed tea and NAC for liver support, for MCS alongside CFS that had been horrible since a severe jet-fuel exposure and anaphylactic reaction in 1994. Says these…
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Anyone else have a massive improvement from Tyrosine?
ljimbo423 reports noticeable, sustained improvement in mental clarity from daily tyrosine over several years, later finding N-acetyl-tyrosine effective at an even lower dose, though too much of either causes hyperstimulation and sleep trouble. He describes…
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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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The Master Cleanse
Fourteen years into CFS and CIRS (also citing heavy metal toxicity, mold and Lyme disease), Eric documented a roughly 25-day Master Cleanse of lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne, adding psyllium and bentonite shakes and continuing some supplements against…
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My CFS Recovery
Began with weekly IV infusions of high-dose vitamin C, magnesium chloride, B-complex and liquid glutathione, then moved to a large daily oral regimen including glutathione, acetyl-L-carnitine, MTHFR-targeted methylation supplements and thyroid medication.…
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Do People Really Recover From ME/CFS and/or Fibromyalgia? An Inquiry (Sandrine)
Commenting on this inquiry post, Sandrine described about two years of severe fibromyalgia so bad she was once unable to brush her teeth and would scream from pain. She credits essential oils taken internally and topically, liposomal vitamin C, MSM, olive…
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Combination of Supplements Allows Me to Work and Exercise - But causes extreme Gastritis
Built a roughly 60-item daily supplement stack (B12, NADH, high-dose antioxidants/glutathione, SAM-e, CoQ10, glandulars, ribose, phosphatidylserine and more) over three-plus years of trial and error for CFS, fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's. Says the combination…
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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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High-Dose Selenium Significantly Improves My Fatigue and Brain Fog
Hip is a long-standing, moderately ill ME/CFS forum member and prolific self-experimenter who has never found one cure but has documented dozens of individual n=1 supplement/technique trials, each targeting a specific symptom. Notably, high-dose selenium…
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Completely eliminated my severe anxiety symptoms with three supplements!
Hip, an ME/CFS patient, says this three-supplement combination "pretty much eliminated" his severe anxiety symptoms, with the relief sustained as an ongoing regimen rather than a one-off effect. This is a single-symptom (anxiety) improvement within his…
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NAC helped me sleep?
Started NAC 600mg (alongside B6 begun about a week earlier and eating onions) and got 6-7 hours of straight sleep for three nights running, with 8+ hour totals, less nighttime urination, and an "almost refreshing" quality to the sleep. He flags several…
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Think I've cured Fructose Malabsorption
Following Athene's protocol, he started glucosamine HCl and an alternating digestive-enzyme/fiber regimen while awaiting his N-acetyl glucosamine order. He reports bloating "seems lower" and burping "really reduced," a partial early improvement rather than…
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Think I've cured Fructose Malabsorption
After years of severe fructose malabsorption (unable to eat any fruit) and 28 years of yeast intolerance, she combined N-acetyl glucosamine, glucosamine HCl and high-dose niacinamide. After three weeks she could eat two apples or a full glass of fresh orange…
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has anyone stuck religiously to Dr Myhill's protocol and hadsignificant improvements?
Following Dr Myhill's protocol for over a year, though not "religiously" due to sensitivities and being vegetarian, this poster reports magnesium clearing cramps and restless legs, vitamin D3 helping cognition, and overall "significant improvements" that…
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Fixing Leaky Gut Helps ME/CFS, and Sometimes Achieves Full Remission
Took a twice-daily leaky-gut supplement stack (S. boulardii, grape seed extract, zinc carnosine, vitamin E, NAG, triphala, glutamine, slippery elm bark, zinc) after years of severe IBS-D alongside his ME/CFS. Digestion was much improved within 3-4 days and…
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Freddd - have increased energy on your protocol!
After 13 years of severe exercise intolerance, including 4 years on the Simplified Methylation Protocol with negative effects, she switched to a carnitine-fumarate-centered regimen with methyl-B12 injections and Metafolin. She initially felt "more normal,…
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What treatments HAVE ACTUALLY helped?
Built a regimen around rotating sleep aids (Imovane/zopiclone), Tramal, 5-HTP, Neurontin, lipoic acid, NAC, a low-carb Atkins-style diet and modified weight training, but singles out Famvir as the biggest driver, saying that without it he "would be…