How it went
Did it last?
- 1 of 13 said the benefit wore off.
- 2 of 13 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 | 3 | 23% |
| Near-full | 2 | 15% |
| Substantial | 4 | 31% |
| Partial | 4 | 31% |
| Relapsed | 0 | 0% |
| No benefit | 0 | 0% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | 1 | 100% | |
| Moderate | 1 | 100% | |
| Severe | 6 | 33% |
5 accounts don’t say how ill the person was.
How often it comes up
Posts that mention Intermittent fasting, 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 | 1 | 704 | 1.4 |
| 2012 | 0 | 1,491 | 0.0 |
| 2013 | 0 | 1,995 | 0.0 |
| 2014 | 2 | 2,707 | 0.7 |
| 2015 | 0 | 2,566 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | 0 | 2,023 | 0.0 |
| 2017 | 4 | 3,381 | 1.2 |
| 2018 | 2 | 2,523 | 0.8 |
| 2019 | 4 | 1,637 | 2.4 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,318 | 1.2 |
| 2021 | 3 | 2,469 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | 2 | 1,871 | 1.1 |
| 2023 | 3 | 2,362 | 1.3 |
| 2024 | 1 | 2,176 | 0.5 |
| 2025 | 14 | 1,349 | 10.4 |
| 2026 (so far) | 4 | 899 | 4.4 |
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 13 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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18/6 intermittent fasting has benefitted me greatly (Mary)
After about two months on a 7am to 5pm eating window, this poster reports a noticeably increased energy envelope and stamina, and that her white blood cell count came back normal for the first time in twenty years. She frames it as meaningful but ongoing…
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How I got in remission/cured my ME/CFS
Ali_Mardiyev, disabled for 1.5 years with POTS/dysautonomia/severe fatigue/PEM, layered a stellate ganglion block with beta-blocker, a testosterone course, several psychiatric medications, intermittent fasting and a slow graded-exercise ramp starting April…
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18/6 intermittent fasting has benefitted me greatly (Wayne)
Wayne experienced initial worsening when starting intermittent fasting, then gradually extended the window from twelve hours to sixteen or eighteen over roughly a year, reporting significant benefit after about two years. He eventually needed to reintroduce…
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18/6 intermittent fasting has benefitted me greatly (ilivewithcfs)
This poster reports that sixty per cent of his symptoms are gone on an 18/6 intermittent-fasting schedule, after finding a 16/8 window ineffective. He is cautiously optimistic but adds the hedge that things which work initially often stop working with time,…
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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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My Recovery Journey from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
Mediterranean diet was adopted as one strand of a broad, multi-modal recovery program that also included intermittent fasting, low-dose naltrexone, structured pacing and vagus nerve stimulation, with no separate dose or duration given for the diet itself. He…
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Dr. Craig on Fasting For Better Health in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Lowered carbohydrate intake combined with intermittent fasting, progressing after some months to therapeutic fasts of 24 to 72 hours. He had CF/ME-type symptoms for an unstated period until discovering this approach in 2022; severity is not given. After 7 to…
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Overcoming long Covid by fasting
Michel Falck, a 60-year-old wine dealer from Strasbourg, had lost his sense of taste and smell, could not concentrate enough to read, had not been able to play piano and struggled with language for two and a half months after a COVID infection. At the…
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Fermented Foods Health Louis's Gut and Health
Added fermented foods along with intermittent fasting after 14 years of poor health with fatigue and gut problems, though never formally diagnosed with ME/CFS. Had continued working despite the symptoms. Says his constipation went away immediately with…
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Fermented Foods Heal Louis's Gut and Health
Louis had 14 years of ill health with severe gut pain, occasional bleeding and fatigue, though he was never formally diagnosed with ME/CFS and kept working full-time. Multiple doctors could not resolve it. Drinking kefir and adopting intermittent fasting…
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Partial success with liver health improvement - choline
About two years after her liver-focused diet, and after discovering she also had previously undiagnosed active celiac disease, switched to a ketogenic diet combined with intermittent fasting. Says this is definitely helping, with several hours of active time…
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Dr. Craig on Fasting For Better Health in Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Periodic intermittent fasting of 12 to 18 hours, one to two times a week, with an early dinner followed by a late breakfast the next day. She had chronic fatigue syndrome for 15 years before getting it under control and calls the fasting routine crucial to…