How it went
Did it last?
- 12 of 69 said the benefit wore off (including the 4 who relapsed).
- 10 of 69 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 | 7 | 10% |
| Near-full | 5 | 7% |
| Substantial | 26 | 38% |
| Partial | 23 | 33% |
| Relapsed | 4 | 6% |
| No benefit | 4 | 6% |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild | 1 | 100% | |
| Moderate | 14 | 7% | |
| Severe | 20 | 40% | |
| Very severe | 4 | 0% |
30 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 Probiotics and fermented foods, 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 | 11 | 184 | 59.8 |
| 2010 | 10 | 682 | 14.7 |
| 2011 | 23 | 704 | 32.7 |
| 2012 | 30 | 1,491 | 20.1 |
| 2013 | 46 | 1,708 | 26.9 |
| 2014 | 141 | 2,352 | 59.9 |
| 2015 | 44 | 2,158 | 20.4 |
| 2016 | 22 | 1,431 | 15.4 |
| 2017 | 55 | 3,110 | 17.7 |
| 2018 | 24 | 2,201 | 10.9 |
| 2019 | 25 | 1,075 | 23.3 |
| 2020 | 9 | 2,581 | 3.5 |
| 2021 | 7 | 1,867 | 3.7 |
| 2022 | 42 | 1,166 | 36.0 |
| 2023 | 21 | 1,000 | 21.0 |
| 2024 | 36 | 1,237 | 29.1 |
| 2025 | 14 | 1,019 | 13.7 |
| 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 Probiotics and fermented foods 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.
- Side effects
Took a refrigerated multi-strain probiotic sachet and by the third day found his longstanding food intolerances "improved greatly," with adverse reactions to trigger foods reduced by about 90% and digestion, skin and mood all better.
- Blood count problems
From a worst point of being bedbound 20 hours a day, she says she now manages 12-hour days that include 1-2 hours of brisk walking, and that her pain resolved and anemia improved.
All 69 accounts
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Experimental peptides are being advertised for Long COVID
Anca Vrincianu learned about the peptides MOTS-c and KPV, said to help with energy production and gut health respectively, and ordered them online, though the article does not specify the exact peptides she settled on, doses, or duration of use. Over about a…
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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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Nearly Recovered Me
Rebuilt her gut microbiome with General Biotics Equilibrium and later Seed probiotics, which she calls a turning point, on top of a two-decade stack that included 41 days of Miracle Mineral Solution in 2008 (a self-described game changer), Fredd's B12…
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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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Success from Probiotics
Took Lane Innovative's Flora3 probiotic (S. boulardii-based) after roughly 2.5 years of chronic diarrhea, reporting simply that "my digestive problem is over." The improvement has been maintained by continuing on a lower maintenance dose rather than stopping…
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Success from Probiotics
Took a 14-strain Jamieson probiotic (2 capsules twice daily) for about two weeks while gradually reintroducing oats after roughly 1.5 years of fermentable-fiber intolerance causing brain fog, aches and malaise. After a few days he could increase oat intake…
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Several long-COVID patients report improvements from antihistamines
Takes cetirizine nightly (dose not specified) since 2021, along with probiotics, for long-COVID symptoms. They describe the antihistamine as the only thing that quiets what they call a constant cytokine-storm reaction, and say it has also calmed…
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The Remission Biome Project happened to me
Took three separate courses of amoxicillin over about eight weeks total (200mg for 21 days, then 875/125mg for 7 days, then 500mg for 21 days), for unrelated dental and sinus infections, taking daily probiotics throughout. Had struggled with IBS-C and gut…
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The Remission Biome Project: Two ME/CFS Patients Begin a Gut Reset Effort to Regain Their Health
Bifidobacteria: a multi-strain probiotic blend of Bifidobacterium breve, B. bifidum, B. infantis and B. longum together with Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Saccharomyces boulardii, given as one part of a wider protocol that also included mold avoidance, B…
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Actual Improvement in PEM with Probiotics - My N=1 Experience
katabasis, previously scoring her disability at 10/100, says roughly six weeks on a specific dual-strain probiotic moved her to about 20/100, enough to do minor chores and read for 30 minutes without triggering PEM, and that she recovered from a dental…
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Friendly gut bacteria speeds long Covid recovery
A Lactobacillus probiotic and inulin prebiotic capsule blend from a UK long COVID trial, dose and duration not stated in the account. How long she had been ill and her severity are also not given, beyond noting she already ate a diet rich in herbs and…
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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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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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CBT for CFS: Luke Shares His Experience and Recovery
Luke combined self-directed CBT (working through his own negative thought patterns rather than with a therapist) with a methylation protocol developed by Rich Von Konynenburg (B vitamins plus folic acid), guidance from two books -- Kristina Downing-Orr's…
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The Temporary Recovery Stories (Yvonne)
Commenter Yvonne credited the probiotic VSL#3 along with anti-candida supplements with a substantial recovery, preceded by the same characteristic draining sensation other commenters described. Unlike most cases in this post she reports maintaining…
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How Filmjölk Has Saved My Gut
After 35 years of ME/CFS with erratic bowel movements, he drank filmjölk daily and began having normal bowel movements every day for the first time since childhood, calling it the first consistent digestive improvement of his illness. In a follow-up post 11…
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Reverse therapy is helping me a lot
After several years of mild-to-moderate ME/CFS partly triggered by probiotic use, did two sessions of "Reverse Therapy" (a meditative practice of "talking to" the body) over six weeks. Reports "feeling the best I have since the beginning of my cfs journey,"…
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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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GI Results: Need Help With Correct Supplements
Lactobacillus plantarum 299v was tried by Archie for SIBO-related gut symptoms alongside ME/CFS. It initially made her bloating worse, in what she described as her worst episode ever, before the reaction flipped and symptoms began improving. She attributed…
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I created a situation where the evidence for what I was worried about, was created by the worries themselves
Oda used ANS REWIRE, Dan Neuffer's online video-based nervous-system retraining program, after years of trying vitamins, minerals, probiotics, dietary changes and thyroid medication, and considering but not pursuing the Lightning Process. She had been ill…
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KDM - success of fixing the gut
Cycled through antibiotics and probiotics for gut dysbiosis; after about three months she went "from moderate to mild," with IBS "almost non-existent," but overexertion caused a relapse and she now needs ongoing rifaximin to control bloating ("when I start…
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Anyone else here have MCS too?
Takes Miyarisan, a Clostridium butyricum probiotic, on an ongoing basis for severe MCS (perfumes, cigarette smoke, kerosene, air fresheners) alongside ME/CFS, POTS, IBS, brain fog and PEM. Says it almost completely stopped her MCS reactions; she still avoids…
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Cumin (Cuminum cyminum): Possible PEM Blocker
Wishful found that eating about 2-2.5 teaspoons of ground cumin before strenuous exertion (2+ hours of chainsaw work) blocked PEM entirely for roughly 8 days of continued heavy activity, before the effect abruptly stopped working, as it had once before after…
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Super Immune Activator - GcMAF by Living Technologies
Used the Living Technologies "Super Immune Activator" kit (homemade raw milk/kefir-grain GcMAF ferment with colostrum, probiotics and vitamin D3/K2, 50ml twice daily) plus GcMAF Plus cream, starting October 2017 for gut/bowel symptoms. Within days he could…
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Gaps diet put me in direction to recovery
After repeated antibiotic courses over the years triggered his illness, he adopted a GAPS-like diet along with herbs for dysbiosis and probiotics, describing himself as "making good progress" in his recovery without claiming it complete.
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Gaps diet put me in direction to recovery
Diagnosed with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia and bedbound by April 2012, she began the GAPS introduction diet with VSL#3 probiotic, enemas, CoQ10, B12 and vitamin C. Within two weeks she started improving slowly, and over roughly two years on the diet she went…
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Gaps diet put me in direction to recovery
After ME/CFS following a Levaquin reaction, started the GAPS elimination diet plus VSL#3 probiotic while mostly bedbound and began "improving slowly but surely" within two weeks. Reached part-time work by two years in, and by five years post-diet was "much…
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Symbioflor-2: Another E.Coli Probiotic
Symbioflor-2, an E. coli probiotic, was taken over three weeks with the dose gradually increased to 21 drops a day. Illness duration and severity before starting are not stated, though prior stool testing had shown an absence of bifidobacteria, lactobacillus…
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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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Rethinking Probiotics
Lactobacillus plantarum 299v is used intermittently by Eastman, on an as-needed basis, specifically for bloating. He describes the use as occasional rather than continuous, implying some symptomatic relief when he takes it. Dose, illness duration and…
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I get chills for 2 weeks after a single attempt of killing gut microbes; permanent cure found: cod liver/oil or sashimi. See last post.
After years of extreme gut-microbe intolerance triggering two-week chill/flu episodes from nattokinase, probiotics, eucalyptus oil and charcoal-based antimicrobials, she reported that ultra-dilute sauerkraut sap gave her "more good than bad effects" for the…
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Did Probiotics Cure My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Carol Wolf, who had an autoimmune disease diagnosed in childhood, had been bedridden at times and on eight prescription medications, with MRI evidence of brain lesions, before losing her job to illness. She credits four high-quality probiotics totalling…
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Rimfaximin seems to have helped my gut
After years of rolling gut pain, alternating bowel habits and frequent migraines, she took Rifaximin 400mg three times daily for 10 days, followed by five days of Azithromycin plus a probiotic and enzyme/fiber regimen. Following the Azithromycin course her…
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successfully treated SIBO with herbals
Tested positive for SIBO in April 2015 with a lactulose breath test so high the test was stopped early at a reading of 100. After a 6-week course of the herbal antimicrobials FC-Cidal and Dysbiocide (2 tablets of each, twice daily) plus rotating high-strain…
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Bravo GcMAF Probiotic Yogurt
Used sublingual GcMAF for the recommended 6-month period, reporting it "restored immunity and stopped further tooth loss" - but says it also "triggered Systemic Lupus Erythematosis" in him. He now warns others to limit any course to 4 months maximum and get…
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Bravo GcMAF Probiotic Yogurt
Took Bravo yoghurt for 2 weeks while based in Cambodia and reports it "reduced my CFS 25%ish" - a modest, quantified, partial improvement in that short window rather than a cure, with no longer-term follow-up given.
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Bravo GcMAF Probiotic Yogurt
Long-term user of Bravo yoghurt who says she "found it to be invaluable in multiple areas of my physiology and life." No specific dose, duration or symptom-by-symptom detail is given, but the framing is of sustained positive benefit from continued use rather…
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Bravo GcMAF Probiotic Yogurt
Used MAF314 (Bravo) yoghurt and, separately, Dr Enlander's injectable version, responding well to the MAF314 with improved physical functioning and gut symptoms. Describes it as "not a cure" but beneficial while used; the good effects "began to wear off…
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Bravo GcMAF Probiotic Yogurt
Took Bravo yoghurt and GcMAF cream twice daily (morning before food, night after dinner) for his ME/CFS. Reported increased energy, reduced brain fog, deeper/more vivid sleep and more regular digestion, but says plainly "it is by no means a cure" - benefits…
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Multidimensional program is the ticket for Michelle
Tai chi and qigong practice, described as vital for immune function, balance and heart functioning, was one element of a long-term multidimensional program that also included an elimination diet (no dairy, most grains, fermented foods, alcohol, MSG, sugar or…
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Something that's helping me.....
Previously bed-bound and on ten years of restrictive eating to avoid trigger foods, this poster reports off-license sodium cromoglycate let her tolerate yeast and sugar without her usual "crushing fatigue," and tolerate probiotics for the first time; her…
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what has worked for you
Combined a gluten-free, dairy-free paleo diet with Nystatin, an S. boulardii probiotic, a Freddd-style methylation protocol, coffee enemas and gentle 30-minute cold-water swims. She reports these "have helped" enough that she is now "able to work part time…
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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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GcMAF spray and bravo yogurt
Used MAF314 (later marketed as Bravo) probiotic yoghurt for about a year, alongside concurrent Lyme treatment. At 6 months Nagalase fell from 3.9 to 2.9 and he felt better; by 12 months he felt "much better." He separately tried a GcMAF spray for 2 months…
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Mind-body Work and Alternative Treatments Kisses 15 Years of ME/CFS Good-Bye
The unnamed subject first fell ill after measles at age 12 and was severely disabled by 1979, losing his balance, unable to stand, with headaches and muscle pain, eventually working part-time before retiring at 50. Over 15 years he pursued self-hypnosis,…
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Methylation recovery survey. Recovery stories here!!
Followed a "Yasko lite" methylation protocol blending Rich Van Konynenburg/Freddd/Ben Lynch approaches for about 1.5 years, including methylcobalamin, adenosylcobalamin, potassium, magnesium, molybdenum and methylfolate. She discontinued long-term antifungal…
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Probiotic - Streptococcus thermophilus - restores my gut flora to normal - helps irritable bowel
For his ME/CFS-associated IBS, he found that a Streptococcus thermophilus probiotic "immediately" returns his stool to normal consistency and color, and the extra fatigue that accompanies his IBS flares disappears immediately too. He says only a minimal dose…
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Anyone have any success with GAPS?
After 12 years of CFS/Lyme, he combined GAPS with bone broth, high-dose probiotics, yogurt, kefir, coconut oil, glutamine and cod liver oil, reporting "significant improvement" after just one week. He cautions that one week is "too early to claim a…
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My Air Hunger has improved dramatically !!
Adopting the same betaine HCl/digestive enzyme/probiotic combination as the thread starter, he says it "basically cured my air hunger," calling it a "MIRACLE," though he still sometimes needs a few deep breaths. Presented as a large, sustained gain while…
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Anyone have any success with GAPS?
After 3.5 years of severe ME, she combined a GAPS/Paleo hybrid diet with aloe vera, glutamine, bone broth, juicing, liver-detox herbs and probiotics. She estimates the diet alone took her from "10% with pain to 40% with no pain," describing it as ongoing,…
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My Air Hunger has improved dramatically !!
Betaine HCl, digestive enzymes and a high-CFU probiotic taken around meals brought an estimated "60-70%" improvement in breathing capacity and a big rebound in appetite, easing air hunger she calls "devastating" and "distressing." Presented as an ongoing…
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Skyline's Journal: Progress & Experiments
About a week into restarting a full methylation protocol (high-dose methylfolate, dual-form B12, folinic acid and potassium alongside L-carnitine and B-vitamins), this poster's self-rated daily tracking shows energy reaching "10," headaches nearly resolved,…
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Excellent results with LactoFermented Vegetables
After "terrible malabsorption problems," she has eaten fermented organic sauerkraut and other fermented vegetables for several years and now says her gut is "in perfect condition." She plans to keep eating it "for the rest of my life," treating it as…
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Excellent results with LactoFermented Vegetables
After years of severe constipation despite other interventions, she began eating one daily serving of homemade lactofermented sauerkraut or beets alongside L-glutamine and grain elimination. She calls the results "amazing," resolving her long-standing…
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Did KDM's treatment help you or did you get worse?
Recently starting a KDM regimen of GcMAF, "4ME," lactoferrin, antibiotics, probiotics and B12, she reports "have seen an improvement" early in the course, though her disease "fluctuates a bit" and she remains financially dependent on family to continue.
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Cheap recovery plan
Combined the Klinghardt parasite protocol, auto-urine therapy, fresh garlic juice with tomato juice twice daily, a homemade MAF-style raw-dairy brew, a raw-sauerkraut/enzyme-rich diet, and (until a few months earlier) the Simplified Methylation Protocol. He…
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Cured Myself After 4 Years of CFS
Over about four years and more than $50,000 on doctors and supplements, this poster went from lying "almost paralyzed" to calling himself cured, crediting a stack that included DHEA (100mg/day, 200mg on exercise days), Florinef for low aldosterone,…
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Fixing Leaky Gut Helps ME/CFS, and Sometimes Achieves Full Remission
Took a month of Xifaxan for gut dysbiosis after testing positive for leaky gut, enterovirus and H2S overgrowth, and separately tried glutamine, NAG, aloe vera juice, digestive enzymes and zinc. She noticed no changes from the month of Xifaxan alone, and…
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Probiotics and some great improvement
Eating homegrown milk kefir, including the grains, turned his digestion around, he says, describing it as more effective and much less expensive than the various purchased probiotics he had tried, with the benefit persisting roughly two years after he started.
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Probiotics and some great improvement
After being limited to "plain meat and coconut oil for a while" due to food intolerances, he drank water kefir several times a day and reports it eased a lot of his food intolerances, calling it "even more effective than any purchased (pill) probiotics."
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Probiotics and some great improvement
Took a refrigerated multi-strain probiotic sachet and by the third day found his longstanding food intolerances "improved greatly," with adverse reactions to trigger foods reduced by about 90% and digestion, skin and mood all better. He notes an older…
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Gut healing - what seems to be helping me
After about 8 years of illness, 9 months of drinking raw-milk kefir resolved her multiple chemical sensitivity ("no longer feel like I'm choking" around perfume), completely cleared longstanding hand eczema, let her cut thyroid medication from 225mcg to…
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What treatments HAVE ACTUALLY helped?
Eliminated grains and complex starches and added probiotic foods. From a worst point of being bedbound 20 hours a day, she says she now manages 12-hour days that include 1-2 hours of brisk walking, and that her pain resolved and anemia improved. Fatigue…
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Stages of Recovery - personal experience
Eliminated all grains in favor of soaked seeds, vegetables and fruit, with only occasional B12, amino acids, coconut kefir and macrobiotic foods, deliberately keeping supplements minimal. A year into this she no longer needs bed rest most days, does "much…
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IVIG and Xiflaxan: A Dr. Peterson Patient Improves
After a long history of recurrent SIBO culminating in septic shock and 15-20 diarrheal episodes a day, he took Xifaxan 200mg four times daily for 15 days alongside Florastor probiotic. Relief was "dramatic" within about 10 days, leaving no abdominal pain and…
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making a PRObiotic chart -- Bifido spp only!!
Bifidobacterium infantis 35624: taken as the Align probiotic brand, starting at one capsule daily for two weeks and then increasing to two capsules daily. She has ME/CFS with symptoms including joint pain, tinnitus and brain fog. The first two weeks produced…
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[BBC] GcMAF: Unlicensed HIV drug 'nearly killed patient' (Noakes pleads guilty)
Uses a probiotic MAF (MAF 878, roughly $100/month) alongside dietary changes, describing the combination as putting her "into FULL remission... From bed bound to hiking up mountains." The remission is not permanent: she has "gone off and on everything that…
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Professor Marco Ruggiero on MAF 314 -- video
Took MAF 878 (an oral/probiotic GcMAF product) for about one month, then stopped because of the cost of the product and its shipping. Within 3 days of stopping she "plummeted and am still trying to get back to baseline weeks later" - a sharp relapse on…