Out of the 50 accounts with a clear outcome; 1 more don’t say how it went.
How it went
Did it last?
- 3 of 51 said the benefit wore off.
- 2 of 51 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 | 31 | 62% |
| Near-full | 5 | 10% |
| Substantial | 11 | 22% |
| Partial | 2 | 4% |
| Relapsed | 0 | 0% |
| No benefit | 1 | 2% |
| Outcome unclear | 1 | — |
By how ill people were
| Severity at worst | How it went | n | Recovered |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moderate | 3 | 67% | |
| Severe | 29 | 66% | |
| Very severe | 11 | 82% |
8 accounts don’t say how ill the person was.
How often it comes up
Posts that mention Trauma work (EFT, EMDR, TRE), 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 | 1,995 | 0.5 |
| 2014 | 0 | 2,707 | 0.0 |
| 2015 | 0 | 2,566 | 0.0 |
| 2016 | 1 | 2,023 | 0.5 |
| 2017 | 2 | 3,381 | 0.6 |
| 2018 | 0 | 2,523 | 0.0 |
| 2019 | 6 | 1,637 | 3.7 |
| 2020 | 3 | 3,318 | 0.9 |
| 2021 | 0 | 2,469 | 0.0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 1,871 | 0.5 |
| 2023 | 2 | 2,362 | 0.8 |
| 2024 | 15 | 2,176 | 6.9 |
| 2025 | 1 | 1,349 | 0.7 |
| 2026 (so far) | 3 | 899 | 3.3 |
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 51 accounts
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A Recovery Story: From Life-Altering Chronic Symptoms to Living a Full Life
Credits trauma and somatic work, JournalSpeak, brain retraining and graded exercise. Steph was ill 2y with very-severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. 90% bedbound; Sarno/JournalSpeak trauma journaling.
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Six Things I Did NOT Do to Heal
Credits trauma and somatic work and JournalSpeak. Ariel was ill 2y with severe long COVID and reports a substantial improvement. Rejected diets, supplements and GET; symptoms mostly gone.
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211: The Childhood Pattern Behind Slow ME/CFS Recovery - Teresa Hobbs
Credits trauma therapy and nervous system. Teresa had ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Childhood-pattern/trauma framing.
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Some thoughts on exercise and long covid
Credits trauma and somatic work and somatic meditation. Ariel was ill 2y with severe long COVID and is described as fully recovered. Now runs faster than before the illness.
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173: Resolving Grief and Trauma Cured My ME/CFS - Nurse Felicity Read's Story
Credits trauma therapy and grief work. Felicity had ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. She is a nurse.
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Hope Rooted in Biology: What Helped Us Recover from ME/CFS and Long Covid
Credits TRE and boundary setting. J. was ill 25 years with ME/CFS and is described as almost fully recovered. "85-90% recovered".
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Hope Rooted in Biology: What Helped Us Recover from ME/CFS and Long Covid
Credits brain retraining, somatic, TMS and trauma therapy. Sylvia was ill 6 years to improve with severe ME/CFS and reports a substantial improvement. Works part-time now, no restrictions.
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Hope Rooted in Biology: What Helped Us Recover from ME/CFS and Long Covid
Credits brain retraining, somatic and trauma therapy. Christine was ill 5 years (4 bedbound) with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Comorbid POTS; recovered 2 yrs at writing.
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A New Paradigm for Healing
Credits trauma and somatic work, EMDR and somatic. Harry Boby was ill 4y with severe long COVID and reports a substantial improvement. Relapsed with brainstem pain after a meditation retreat.
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Radical Healing with Sara Southgate
Credits trauma and somatic work, reflexology and reiki. Sara had severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Now coaches women professionally.
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Mark Shares His Inspiring Long Covid Recovery Story
Credits pacing and trauma and somatic work. Mark was ill 2y with severe long COVID and is described as fully recovered. Primary-school teacher; now retraining as a play therapist.
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Alisha's Recovery Story
Credits trauma and somatic work and brain retraining. Alisha was ill 3y with severe long COVID and is described as fully recovered. Couch-bound 1.5 years; now a paid TMS coach.
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Mollie's ME/CFS and POTS Recovery Success with ANS REWIRE
Credits brain retraining and trauma and somatic work. Mollie was ill 5y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Same story as the cfsunravelled family-psychotherapy post.
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Battling ME/CFS: a decade-long recovery
Credits NLP, EFT and diet. Amir was ill 10y with severe ME/CFS and reports a substantial improvement. Now coaches others professionally.
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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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Shaun Moran's Recovery Story
Tried an extensive list of alternative treatments over the years - IV vitamin C, ozone therapy, acupuncture, cupping, EFT, homeopathy, matrix re-imprinting, amygdala retraining, qigong, restrictive diets, chiropractic and osteopathic care, hypnotherapy,…
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Flo Stops the Leaks in Her Boat at Last
Flo became ill with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia after mold exposure roughly thirty-seven years before the post, at her worst unable to watch TV, read or follow conversations, with regular vertigo. Years of craniosacral therapy, PRP injections, hydrogen peroxide…
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My long covid recovery recap: the timeline and tools
Ariel Conn's recovery centered on mind-body approaches: Claritin as one of only two things that helped in her first 18 months, then somatic meditations, Nicole Sachs' JournalSpeak journaling method starting December 2021, somatic and Internal Family Systems…
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: My 13 Year Crash to Cure Story
Credits trauma and somatic work, CBT or psychological work and somatic tracking. Rebecca was ill 13y with severe ME/CFS and reports a substantial improvement. Broadcast journalist; Sarno/TMS work.
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My Long Covid Recovery Story
Roberto's recovery centered on polyvagal-theory nervous-system regulation exercises, whose specifics aren't detailed, combined with psychological work addressing childhood trauma and perfectionism patterns he linked to his illness. He had been hospitalized…
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After 37 Years Flo Finds Her Answer
Flo lived with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia and migraines for 37 years, mostly homebound with severe brain fog, vertigo and light and sound sensitivity. She worked through decades of bodywork, energy and conventional therapies with limited success. EFT tapping and…
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I knew that one of the things that was keeping me sick was my constant focus on my illness
Began weekly hour-long Mickel Therapy sessions over FaceTime in September 2020 with a therapist named Trevor, himself recovered from a 10-year bout of CFS/ME, running for about five sessions over six months and aimed at retraining an autonomic nervous system…
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After one year and 10 days I realized that I was done with COVID! The mind-body connection was the final piece in my healing
Combined neurofeedback, a concussion protocol, a five-hour session with an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioner, EMDR, shiatsu, meditation and journaling as part of a broader mind-body approach to her illness. She had more than 18 Long COVID…
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ME/CFS Recovery Story
Credits brain retraining and trauma and somatic work. Mellissa was ill 10y with severe ME/CFS and reports a partial improvement. Guest post on doctor's site; still can't run a 10K.
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Alternative health and mind/body treatments return former aerobics instructor to health
Jodi, a London aerobics instructor, became bedbound with ME/CFS after glandular fever while overworked and stressed. Over several years she improved using kinesiology, acupuncture, reiki, dietary changes, mantras and sound healing, crediting the process…
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Kristin recovers from 6 years of ME/CFS POTS and MCS, PTSD and Bulimia
Credits trauma and somatic work and brain retraining. Kristin was ill 6y with severe ME/CFS and reports a substantial improvement. Reached remission, relapsed, then rebuilt via deeper trauma work.
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Two Surprising Stories of Self Healing from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Credits trauma and somatic work and surrender. Thomas was ill 4y with ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Photography and surrender over striving; climbing mountains later.
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Patient Spotlight: I Promise to Love Myself for the Long Haul
Credits trauma and somatic work and pacing. Lauren was ill 9mo with moderate long COVID and reports a partial improvement. Body Politic member; psychological shift, body still limited.
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Severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Recovery After Six Years - Vera's Story
Credits trauma and somatic work and ayurveda. Vera was ill 6y with very-severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Norwegian; Panchakarma plus trauma work, left toxic home.
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Trauma, EMDR helped remove a lot of pain from my body
After more than a decade of ME/CFS with chronic kidney/adrenal pain and stimulant intolerance, did EMDR therapy followed by about two years of Internal Family Systems (IFS) work with a former Buddhist monk. Reports kidney pain subsiding for the first time in…
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I had to move in with my mother to get care, but now I define myself as recovered
Anne Mari did a three-day Lightning Process course in September 2018, which she says gave her "more stable energy and an inner confidence of recovery." She had been ill for about a year after contracting Q-fever in November 2017, diagnosed in April 2018 with…
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What is ME? A spiral down into unwellness
Took a Lightning Process course in late 2005, recommended by a functional medicine doctor, after earlier trying acupuncture and Thought Field Therapy/tapping with practitioner Mats Uldal. She had developed ME after a traumatic accident and surgery in 2001,…
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ANS Rewire Program Works For Bed Bound 11 Year ME/CFS/FM Patient
Peter, a businessman, developed ME/CFS and fibromyalgia after stress and trauma, becoming mostly bedbound for 11 years and running up significant debt on other treatments. He enrolled in Dan Neuffer's paid ANS Rewire course, a mind-body program of…
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Frances Recovery Story
Credits CBT or psychological work and trauma and somatic work. Frances was ill 4y with ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Describes recovery as a spiritual and personal development journey.
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Emotional Healing Key for Fibromyalgia Patient
Tried Bach Flower Remedies herself and says she liked how they felt, describing them as very gentle. Illness duration and severity are not detailed. Says in her own words that the Bach remedies didn't address her physical symptoms, and that she found…
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Monet finds relief from mind/body practices plus homeopathy
Monet developed ME/CFS and fibromyalgia after a reaction to a vaccination, becoming wheelchair-bound within nine months and mostly bedbound for over a decade. She pursued homeopathy, dietary change, herbal supplements and extensive spiritual and…
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Katie Shares How She Broke the MECFS Relapse Cycle
Credits CBT or psychological work, diet and trauma and somatic work. Katie was ill 8y with moderate ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Mindset shift, dropped perfectionism, protein-focused diet.
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20 Years of Fibromyalgia, CFS, PTSD, Depression End
Credits mindset book, EFT tapping and diet. Leah was ill 20y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. EFT, anti-inflammatory diet, lost 70lb.
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Things I have learned by overcoming Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Credits trauma and somatic work and TAT tapping. Lehari had severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. TAT tapping resolved suppressed emotions.
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Anna de Vries' Story
She recovered from post-viral ME/CFS using Jan Rothney's Reset to Thrive programme, introduced via Rothney's book Breaking Free, combined with trauma therapy, somatic work including Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) and haptotherapy, and brain-retraining and…
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Penny's ATNS recovery story
Credits trauma and somatic work. Penny had ME/CFS and is listed among the recovery accounts. Linked from the Living Proof recovery wall.
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Vanessa's journey: from chronic illness to recovery
Credits trauma and somatic work, SIRPA and somatic. Vanessa was ill 4y with very-severe long COVID and reports a substantial improvement. 90% recovered; 50+ symptoms including POTS and MCAS.
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20-Year Battle with CFS: A Journey to Recovery through Mindset and Belief Work
She credits the Medical Medium diet-based protocol, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) tapping with affirmations for over an hour daily (later training as an EFT practitioner herself), functional medicine diagnosis, mindset and belief work, self-compassion…
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Payton Foeller's Story
She credits low-dose naltrexone (LDN, though she says it "helped somewhat, not a gamechanger"), talk therapy, brainspotting therapy, and mind-body work drawing on Dr. John Sarno's TMS framework, polyvagal theory, trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness,…
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Cedar Brown's Story
She recovered from ME/CFS, alongside POTS, mold illness, IBS and anxiety, using a combination of Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN), the Edison Effect Program by Anj Garneri, Trauma Healing Accelerated and somatics work, pacing, IFS parts work and mold remediation,…
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Overcoming ME - My Path to Recovery and Regaining My Life
Credits brain retraining, trauma and somatic work and CBT or psychological work. Sue was ill 18y with moderate ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. 18y including remission gap; psychotherapy plus ANS REWIRE.
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How Recovery from ME/CFS and POTS Was Enabled by Family Psychotherapy
Credits brain retraining and trauma and somatic work. Mollie was ill 5y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Husband's account; IFS family therapy plus ANS REWIRE.
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Emotional Healing to Slide into Full Fibromyalgia Recovery
Credits diet, trauma and somatic work and energy healing. Beth was ill 10y with severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Bach Flower Remedies, shamanic healing, emotional work.
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Beth French's Journey from ME/CFS to Ultra-Marathon Swimmer
Credits trauma and somatic work, meditation and relocation. Beth was ill 10y with very-severe ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. Later swam the Channel; credits meditation and motherhood.
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CFS and how i found my way out
Gavin's turning point was Blackmores PPMP (a cellular-dose potassium phosphate/magnesium phosphate supplement), taken alongside years of therapy, meditation, and doctor-prescribed antidepressants; he says he felt well again within 10 seconds of starting it.…
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Jake Hollis - The Fatigue Psychologist
Credits CBT or psychological work and trauma and somatic work. Jake Hollis had ME/CFS and is described as fully recovered. S4ME calls it survivorship bias.