Medical Studies on ME/CFS

*I am currently working on this section

Studies on Medications

Low Dose Abilify (LDA)

• Off  label use of Aripiprazole shows promise as a treatment for Myalgic  Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): a retrospective  study of 101 patients treated with a low dose of Aripiprazole (2021)

Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

• Low-Dose naltrexone restored TRPM3 ion channel function in natural killer cells from long COVID patients (2025)

• Potential  Therapeutic Benefit of Low Dose Naltrexone in Myalgic  Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Role of Transient Receptor  Potential Melastatin 3 Ion Channels in Pathophysiology and Treatment  (2021)

• Low-dose naltrexone in the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) (2019)

Pryridostigmine with Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN)

• Pyridostigmine  and low-dose naltrexone for ME/CFS: study protocol for the Life  Improvement Trial (LIFT), a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial (2025)  *not yet peer reviewed*

Metformin

• Outpatient Treatment of COVID-19 and the Development of Long COVID  Over 10 Months: A Multi-Center, Quadruple-Blind, Parallel Group  Randomized Phase 3 Trial (2023)

Valacylovir

• Valacyclovir treatment in Epstein-Barr virus subset chronic fatigue syndrome: thirty-six months follow-up  (2007)   

•  A six-month trial of valacyclovir in the  Epstein-Barr virus subset of chronic fatigue syndrome: improvement in  left ventricular function (2002)      

N-acetylcysteine (NAC) 

• Clinical  experience with the α2A-adrenoceptor agonist, guanfacine, and  N-acetylcysteine for the treatment of cognitive deficits in  “Long-COVID19” (2023) *long covid study, not specifically ME/CFS

• studies in progress/recruiting for this with ME/CFS.  

Famotidine (pepcid)

• nothing yet but this is being used to good effect in ME/CFS clinics and by me personally

Ketotifen

• nothing yet but this is being used to good effect in ME/CFS clinics and by me personally

Studies on our bodies

• Replicated blood-based biomarkers for myalgic encephalomyelitis not explicable by inactivity (2025)

• Hippocampal subfield volume alterations and associations with severity measures in long COVID and ME/CFS: A 7T MRI study (2025)

• Imbalanced Brain Neurochemicals in Long COVID and ME/CFS: A Preliminary Study Using MRI (2025)

• Hippocampal subfield volume alterations and associations with severity measures in long COVID and ME/CFS: A 7T MRI study (2025)

• A Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study  on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Feasibility and  Clinical Correlation (2024)

• Hypothalamus Connectivity in Adolescent Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2024)

• Brain-regional characteristics and neuroinflammation in ME/CFS patients from neuroimaging: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2024)

• Deep phenotyping of post-infectious myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (2024)

• Transcriptional reprogramming primes CD8+ T cells toward exhaustion in Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (2024)

• Clinical  evidence of the link between gut microbiome and myalgic  encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a retrospective review (2024)

• Imbalanced Brain Neurochemicals in Long COVID and ME/CFS: A Preliminary Study Using MRI (2024)

• The gastrointestinal microbiota in the development of ME/CFS: a critical view and potential perspectives (2024)

• WASF3 disrupts mitochondrial respiration and may  mediate exercise intolerance in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic  fatigue syndrome (2023)

• Deficient butyrate-producing capacity in the gut microbiome is associated with bacterial network disturbances and fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS (2023)

• Multi-‘omics of gut microbiome-host interactions in  short- and long-term myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients (2023)

• The Gut Microbiome in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) (2022)

• Multimodal MRI of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue  syndrome: A cross-sectional neuroimaging study toward its  neuropathophysiology and diagnosis (2022)

• Metabolomic Evidence for Peroxisomal Dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2022)

• Evidence for Peroxisomal Dysfunction and  Dysregulation of the CDP-Choline Pathway in Myalgic  Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2022)       

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC State-of-the-Art Review (2021)

• Insights From Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing of Patients With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2021)

• Potential role of microbiome in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelits (CFS/ME) (2021)

• Insights From Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing of Patients With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2021)

• Neuroimaging characteristics of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): a systematic review (2020)

• Mitochondria and immunity in chronic fatigue syndrome (2020)  

• Systematic review of randomized controlled trials for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) (2020) *metastudy

• A systematic review of mitochondrial abnormalities in myalgic  encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome/systemic exertion intolerance  disease (2020)

• The effect of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) severity on cellular bioenergetic function (2020)

• Blood test may detect myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (2019)

• A nanoelectronics-blood-based diagnostic biomarker for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) (2019)

• Orthostatic intolerance in chronic fatigue syndrome (2019)

• Deconstructing post-exertional malaise in myalgic  encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome: A patient-centered,  cross-sectional survey (2018)

• Exercise - induced changes in cerebrospinal  fluid miRNAs in Gulf War Illness, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and sedentary  control subjects (2018)

• Value of Circulating Cytokine Profiling During Submaximal Exercise Testing in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2018)

• Cytokine signature associated with disease severity in chronic fatigue syndrome patients (2017)

• Autonomic nervous system function, activity  patterns, and sleep after physical or cognitive challenge in people with  chronic fatigue syndrome (2017)

• Physiological measures in participants with  chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and healthy controls  following repeated exercise: a pilot study (2017)

• Fecal metagenomic profiles in subgroups of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (2017)

• Metabolome of chronic fatigue syndrome (2017)

• Neural consequences of post-exertion malaise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  (2017)

• Insights into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome phenotypes through comprehensive metabolomics (2017)

• The Role of Autonomic Function in  Exercise-induced Endogenous Analgesia: A Case-control Study in Myalgic  Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Healthy People (2017)      

• Effect of Acute Exercise on Fatigue in People with ME/CFS/SEID: A Meta-analysis (2016)

• A Pair of Identical Twins Discordant for  Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Differ in  Physiological Parameters and Gut Microbiome Composition (2016)

• Neuromuscular Strain Increases Symptom Intensity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (2016)

• Effect of Acute Exercise on Fatigue in People with ME/CFS/SEID: A Meta-analysis (2016)

• Changes in Gut and Plasma Microbiome following Exercise Challenge in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) (2015)

• Inability of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients to reproduce VO₂peak indicates functional impairment (2014)

• Decreased oxygen extraction during cardiopulmonary exercise test in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (2014)

Long Covid and ME/CFS

• A Case Study of Successful Application of the Principles of ME/CFS Care to an Individual with Long COVID (2023)

• A  pilot study on the immune cell proteome of long COVID patients shows  changes to physiological pathways similar to those in myalgic  encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (2023)

Long Covid

• Long COVID following Mild SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Characteristic T Cell Alterations and Response to Antihistamines (2021)