If you are a patient that meets #ME/CFS and #PEM criteria, info on the specific #infections or exposures that led to onset or exacerbation of your symptoms is of major importance. That info will help you pursue personalized treatment.
2/ That is because many of the infections you've sustained may still be #persisting in your body - in your tissue or nerves. These persistent infections can cause PEM symptoms by driving #mitochondrial dysfunction, blood vessel/perfusion issues, or #vagus nerve dysfunction
3/ If your symptoms started - or were exacerbated - by a #herpesvirus infection, such viruses persist in your system for life. Thus, treatment with herpesvirus #antivirals (e.g. the Pridgen Protocol which uses valacyclovir and Celebrex) has helped certain ME/CFS patients improve
4/ Other drugs are also being repurposed to target herpesviruses. For example, Truvada has activity against Epstein-Barr #virus in the lab, which is partly why we are running a clinical trial of Truvada here in Long COVID (cld also be used in ME/CFS): polybio.org/projects/a-cli…
5/ If your ME/CFS symptoms and PEM started with an #enterovirus infection, the virus could still be in the tissue of your gut, or even in the brainstem. See John Chia's work showing enterovirus persistence in ME/CFS: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17872383/
6. Dr. Chia recently showed that certain ME/CFS patients positive for enterovirus protein in immune cells benefitted from treatment with the antiviral #remdesivir, making a trial of oral remdesivir a priority in certain ME/CFS patients: ammes.org/2025/02/01/eff…
7/ If you were diagnosed with ME/CFS and #COVID exacerbated your symptoms dozens of studies suggest the #SARS-COV-2 virus cld still be in your tissues. That cld be why monoclonal antibodies help some patients with PEM or related symptoms: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37944296/
8/ If your ME/CFS symptoms started after a #Lyme infection, seek out an MD who uses additional #antibiotic or immune-supporting treatments to target potential persistence of the organism in your tissue
9/ Importantly, if you are an ME/CFS patient with a history of a tick bite, catch scratches or spider bites, then seek out additional testing for #Bartonella or #Babesia - other bacteria/parasites that can drive PEM symptoms
10/ If you have PEM and an ME/CFS diagnosis and have been exposed to toxic #mold - then activity pursue treatments to remove the mold toxins from your body. There are #binders and antioxidants that help greatly on this front
11/ If you were a veteran in the gulf war who has PEM and meets ME/CFS criteria, specific pesticides or other #exposure factors may be party driving your specific symptoms. Investigate ways to help the body heal from these exposome-related factors
12/ Overall what you should NOT do as an ME/CFS diagnosed patient with PEM is assume that you have "flipped" into some sterile state where the infections and exposures you have sustained cease to matter
13/ Instead understand that different persistent infections/exposures can dysregulate similar #pathways (mitochondrial, blood vessel, vagus nerve) that contribute to #common PEM symptoms
14/ Work as hard as you can to identify these infectious and exposure factors in your case - and to pursue treatment for them. That is the most likely path to helping your own PEM symptoms improve
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