ME/CFS self-experiment

We’re Tamara and Tess. We’re scientists and patients (yes, you can be both!) who experienced improvements in ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) symptoms after taking antibiotics.

After meeting on Twitter, we created a self-experiment, which we refer to as RemissionBiome, to look at how modifying the microbiome can shift the baseline in ME/CFS.

The idea for RemissionBiome came from both of us experiencing temporary remission after taking a mix of antibiotics, and, in Tamara’s case, probiotics. While remission was fleeting, our baselines improved afterwards. You can read more about what happened to us and the story of how RemissionBiome was created in “Our Story”. 

Our aim is to recreate this event and make measurements of our biochemistry before, during, and after, in order to better understand any improvements in our health in response to antibiotics and other interventions. Our plan for the experiment, including what specific interventions and tests we’re using is detailed in “Protocol”. Our interventions and tests are based on possible hypotheses for what might have happened to cause our remission events.

Below is a recording of the info session that we did on January 12, 2023. The video includes a description of our remission stories, how we met, our protocol, and a few other people describing similar remission events.