By Jeff Wood

I recovered from severe ME/CFS.

I’m proposing a new model of ME/CFS that may also apply to Long Covid.

Hello! For three years, I was bedridden with severe post-viral myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS). I faced disbelief from doctors and the medical system at large. Many people with complex chronic illness experience the same.

The medical system couldn’t offer a solution. So, I began synthesizing research and tinkering with ideas. I needed to figure out the underlying cause of my illness, and find a treatment, before it was too late. At my sickest, I spent 5 months flat on my back, trapped in a hospital and unable to sit up.

After three years of research, this effort paid off. I discovered the underlying cause, had treatment in 2018, and have been in remission ever since.

That same year, I developed and proposed a new model of ME/CFS — the Mechanical Basis Model. The brainstem is central to this model, as is the body’s connective tissue. I suspect this model is also relevant to Long COVID.

My story went global in 2018. Initially, there was some resistance to the Mechanical Basis Model because it was very different from previous ideas about ME/CFS. But in the time since then, published research on mechanical conditions in ME/CFS has emerged, including a peer-reviewed publication by me and awesome coauthors.

ME/CFS is broadly considered to be unsolved and incurable. I disagree with this idea, in part. It’s clear that some people with ME/CFS, and Long Covid, have treatable neuromechanical pathologies. The exact percentage remains unknown as I write this in 2025. I suspect the number is high.

These are still early days for research and discovery. More to come!