His theories are too complex for me to understand or explain but he undoubtedly helped many patients who were very ill to feel better.
I don't think one necessarily needs to understand the details in his books to speculatively try out some of Dr Goldstein's most recommended drugs (which are listed in
this post). I think one could just use a "suck it and see" approach, and test Goldstein's recommended drugs one by one. One can do this under their doctor's watchful eye if necessary.
Since this thread began a few months ago, I have started testing out a few of Goldstein's recommended drugs.
Some I tried did not help all; but then like most ME/CFS treatments, what works for one patient may not work for the next. But this is the virtue of Dr Goldstein's list of drugs: he provides many different drugs that he has observed help ME/CFS patients; this means that if one does not work, you have many more available to try.
In general with ME/CFS treatments, your best bet may be to try as many treatments as you can, because there may be a treatment out there that will work wonders for you personally, but you may not happen upon this drug unless you make the effort to try lots of different ME/CFS drugs (and not just Goldstein's recommended drugs; there are quite a few other ME/CFS drugs and protocols worth trying that are not on Goldstein's list).
I did get some very interesting results from one of Goldstein's drugs I tried:
Lamictal (lamotrigine). Soon after starting Lamictal, I found I became quite energetic and enthusiastic about doing various tasks and projects around the house. Here are my notes to myself, written while taking lamotrigine:
Effects of Lamictal (lamotrigine) 12.5 mg daily:
After 3 days of taking lamotrigine:
I noticed that my desire and ability for doing biochemical ME/CFS research, and my desire and ability to lateral think about these biochemical subjects was quite diminished, and instead I wanted to do more simple and physical organizational tasks around the house, like moving furniture, organizing my desk, or house cleaning.
I feel a mild increase in energy levels, less fatigue, and perhaps less brain fog.
Lamictal seems to have a good antidepressant effect, although it did not improve my anhedonia, but has improved my emotional flatness. Sociability seems much improved. Libido also increased a little.
A negative effect of this drug is an increase in sound sensitivity.
I seem to need an hour or so less sleep each night on lamotrigine, I wake up much less groggy, and in a happier mood in the morning. Dreams during the night are more vivid (perhaps this means I get more REM sleep)?
After 5 days of taking lamotrigine:
There definitely seems to be a noticeable increase in the spontaneous desire to chat and socialize with people in the house, in place of my normal desire for social withdrawal and solitude. And the constant ME/CFS irritability and annoyance I get towards people has been largely replaced by tolerance, and even affection.
The increased sound sensitivity problems initially induced by Lamictal have now disappeared.
These are just my early results. I have stopped taking Lamictal for a while, to it give a break, and then will restart it again. I usually start and stop ME/CFS treatments like this, because by starting and stopping, it allows you to better observe the beneficial effects, or any side effects, of the treatment.
I am very grateful to
@zzz for making us aware of Goldstein's work, because Goldstein for some reason is not as well known in the ME/CFS community as he should be, and his list of drugs seem to provide many opportunities for improvement and even remission.
It seems to me that many ME/CFS patients may end up getting improvements in their ME/CFS by systematically and speculatively trying Goldstein's drugs out.