From 9% to 60% — my story, in plain words
I won’t dress this up. My trouble with fluoroquinolones started long ago. First big hit was in 2003 — I took 170 tablets of ciprofloxacin. I had another big exposure in 2010, and only in 2012 did I finally realise the antibiotics were the cause, because the symptoms came months later. By then my life had fallen apart. Acumen tests showed my mitochondria were working at about 9%. I was bedridden, had over 150 side effects, and I honestly thought I might not make it.
I saw dozens of doctors. Most didn’t get it. Some thought it was MS. Many more or less wrote me off. From several dozen physicians, only a few finally gave me the right diagnosis: mitochondrial dysfunction. That diagnosis changed everything — doctors stopped doing things that were hurting me and started protecting energy production instead.
At first I used tiny amounts of supplements because my mitochondria were too weak to handle full doses. When mitochondria are at 9%, every vitamin or amino acid is not just nutrition — it’s work. The cell needs ATP and enzymes to process it. Giving big doses then was like asking a broken engine to run flat out. So I used micro-doses, transdermal and sublingual forms, and if a sublingual product had sugar I’d rinse my mouth after a minute so I wouldn’t swallow carbs and break ketosis.
I also used oxygen therapy. With FQAD the respiratory chain is damaged and cells don’t use oxygen well. Giving oxygen wasn’t a magic bullet, but it helped cells survive local low-oxygen states long enough to start repairing. I combined that with fasting and ketosis — I often kept 15+ hour windows between meals. Ketones give cleaner fuel, reduce oxidative stress, and fasting turns on autophagy and mitophagy: you clear the worst mitochondria and let the better ones survive. Over time you also trigger PGC-1α and make new mitochondria. That’s how, slowly, the whole system can tilt back.
In addition, I created a special therapy for myself — designed simply to encourage faster cell renewal. It supported cell division and also accelerated the production of new mitochondria, which naturally goes hand in hand with the formation of new cells. I don’t describe it here in detail, but for me it was another piece of the puzzle that helped my body restart its natural regenerative capacity. My protocol also helped several other people I trusted — people who, like me, were struggling — and they, too, began to see improvement.
There’s one more thing I want to say about the work we did in Poland. In our studies I was the only person who passed through every stage of the stem-cell renewal protocols we tested. My body began to produce stem cells, and then those cells contributed to forming cell lines across different tissues — we documented the stages in the study. That was huge for me: it showed that at least some regenerative processes could be reactivated even after heavy damage.
As my mitochondria improved, the constant low-grade inflammation that had been with me for years quieted down. Damaged mitochondria send out danger signals — bits of mtDNA, ROS, abnormal metabolites — and the immune system stays on high alert. When the mitochondria stopped leaking those signals, inflammation markers fell, pain and brain fog eased, and life became quieter. This is not poetry — it’s biology: less ROS, fewer danger signals, better cellular balance.
It took two long years just to get out of bed and many more to build a life that felt like living again. After several years, with three Acumen tests behind me, mitochondrial function rose from about 9% to over 60%. I’m not back to the man I was before, but I’m here. I walk, I work, I meet people. If you’re lying in bed now, in pain and hopeless, hear me clearly: I was there too. If I could climb out of that pit, you can too. It’s slow. It’s often boring. It’s also possible.
Now my goal is to publish — based on my mitochondrial tests and in comparison with several other cases, including one of a close friend — to show the huge progress that is possible with the right treatment. I want to do this together with doctors and scientists who are willing to collaborate, not for profit, but for truth and for patients.
To everyone reading this who is suffering: don’t give up. Take one small step today — measure, rest, keep your meals steady, and try to lower the noise around you. Recovery doesn’t come in a day, but it can come in days that add up. You are not a lost cause.
Disclaimer: This is my personal story and what worked for me. It is not medical advice. Everyone is different — talk with a medical professional before changing treatment, starting fasting, or using supplements or oxygen.
