# Reading a personal report: a worksheet

Use this when a forum post, video, or comment describes someone's experience with methylene blue and you want to know what it actually supports. Copy the tables into a note and fill them in.

## 1. Record the report without improving it

Copy the wording exactly. Paraphrasing early hides what the person did and did not say.

| Field | Entry |
| --- | --- |
| Exact wording of the claim | |
| Where it was posted, and the date | |
| Does the writer sell, promote, or affiliate the product | |
| Named product, brand, and stated grade | |
| Stated amount, in the stated units | |
| How the amount was measured (dropper, spoon, scale, capsule count) | |
| Stated duration and frequency | |
| What the person says changed | |
| How that change was noticed (own feeling, other people, a test, a device) | |
| Any comparison mentioned (before and after, on and off, versus a placebo) | |
| Anything reported as *not* changing | |

Two entries are usually blank: **how the amount was measured** and **any comparison**. Their absence is the main limitation of the report.

## 2. Separate the observation from the explanation

The observation is what the person experienced. The explanation is what they believe caused it. Keep them in different columns.

| Observation | Explanation offered | Is the explanation the only one that fits the observation? |
| --- | --- | --- |
| e.g. "my afternoon slump stopped after two weeks" | "the methylene blue raised my mitochondrial energy" | No. Sleep, workload, daylight, caffeine timing, and season all fit. |

## 3. Other explanations that fit the same result

For each candidate, write down what would rule it out. If nothing would, it stays unresolved.

| Candidate | Fits this report? | What would rule it out |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Expectation: the person expected a change and was rating their own symptoms | | Comparison against a blinded control period |
| Something else changed at the same time: sleep, diet, training, workload, season, another supplement, a medication change | | A period of the product alone, with the other changes held constant |
| Natural fluctuation: the symptom improves and worsens on its own | | A baseline record kept before starting, long enough to show the usual pattern |
| Regression to the mean: the person started when the symptom was at its worst | | A baseline record, or starting at a randomly chosen time rather than a bad week |
| Measurement drift: repeated self-ratings or repeated cognitive tasks improve with practice | | A second measurement occasion without the product |
| Product identity: the bottle may not have contained what the label states | | A lot-matched certificate of analysis |
| Amount: the reported amount may not correspond to a known exposure | | A measured mass or volume, with the solution concentration stated |
| The report may be edited, amplified, or repeated by others | | The original post, read directly |

## 4. Rate the report

Choose one, and write the reason next to it.

| Rating | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| **Contradicted** | The report or its supporting evidence conflicts with a stronger source, such as a controlled trial or the product's own documentation. |
| **Unresolved** | The observation may be real, and none of the candidate explanations can be excluded with the information given. This is the usual outcome. |
| **Supported** | A separate, controlled comparison exists that agrees with the report and covers the same population, product, and outcome. |

## 5. If you decide to test something yourself

The same candidates apply to you. You can reduce some of them.

| Date | Product and lot | Amount and how measured | Time taken | Symptom rating before | Symptom rating after, and when | Anything else that changed | Sleep and missed doses |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | | | | | | |

Rules that make the record more useful:

1. Decide the outcome and the rating scale **before** the first dose, and write them down.
2. Record a baseline period long enough to show the symptom's normal movement.
3. Change one thing at a time. A new supplement added to four other new habits cannot be separated from them.
4. Record the days that went badly. A log with no bad days is a log you stopped trusting.
5. Record the amount in mass or in a measured volume, with the concentration of the solution. See the [dosage units guide](/en/articles/methylene-blue-dosage-units/).
6. Keep the certificate of analysis and the lot number with the log. See [what the USP designation covers](/en/articles/usp-grade-methylene-blue/).
7. Ask whether anything available to you makes the assignment unknown, at least for part of the test. If the answer is no, say so in the write-up.
8. Do not change prescribed medicines to run the test.

A careful personal experiment removes some confounders. It does not convert one person's result into evidence of benefit, and it does not establish an amount that anyone else should take.