I really like this app. It’s very informative, even as someone who’s been managing chronic illnesses for 8 years, as there’s always something new to learn. I love that it shows the most tried and best treatments from people‘s real experiences. It makes me feel empowered and that I can be in the conversation when talking with my doctor about treatment plans. The analytics from the AI program are also being constantly updated based on new reports from incoming members, which is nice. It means that the reports and results are in real time and won’t be outdated. Another thing that is beneficial is being able to see other people like me in these communities. A lot of the time, chronic illness can be isolating, but this makes me feel like my experiences are valid and I’m not alone. There are so many people out there that are similar to me health-wise. I think the best thing about StuffThatWorks is that people want to help each other succeed on this app. People post polls and questions and they’re always answered with support and no judgement, unlike other group forums I’ve been a part of. The only tricky part for me is actually seeing responses to my posts and polls on the app. I would love if we could make that more easily accessible. Other than that, I have nothing negative to say. This app is a must-have for someone trying to manage both physical and/or mental illness.

I was a bit skeptical because of the overall meh reviews, but after looking through all the 1 star reviews I wanted to give it a go. I absolutely love the app. They do have a privacy agreement. The information is safe and nothing is shared within the communities without consent, and information isn’t sold. The surveys are admittedly long, but I love that! Having THAT much more detail and overall information for every condition is so important to find trends in what most likely will or won’t help with treatment/pain/symptoms. I don’t know anyone else personally who has CRPS, so having a little community of people to view shared symptoms and feelings about the condition, as well as seeing how common depression/PTSD was as a comorbidity, made me feel a bit of relief. The user base is admittedly limited simply because of the amount of users putting in their info isn’t massive, but you can still find overall trends for most efficient and most common treatments. The #1 most effective treatment was one I had considered in the past, but ultimately decided against. I plan to revisit it now after seeing how it has made a difference for others, because any relief with CRPS is huge. Again, I love this app. It will only continue to improve as it grows!

I recently discovered this app, and in doing so, I couldn’t help but wish that I knew of it sooner. A little over three years ago, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness. This left me feeling very overwhelmed, lost, and confused on how to go about managing my condition. I felt like there was nobody I could turn to in my immediate circle for help, because no one else shared the same diagnosis. That’s why I’ve become such a huge fan of this app! It’s provided me with the opportunity to hear from others with the same condition about what treatments work and what treatments don’t work for them. It’s also great to receive advice from people who know what you’re going through, and this helps me feel less alone in my journey!

I was so excited when I found this app because I have multiple debilitating illnesses and it’s difficult to find others who have the same or similar illnesses. However when I went to join my first community, it was making me jump through hoops by answering over 50 questions just to get started (and over 60 in some of the more common illness communities). This wouldn’t have been a huge deal whatsoever if I only had one illness, but I have several illnesses and had several communities I was excited to join but I would have had to fill out hundreds of questions by time I joined them all.I understand wanting to have people prove the validity of their illness so not everyone who doesn’t have the illness/care for someone with the illness is joining, but over 50 questions is a bit much, if not rather insulting, since you shouldn’t need to answer dozens upon dozens of questions to prove you’re not lying. It looked like a very well designed and thought out app, but you shouldn’t have to answer so many questions just to get in. A handful of specific questions would have sufficed such as when were you diagnosed, what are your symptoms, etc., etc.. The questions weren’t anything hard, but just extremely time consuming if you’re joining multiple communities.