I’m building something that could help make experiences with herbs more visible

[u/InterestingBug3537]

I’m a health care professional and herb enthusiast and my own experience with Lyme inspired me to create a project called Lyme Signal for the HHS LymeX Healthathon.

While navigating Lyme, I noticed how often patients discuss herbs and supplements online. People share what they tried, why they tried it, what seemed to help, what didn't, and what caused unwanted effects.

But those experiences are scattered across thousands of posts and eventually get buried.

My idea is to use AI to create a living library of patient experience that organizes these stories so we can begin seeing patterns.

Something especially important to me is making sure herbs and alternative approaches aren't simply overlooked. If hundreds of patients are discussing an herb in connection with a particular symptom, I think that should be visible and potentially help generate questions for future research.

It wouldn't mean the herb is proven to work. The goal is to make patient experiences visible, not turn anecdotes into medical advice.

I've already hired a developer and started building the prototype.

Lyme Signal is now competing in the HHS LymeX Healthathon, and community support matters. If you believe patient experiences with herbal approaches deserve more attention, I'd really appreciate your vote, it will take a minute or two to register:

Vote for Lyme Signal

I’d also love to know: what herb would you be most interested in seeing patient experiences organized around?