OUR PROCESS

How We Handle Firsthand Stories

What I Tried publishes personal experiences. Our goal is to preserve what someone experienced without presenting that experience as scientific proof.

Every Story Starts With Four Questions

1. Why did you try it?

What was happening in the person’s life that led them to consider it?

2. What did you try?

What does the contributor remember about what they used or did?

3. What happened?

What changes did they personally observe—including positive, negative, mixed, or uneventful outcomes?

4. Would you do it again?

Looking back on the experience, how does the contributor feel about the decision today?

What Verification Means Here

Whenever practical, we seek enough information to determine that a submission represents a genuine firsthand account. Depending on the story, that may include follow-up questions or supporting information voluntarily provided by the contributor.

Verification does not mean that What I Tried independently confirms that a particular substance caused the outcome described.

Important: Personal testimony cannot establish medical causation. Improvement or deterioration after trying something does not, by itself, prove that it caused the change.

Editing

Stories may be edited for readability, grammar, length, privacy, and organization. We aim to preserve the contributor’s meaning and do not intentionally alter an outcome to make it sound more positive or negative.

Commercial Relationships

When a relevant financial, affiliate, ownership, sponsorship, or other commercial relationship exists, our policy is to disclose it where appropriate so readers can evaluate the story with that context.