Silliness is a strange thing if you ask me... It's a medicine---nothing short of a refreshing reprieve---for some of us. But it's a nearly intolerable bane to others. You can put me in that former category. A slight trigeminal neuralgia flareup and consequently trashed sleep make me feel as if these slap-happy and all-too-nutty threads are a refreshing reprieve from recurring pain and sleep deprivation.MarylandCPAPer wrote:Edited: Please disregard this post. As evidenced by the posts that followed, it is clear that some inmates are now running this previously sometimes sane asylum, or at least this thread. I'm sure the original poster is long gone. I don't know what I was thinking when I posted a serious reply to this topic.marylandCPAPer wrote:
To the original poster, on a serious note: As others have mentioned, there are other sleep apnea forums on the Internet that are categorized as you describe. I posted to one of those before I found this one and was lucky to get a response in a week. It seems the more categories on a forum, the fewer responses a person gets when they need help and the longer it takes to get a response. Very frustrating!
There are a lot of people here who are generous in giving their time to help, so questions are answered much faster here--minutes or maybe hours, rather than days (or not at all). I think having everyone on one page, so to speak, helps with that. If you still need more information after getting answers to a question, posting a reply will push your topic back up to the top of the list and encourage dialogue.
I am relatively new but read a lot here. It is great to learn about different types of equipment, masks, and overall experiences from people who have been using PAP treatment for many years as well as those just starting treatment. It also helps to know there are many others out there coping with the same types of issues and that there are solutions, not just problems, in dealing with this serious medical condiion.
The one change I think would be helpful here would be a separate section for things like meetings and in-person support groups, if they exist, as that information can get lost on a fast-moving board. I was so excited when I first started on CPAP therapy to see a meeting in my area listed as the newest posting in a section on sleep groups on another forum that appeared to be coming up, until I realized the announcement was two years old. I doubt that would happen here.
Thank you to all who provide serious answers as well as contribute a sense of humor here, both of which are greatly needed in dealing with sleep apnea issues and treatment. And thanks for keeping us all in one place, instead of split up into a multitude of different sub-forums.
Why am I the only person on this thread to be moderated?
My point is "different strokes for different folks"----even when it comes to topic categories. Given my own preference, I edge having two, three, or perhaps even four forum categories versus one unwieldy category. However, that topic of all topics has been thoroughly discussed and rediscussed so many times on this message board, that I managed to lose track of just how many near-identical reiterations we've had...
Essentially someone new opens a thread asking that this apnea forum be organized like other apnea forums they might have visited instead. The inevitable response from the crowd here is to point out that there are already other forums organized in a similar fashion---and that this message board has collectively entertained that design approach multiple times but rejected it. Along the way, zany humor becomes ineveitable in these repeat threads, prompting Carbonman to microwave a bag of popcorn.
In the meantime, a highly diverse public converging on this message board will continue to have highly diverse preferences----with no single message-board design coming close to suiting everybody's preferences. But much more importantly, this message board will continue to offer its endless array of helpful opinions and even seasoned expertise from patients and medical professionals alike. And in the end, some of us manage to sleep a little better with a little help from our well-meaning cpaptalk friends...
Thank you, friends.
