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ems wrote:

robysue wrote:I'm not going to ask you all to lay off Enchanter. But I am going ask: Why do you continue to respond to his threads if you don't have anything useful to say to him? What skin off your nose is it if I try to help him when I can see that he's making an effort to listen to me?

And I would ask those of you who continue to tease or make fun of Enchanter to think about this: Will our treatment of people like Enchanted make confused, sleepy, tired, and exhausted lurkers who are grappling with the idea that they may have OSA feel like they will be welcomed or ridiculed if they finally get brave enough to post something with a title along the lines of "Might I have apnea?"?

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for saying what many of us have thought in reference to Enchanter and so many others who have come here for help, understanding and guidance; only to be met by mean, nasty, unkind ego maniacs!

Sleep well... you sure deserve it!

Totally agree. Sometimes, it can be frustrating, but the questions seem sincere to me. It reminds me of a lady I met a couple years ago. Really nice, lots of things in common to chat about. Met to go to lunch one day, and I realized she must have some type of attention issue. She was nowhere near ready, so I stayed at her place for a couple hours before we finally left. And I think in the 4 hours we spent together, we went through 5000 topics. I was mentally unable to keep up with the changes in topic and the speed of talking as well. It was exhausting for me. And while she was really nice, I couldn't imagine trying to do things on a regular basis with her. Email is facebook is easy for me, but sometimes somebody elses' normal way of being is outside of our normal experience and hard for us to accept. Sometimes, we can find a way to make it work, and sometimes, we have to politely walk away. I don't think it helps to attack insult as that only scares away other people too.

Roby Sue,

You said,

But let me say this in defense of myself and also Enchanter: In PMs with me, Enchanter is trying. As in he's making a good faith effort to listen to me. And he has managed to start describing symptoms to me in language that is factual and makes sense. And he did make a public apology on one of his threads.

We have reached a very low point on this board when you feel the need to defend yourself being kind to someone who is having difficulties with various issues. It seems like we have become a board where beating up on the less fortunate is very popular and anyone who protests is shunted aside big time in a very negative fashion. Reminds me of bullying in the real world.

And, alas, he also reminds me of my brother, who has some ADHD tendencies, and my cousin, who has OCD among other problems. And both brother and cousin have serious anxiety issues and both are verbal thinkers. Meaning that in order to think a situation through, they have to verbalize whatever is in their head at the minute, no matter how disjointed or crazy sounding it is when they first start talking. I think Enchanter shares many of these traits with them, and I think that much of what has turned a lot of people off in his posting behavior is that he does not carefully think about what he's saying in his posts----rather he's trapped in this wild, hard to control thought process in which he has to verbalize everything first before he start trying to figure out what it is he really wants to say. And so his posts come across as sounding more than a bit crazy.

Exactly! Many people have trouble seeing the big picture and visualizing the issues in a coherent manner and as a result, have the need to verbalize everything which can be a negative to folks who don't realize what is happening. But what I don't understand is unlike in the real world where it may be hard to walk away from someone who is annoying like at a dinner table, why folks are so angry at someone on the internet and feel the need to keep beating them up? Follow your own advice and stop responding if someone angers you. Otherwise, the need to constantly beat someone up who is different says alot more about you than that person.

And also remember that Enchanter is still probably dealing with untreated OSA. And that there's some solid circumstantial evidence that his untreated OSA is pretty severe objectively in terms of AHI and O2 desaturations. And there's ample evidence that his symptoms (including not thinking clearly) are pretty severe.

Exactly! Which can severely worsen any ADHD and OCD like issues. Heck, they may the result of the OSA which can lead to a very viscous cycle.

Anyway, I thank you profusely for what you said Roby Sue.

49er

robysue wrote:But let me say this in defense of myself and also Enchanter: In PMs with me, Enchanter is trying. As in he's making a good faith effort to listen to me. And he has managed to start describing symptoms to me in language that is factual and makes sense. And he did make a public apology on one of his threads.

Thank you for sharing this, robysue. It's good to know that despite how he may seem on the board, he is trying to listen to you. And in light of that, I will just watch and only offer up positive, supportive comments. I also offer an apology for any sarcastic, negative or nasty comments I have made to or about Enchanter.

Enchanter -- I'm sorry. I hope you get this all figured out. And I'm sorry to you too, robysue, for exacerbating an already difficult situation and making it harder on you. I bet if we had all backed off, Enchanter would have been a little easier to work with.

robysue wrote:Folks,

And I would ask those of you who continue to tease or make fun of Enchanter to think about this: Will our treatment of people like Enchanted make confused, sleepy, tired, and exhausted lurkers who are grappling with the idea that they may have OSA feel like they will be welcomed or ridiculed if they finally get brave enough to post something with a title along the lines of "Might I have apnea?"?

Thanks Robysue, I am new and have posted a couple questions but have been reading a lot of posts and of course been following the Enchanter posts and while he seemed annoying I found the responses that became so hateful unnecessary. It is easier to just stop responding to him rather than to berate him. Even reading his posts you can tell he is truly confused and has some issues. I did notice how patient you and a few others were with him and appreciated that as I started to wonder if this would be the place for me once my insurance company and doctors got on the same page and my CPAP experience began. I know I will have a lot of questions and hope this will be the place for me.

Anyway thanks again for your patience with Enchanter and all the posts you respond to.

+1 for thanks to robysue. I've gotten kind of scared to ask questions here, seeing some of the responses to enchanter . I wouldn't want to ask something that would get the board riled up at me.

And it's been really scary reading enchanter's account of his/her experiences. When is the medical profession going to realize that their front desk princesses can kill people? Almost happened to me - the princess for my (former) primary care doctor felt I didn't really need to see the doctor (we had brought the wrong insurance card , you see). Turned out I had a DVT and pulmonary embolism! It's just plain unethical (and maybe illegal) for enchanter's doctor's secretary to be practicing medicine.

Enchanter- Hopefully after your next sleep study, you will have some answers to your questions. I know it's hard to wait. Hang in there.
Are you a bike rider (from your avatar) Could you try adding a little extra exercise to pass the time till you have some answers?
take care.
I'm new to this too, and I know the waiting is tough. I had my sleep test in mid October. Finally got my machine in late December. And I made LOTS of phone calls to get the process pushed thru. Between sleep study results, Dr. apt. to get results, insurance to give approvals, DME to get me the machine, it's a SLOW process.
It was almost 2 months from start to finish. So hang in there. It takes time.

Cardsfan wrote:Enchanter- Hopefully after your next sleep study, you will have some answers to your questions. I know it's hard to wait. Hang in there.
Are you a bike rider (from your avatar) Could you try adding a little extra exercise to pass the time till you have some answers?
take care.
I'm new to this too, and I know the waiting is tough. I had my sleep test in mid October. Finally got my machine in late December. And I made LOTS of phone calls to get the process pushed thru. Between sleep study results, Dr. apt. to get results, insurance to give approvals, DME to get me the machine, it's a SLOW process.
It was almost 2 months from start to finish. So hang in there. It takes time.

Yes, it's a little hard to not know. Yea, I am a bike rider, but I ride a mountain bike with slicks on the road trails. I will continue to do that. Wow, never occurred to me not only do I have to wait for the test and the results but I have to wait just to get started as well with the CPAP.

Julie wrote:If he doesn't maybe your dentist can do it - one lousy Ambien! Never heard of such silliness.

+1 to that.

I've been reading this forum for several weeks now and despite the bully like tactics I seem to read in every other thread, it's apparent how much people here know about sleep apnea, their machines, etc. What is also apparent are the people who seem to spend their days and nights on this forum just waiting to jump on someone. There are also some who say things in jest; but if you read between the lines you'll notice the sarcastic, bully like messages they are sending.

I've never been on a board or forum and that may be why I'm utterly amazed at what people can say on a forum that I assume is to help people. I don't see moderation of any sort and that surprises me. Why aren't bully like tactics jumped on immediately? I've looked at some other apnea sites (and other help boards) and haven't found one where bullying or snide remarks were allowed.

It seems that some people are constantly logged on here. I've watched for about a week and they are always the same people. Their friends are here, their lives are here; it seems they stick together out of some kind of fear. Reminds me of a fraternity - where people unconsciously band together and bully and incite riots. If you join the "group" on this site you are IN, if not, you'll be ridiculed and insulted.

If I had sleep apnea related questions, it sure wouldn't be here. Nor would I purchase anything from the owners of this site.

Guest wrote:I've been reading this forum for several weeks now and despite the bully like tactics I seem to read in every other thread, it's apparent how much people here know about sleep apnea, their machines, etc. What is also apparent are the people who seem to spend their days and nights on this forum just waiting to jump on someone. There are also some who say things in jest; but if you read between the lines you'll notice the sarcastic, bully like messages they are sending.

I've never been on a board or forum and that may be why I'm utterly amazed at what people can say on a forum that I assume is to help people. I don't see moderation of any sort and that surprises me. Why aren't bully like tactics jumped on immediately? I've looked at some other apnea sites (and other help boards) and haven't found one where bullying or snide remarks were allowed.

It seems that some people are constantly logged on here. I've watched for about a week and they are always the same people. Their friends are here, their lives are here; it seems they stick together out of some kind of fear. Reminds me of a fraternity - where people unconsciously band together and bully and incite riots. If you join the "group" on this site you are IN, if not, you'll be ridiculed and insulted.

If I had sleep apnea related questions, it sure wouldn't be here. Nor would I purchase anything from the owners of this site.

I guess I'm confused ems I thought I saw where you have been a member since 2011 and have over 2500 posts.

OkyDoky wrote: I've been reading this forum for several weeks now and I guess I'm confused ems I thought I saw where you have been a member since 2011 and have over 2500 posts.

Yes - you are correct. Several screw ups over the years that I couldn't get fixed. Also, have a new computer which added to it. So I just went with it.

Edit: Name came up different again...

I called the doctors office. The doctor is not in today, so I'll have to try back on Monday after 9 am. But the girl that answered is just a receptionist but one of the girls I spoke to last time is a medical assistant. That's what I was able to confirm. Is a medical assistant good enough? She's also the office manager and has worked there for 10 years. Time is of the essence. I hope I don't have to show up to ask the doctor about getting a night supply of Ambien because the test is on the 8th and I don't know when he has an open appointment.

What about taking nyquil or gravol or something OTC?

Elle wrote:What about taking nyquil or gravol or something OTC?

I think nyquil makes me drowsy, but not necessarily strong enough to knock me out. It might give me a 30 percent chance to sleep though on some nights (at some point in the night.)

Enchanter wrote:

Elle wrote:What about taking nyquil or gravol or something OTC?

I think nyquil makes me drowsy, but not necessarily strong enough to knock me out. It might give me a 30 percent chance to sleep though on some nights (at some point in the night.)

Would a shot of whiskey help?