No Sex, Just CPAP Saturation!

[Sparticus]

That made you look

There comes a point of saturation on the forums and I gather that this is why people leave. I beleive I'm already there. No I havent gone mad but after a while when you know all that is to know about your condition, saturation has been acheived. Leaks and masks and problems with sleeping has all been experienced and now your at a point where you go to bed and then wake up with nothing to report or have any problems and if you did have a problem then you sure would know how to solve it.

When this happens you have 2 choices leave or help others like TF who has now reached God Status For me I too hope to reach this level some day and become Dreamcatcher status. For some just starting out this probably seems so many miles away but it isnt. It just takes some understanding of your condition and an ability to adjust to it. You will reach a point where your mask is like a bed sock or a eye guard for light areas or even a book on your bedside table, it just becomes the norm. Got a sore nose? or maybe a leak? not anymore and soon you too will be thinking less and less about the mask and more about the dreams your having, it just takes time to acheive this.

Should I stay or should I go, well I choose to stay and hopefully help more people to a place where they can do the same.

[symmit]

I'm a member of a couple of other forums, not sleep apnoea related. Hopefully a forum becomes a community of people with sleep apnoea rather than a forum about it, otherwise yes, it'll dry up with chat only on topic.

Some will come and go with their problems and breakthroughs, others will try and build a sense of community, hopefully that will encourage people to stay.

[Richard]

Nowhere near saturation!

The essence of a forum like this is to offer help and support to the people who are newly-diagnosed every day.

New OSA patients are diagnosed every day: they have probably never heard of OSA before and so, for them, it is a frightening step into the unknown. But there are posters around here who have lived with CPAP therapy for years, read the book, bought the T-shirt, etc. These, the voices of experience, can bring comfort to anyone just starting out.

And what we don't know, is how many people access the forum yet never post? They very likely get their answers without having to commit to writing about their condition; with all their questions answered here, they may never have the need to call again. For them, the forum has been successful.

A forum like this, regardless of the banter, sets about replacing ignorance with understanding and real help.

So long as there are people being diagnosed with OSA and not knowing where to turn for help and support, this forum will be a reliable anchor for their worries: saturation will never be a problem.

[James @ Intus]

It's the classic 80/20 rule. 80% will be coming, taking what they need and leaving. That's fine. 20% will come, stay and contribute, ensuring that that 80% get what they look for.

You describe a logical cycle. You came here for a need and when that need has been satisfied, it's up to you what you want to do next.

Unlike perhaps an IT forum, I hope you feel more of an urge to help people, as OSA info is hard to come by and people feel more disturbed having to start CPAP than they do setting up their iPod.

Perhaps you feel less saturated if you limit your visits to once a day or every other day, so there's more excitement and activity when you do log on. You'll have to find your own balance.

I'm hoping you stick around as the more people welcome new people, the better off everybody is.

And it's cool that some of you have been starting the more advanced topics. When we do the overhaul, we'll make more of an area for that so you can keep discussing the nitty gritty, and venture into the beginners questions as and when you like.

[Tigers Fan]

I think not

The essence of a forum like this is to offer help and support to the people who are newly-diagnosed every day.

I think one of the functions of a forum such as this is to offer help and supprt to newbies. Another is to offer help and support to older hands.

Just because someone is a newbie doesn't mean they can't think of a solution that hadn't occured to me, bring their professional expertise to a bear on a problem, etc. Newbies bring much more than questions to a forum.

I'll resign when I stop learning or being provoked by ideas new to me - and I see no sign of that happening yet.

TF

[acebass]

i'll not resign

Though I do not often contribute, I like to read what others write here, I am not a natural blogger type so don't comment on everything, just what appeals and where i feel i can add something.

Having said that, I do not decry what others write, vevryone has their own level of contribution and thats just fine....for me, the post count whilst a nice target to aim for is less important than being able to offer a small nugget of advice for someone.

There needs to be a good balance of writers and readers and I feel that's what we have here...

That's it, all said.

[Berneta]

Technology

I think that technology is changing so fast, that nothing is going to get old and boring. What apply's to Sleep Apnea today, may be greatly changed in the very near future. It will only be a matter of time when Nano Technology takes over the CPAP realm. When research gives us new answers to the old questions, and we discover reasons for Sleep Disorders. In the near future we will be testing those new products and dealing with whatever problems arise--maybe right along the side of the old problems we are dealing with right now.. We are moving into a new age where metal and wires replace bone, heart beat is often controled by pacemakers, blood is purified by machines, hearing is being restored by implanted hearing aids, and stem cell therapy will work wonders for the health of all humanity. We have no way of knowing what the near future will bring--but we are moving faster in the last 100 years, than humanity has moved in all of Human Evolution, Fate allowing-- I want to stay around awhile, and be witness to--and maybe even take part in the happenings of the New Age. Berneta

[Sparticus]

Nowt stranger than folk!!!

It seems I was speaking in forked tongue

I meant that I was at saturation to a point that I know enough to solve any problem that crops up. Yes they will be ones that Ive never heard of but thats not the norm.

As for leaving the forum, the answer to that is NO! I have no intentions of leaving not now or in the near future, as I said there are too many people to help and its these folk that I couldnt turn my back on.

[pilewis]

I must confess I sometimes feel a little out of place and feel like a stranger returning again. But unlike other forums I have been to the one thing I can say about here is everyone is so welcoming and very careing.

We need a place like this and as James has said and others over time when you become accustomed to what works for you it is good to be able to turn round and pass that advice on to others.

I must admit although I have not been on here that long I have been living with using CPAP for over 4 years now. However, in that time I have found many changes and until finding it it was very hard to find easy to understand and manageable information.

I myself work in the NHS but the hospital I work in is so over stretched that trying to get an appointment at the sleep lab is manic. I feel that there is not enough information avaiable in some areas on sleep apena and its effects. My Dr. who diagnoised me only decided to look into it because he had returnd from a course and on the last day it was something that was briefly talked about. But even at that course the Drs. were told more needs to be understood to help diagnoise and support sleep apnea.

[Sleep2Snore]

I choose to stay and hopefully help more people to a place where they can do the same.

Way to go, pass on the knowledge

[Barely Awake]

What people come here for is surely empathy - other people that have experienced the same issues, problems, emotions.
After six years on CPAP I would agree that one could get apathetic once using the kit becomes just a part of you, but there is always a tip that will benefit you or new kit that makes life easier in addition to being in a position to help others. You might also like me being starting over after getting the kit working and fitting just so when unexpectedly you find your mask or something particular to your comfortable sleep has been withdrawn and nothing else suits as well or at all perhaps.
Lastly as far as discussion drying up goes... I did a search and couldn't find "mouth leaks" on here, not a problem for full face masks but something worth discussing for others. This thread has sex in the title, I didn't do a search for obvious reasons but has there been a discussion here about how CPAP suddenly sky-rockets one's libido? When I broached the subject with a highly regarded specialist he said they were thinking of advertising this phenomenon to encourage newbies. Great on the surface but one also has to be aware that this new demand has consequences for oneself and ones partner, you may not have been active in that way for some time and suddenly there is a call that may not be welcome or may introduce new problems.
So there is still plenty to talk about as well as to learn and to give back.

[Berneta]

No Sex?

Better ask Sparticus about that one--he has turned into a notorious flirt. (Or--maybe he just always was one.) I do think that better sleep and more energy might increase desire. As for causing problems between partners, well that is just a personal thing that they may have to work out. Just another side of dealing with CPAP use. But one that might be fun! Berneta

[Sparticus]

Better ask Sparticus about that one--he has turned into a notorious flirt. (Or--maybe he just always was one.) I do think that better sleep and more energy might increase desire. As for causing problems between partners, well that is just a personal thing that they may have to work out. Just another side of dealing with CPAP use. But one that might be fun! Berneta

It meant no sex in this topic but used the word to attract punters

My Mrs says I flirt and dont even realise Im doing it, (Nice dress Berneta shows off those lovely long legs) I completely disagree that Im a flirt, I wouldnt know how to be one anyway

[Barely Awake]

CPAP hiking libido doesn't perhaps affect everyone but is a direct and overwhelming phenomenon and not merely a bi-product of more sleep and energy. But this is just an illustration that not every subject has been covered and in any event even those subjects that have been covered will come up again and again in new ways as others explore the issues that confront them.

[Sparticus]

So True

Yes I gather someone will join and get a sore nose or a mask leak and ask for help. I will be waiting like the rest to offer support and advise but as a side line Im trying to become the new "Phantom Flirt Flinger"

"NO JOB TOO DIFFICULT"