HealthBoards

I had the same experience with this website, answered a question from another user and my account was locked out. Appears they don't want people sharing ideas or information about medical conditions. Not sure what their purpose is or what they hope to accomplish if people cannot share ideas or talk about their medical conditions. They have very ambiguous rules that seem to randomly be applied against different sub groups on the site and don't seem to apply to their senior members.
A more welcoming and less restrictive site is ssdfacts.com/forums. They are very welcoming and encourage the sharing of information regarding medical problems and issues. They are very supportive of each other and would never treat a person in this manner.

I've been on there for five years and I agree it's turned kind of ugly.

Best I could learn, the guy who created healthboards was a patient just like all of us, trying to get/give help. The info I found may or may not be legit (just info via a quick search), Chuck Simmons is the one who started all these great ways for patients to support one another. He is the CEO of iCentric in California. I think he's on the Chamber of Commerce in LA there. Can't imagine he would approve of any action on the part of a moderator that would make an unsafe environment for peer-to-peer support. Maybe it would be more fruitful to just let him know so he can protect for himself the helpful tool he created.

Also got banned because I "advertised". I just posted a doctors website that had a ton of useful info on it. I didn't even say, hey "use this guy". I just said this site has lots of info. Then I got banned again for not following ToS. I read the ToS like 3 times before I posted. I did nothing but relay my story to someone with the exact same condition and told them what my doctor said. I mentioned no names, gave no advice, posted no links... I wrote an email to the admin asking what I did, I have gotten no response. It is REALLY frustrating. The person I replied to has 0 replies to their request for info and we are both going through the exact same thing. I don't know anyone else that has had this procedure. Not to mention I spent about 30 minutes typing out a well thought out post. I have no idea of the purpose of this site unless it is just a way for someone to lord over others.

I would give it zero stars if I could. The admin and the mods are what make this website so awful. They have a bunch of stupid, silly rules you have to follow and they will ban you for some of the silliest things. They also will read your private PM's if they suspect you are doing something against the rules, delete your PM's, and then ban your account. Stay away from this website if you value freedom of speech. You have none at healthboards.

I joined but with the emails I received, regarding questions on the manner in which the forum was set up, I quickly came to the conclusion that the moderator(s) behaved like sociopaths (became unreasonable as form of entertainment or 'simplistic negative relationship') and that the forum seemed to be just a dead end for junk information. I still wonder if someone on this forum had set it up just to gather statistical data on public medical ignorance. This would be useful to any marketing company wishing to peddle junk or dangerous medical items. I would avoid this forum at all costs.

Isn't it a fact that "freedom of speech ends where private property begins"? That the word 'speech' has been translated to mean 'any kind of action that anyone wants to take', doesn't make it true. The way I see it is that agreement to a website's rules is a binding agreement to the terms of use. Otherwise why can the owners of Facebook dare to shut down some registrations simply based on content?

I enjoyed using this site for 12 years with no problems. I posted hundreds of times on various subjects, and had many fruitful discussions with other members. I treasure the advice I got from them, and I hope they appreciate mine too.

Then, in the summer of 2016, everything changed. They must have come under new management. I posted a link to a book, which I didn't know was against the rules, and I was banned without warning. I apologized to the moderator and was allowed back. Then in another comment I said I'd like to recommend a book but it was against the site's rules, and I wished they'd change the rules. Guess what? Banned again.

So I apologized again and got back my credentials. I was very careful after that and didn't break any rules. Out of the blue, I'm banned again. Why? For the comment I had previously been banned over months earlier! I demanded an apology and got one from the moderator, with a nasty reminder that I should have erased the earlier post and if I didn't like their rules, I could take my business elsewhere. I will do that. Too bad the nasty people running this site now have ruined what was once a great resource.

And FYI, I've posted on dozens of other web sites over nearly 20 years and have never been banned. I'm not a problem person or a troll.

I joined Healthboards a few days ago and will probably be leaving very soon, if I don't get banned first. I have participated on many Internet forums and for lack of usefulness and general snottiness (on the part of the mods), this forum is in a class by itself.

I spent a long time writing a cogent, detailed post on my condition and situation. At the end of the post, I asked for advice. My message was taken down within the hour and all I got for my effort was a message from the moderators saying that I had violated the forum rules because I... wait for it... asked for medical advice! Only my doctor can give me advice about a medical condition and everyone else in the world is entirely ignorant and unhelpful. Well, they didn't phrase it exactly like that, but that was their drift. They also suggested I was stupid for asking for medical advice in a forum. So, not only did they slap me on the wrist for doing what any rational person would attempt to do on a **Health Forum,** but they were rude about it to boot.

As you might suspect, there are many, many post on this forum asking for medical advice. I have a hunch that they just didn't want someone too articulate and informed on there.

If I were you, I'd stay far away from this place.

They ban people for no reason. You have to be afraid anything you post will get you banned no matter what it is. The moderators think they are gods and you must bow and worship them at all times. I was banned several times then finally banned for saying smoking pot is not drug abuse. It is not. This is not the 1950; s anymore and most people know it is a harmless way to relax. I got banned once for saying all women are crazy. And they are. And many more times for even more stupid reasons. Avoid this site. It is useless.

I've been a member of HealthBoards since 2003. I have read and follow the posting rules, therefore I've never been banned. I post something almost every day. It's like everything else in the world, if you join a website you have to follow their rules if you don't you're going to get banned plain and simple. Makes me laugh when people don't won't to follow rules, think they should be able to post whatever they want even if it does break the rules because they're special and don't think the rules should apply to them! I love HealthBoards and I wish I could give it even more stars. Then again I've never broken the rules so I don't have to cry and give it one star.

I just signed up and found the answer to a question on one of the boards. It was an article directly related to the concern that she had. After trying to post a reply to her post(I tried 3 times), I pm'd her with the link to the answer(an article on a different website) that I found that I thought would help ease her concern.

Bam! My account was suspended. Permanently I guess.
According to the admin buried in the rules, I agreed that I would PM this person to see if I could send the link to her. Because I didn't it was report as spam.

Pretty F***ed up.

I recently joined healthbaords.com & even purchased the app for it on my tab. I copied & pasted a link into another person's comment. That is against the rules but I didn't know it at the time. Got an "infraction" for it. Blew it off, whatever... my bad. Then I somehow got sucked into an arguement with the admin. They suspended my account for being "arguementive"! I laughed at it, sent the email to appeal my suspension. OF COURSE the admin I was emailing was the snot-faced admin that was arguing with me! Said I was sarcastic & disrespectful. HA! What a joke! I emailed the app & am demanding a refund. Let's see if they respond. It isn't too bad until you have to deal with their super rude admins! Get a freaking life!

I was a member of this forum for a number of years but finally gave up at the beginning of last year. There is zero tolerance or understanding and any post that seems to contradict the moderators is removed and the member banned. I have seen banning after banning under the guise of being argumentative. Time and time again I saw wrong, incorrect and utterly absurd advice and information given out. Trying to correct it, even in the most civil of tone, results in warnings. If you even post up a link to real peer reviewed studies they are removed and you are warned. None and I mean none of the members of this forum, giving out medical advice, is in anyway qualified to do so and quite frankly, in some cases, it is dangerous. After warning and warning I finally lost it and replied to administrator by telling him where he could put his forum, resulting, obviously, in an instant banning. Go elsewhere for advice, preferably, your own doctor. But please dont bother with this place, if you are feeling down you will feel a lot worse for your experience on this board.

Back in 2010 I used this site for support in dealing with cancer. The responses were supportive and the feedback useful. I met some quality people there. I had no issues of any kind using the website.

Fast-forward six years later.

I was on another online forum and someone there recognized me from HealthBoards and when I asked if they still used that site they said absolutely not; something about it had changed for the worse. A few months later a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer, and I thought, why not use HealthBoards to ask a few questions about alternative treatments? I remembered the warning about the site, but I decided to give them a shot anyway.

That was the worst decision I made all week. Those here who say the moderators are arrogant, rude, obnoxious, overbearing, etc. are spot-on accurate. I used the site to ask about treatment options to, you know, start a dialog on my friend's illness. I did not use links, as I remembered, for some nutty reason they do not allow them. I did ask for key search words so that I could find links myself. Almost instantly the gestapo who has taken over this once noble site jumped all over me. Apparently I had violated multiple rules of conduct, of which the moderately let me know in a rude, cold, lordly fashion that would have been right at home in a fascist prison camp.

I do my best to respect all the rules of a given website, but there is a tome of them for HealthBoards, and I suppose I failed to keep all ten thousand five hundred in my head. Yet, even after a re-reading of the tome, I still do not know what rule I violated. I mentioned the words search engine. Perhaps that is a mortal sin to the HealthBoards politburo? I mentioned alternative treatments, and I suppose this is whatever is beyond a mortal sin. My only deduction about this site and its transition into general suckiness is that it is now an arm of Big Pharma, and any threat to that agenda, no matter how small, its smote down immediately.

Please do yourself a favor and avoid this board.

JR

After trying to post some facts about a less well-known effect of health issues as a result of prolonged, long-term noise exposure (and naming peer-reviewed publications to back up my information), I was immediately banned from Healthboards.com... when I inquired why, I was told that Healthboards is not a site for professionals. Right, I knew that and as I am neither a health professional, nor a researcher and as I was not pretenting to be one, there shouldn't be aproblem. So, we are good? No. NO PROFESSIONALS was the reply from the admin... Ooooo-kay... so, if you are a professional barista, dog coiffeur or bricklayer you can NOT post your health problems. Makes total sense to me.

The admin furthermore pointed out that they don't want postings that LOOK professional (ah, the literature quotes!)... the consequence is this: when you seek help or information, don't go to Healthboards.com, as people can NOT share facts or give you solid advice... so why does Healthboards exist in the first place? I have no idea. But I am certain that many people out there are in fact risking their health when they believe that they will find valid information there. By definition (and the fine print in their rules) Healthboards.com will block any real or substantiated facts about health issues.

The Website would be OK if they got rid of the administrators. About 6 years ago the administrator told me I was not following the rules. I was never told in detail what I was doing wrong. I asked and they banned me. Recently I thought I would try it again and see if things had changed. I downloaded their smartphone app for $1.99. Tried to login and was told to contact the administrator via email. I did so and was told I was still banned. They would let me back on if I "promised to obey the rules of the boards". I thought she would ask me to say three Our Fathers and two Hail Mary's to go along with the promise. Again I asked what I did wrong. They responded that I know what I did. I don't! They told me not to argue with the administrators. All I wanted was an answer in detail. They don't keep records that long. Only that I did a bad thing and I am being punished. I am banned again. Likely for eternity. I am also asking for my $1.99 back from iTunes. I can't believe how arrogant they are. Never had I encountered people like that on forums and I am a lot of them. Never had a problem with any of them. Rude, frustrating and arrogant! I'm done with them.

I have been a member of many support sites, and a moderator on one for a British medical charity. I was astonished at the way admin on Healthboards treat the members, they are terribly bad mannered, and they ban for whatever they like. It seems that the rules are open to their own interpretation and they can do no wrong. Any outside site even research from Pubmed seems to be off limits which is ridiculous on a 'so called' healthboard. It is far too restrictive to be of help to people.
They also appear to dislike people who are well informed and able to advise people as much as admin can... jealousy? There is something really wrong with this board and I would advise all with any medical condition to find a forum elsewhere, probably it is best to find one dedicated to the condition they have.

If you do get banned, save your time writing to admin (the message tells you to do this). I didn't even get a reply and I tried twice.
My advice, avoid, they seem to have some agenda, what kind I have no idea, but bet it involves money. Especially if they are now selling an app. Glad I didn't spend any money to find out how bad the forum was.