u/Berean_Katz

I currently suffer from chronic migraines since last June. Thanks to this sub, I was inspired to start a migraine log and am now on Day 20, so thanks guys!

Now that I have my medical record, I found two incidents that might be service connections to my migraines:

1. A concussion playing volleyball during PT (I fell backwards on my head and went to medical for it). I actually forgot about this incident until I read about it in my record and was like "Oh yeaaah." This one states "Mild post-concussion" with dizziness but the only issue I have is that it happened during PT and not during "work." It's during active duty and PT, but I'm not sure if that's enough.
2. I received an electric shock from shore power cables that weren't properly installed to the shore power breaker box. I went to medical and had an ECG done without any noticeable issues, but it was such a high voltage that I can imagine it could cause some latent issues. I can't remember the exact voltage of shore power, but I believe my shipmate said it's 240 volts? (Side note: not sure what the amperage was either.)

Do you guys have experience applying for incidents like these? I'm not sure how to go about connecting it but I have so much paperwork for my migraines already and am just trying to see if there's any cause from my active duty career as to why I suffer from them. Thanks in advance!

Lidia is easily one of my favorite characters when it comes to design: she's yoked, does shotokan karate which is just cooler to me than whatever Jin does (kyokushin?), she talks about "fighting with honor" and--since she's a foodie--offers to grab a meal with her opponent after winning. Also, I think her and Anna might have some kinda friendly chemistry according to their dialogue? Whatever, 10/10 design.

So anyway, while I think her design is S Tier, I recognize that she has some pretty cheap, gimmicky stuff, especially during heat where she can completely DELETE your health, even with chip damage, all while you guess what Heaven and Earth shit she's gonna throw out. Sooo what I decided to do was learn how to play her but put minimal focus on heat and really just try and play her as I believe she was supposed to be played: "fighting with honor." She literally says "fight with honor" during her rage art and also criticizes Reina for trying to cheap shot her in their intro. SHE'S MEANT TO BE A FAIR FIGHTER.

And guess what? Hot take: It's fucking hard, guys. Playing Lidia without heat is actually the hardest shit I've ever tried to do in this game. Disclaimer: even with my others characters, I barely rely on heat except mostly to cash-out at the end of rounds and I do WAY better with them with or without heat. People like to bitch about her mix-ups, but outside of heat a lot of her stance stuff is easily punishable/interruptable due to how high-commital it all is (and against jabs, no less).

Anyway, I'll be fair and start with the shit that's working so far. Thanks to the influence of Sesujin (well-known Lidia player who quit Lidia after Season 3 lol) I learned to play Lidia a lot more defensive and footsies-based. Like, the majority of my victories right now are based off just proper punishes, holding block afterwards to cancel my stance entry, baiting a button press, then punishing again or throwing out some safe pokes--lots of small Tekken stuff, Kazuya mains would be proud. I also do lots of whiff punishes, especially with 3,2 as a whiff punish launcher and F1+2 for its crazy range. Anytime I end up in heat I just use Heaven and Earth 2 instead of the unblockable and then let the rest of my heat go away on its own. It's kinda funny because I can tell they're still worried about my heat...but it never comes lmao (you're welcome). Probably my biggest strength is in my wall carry combos, which are pretty damn strong, but other than that I always feel like I'm the underdog in every match I'm in. So, ON TO THE COMPLAINTS:

Dude, there's no way you can tell me that the shit she does out of heat is any cheaper than the shit Bryan, Leo, or pick-a-jackass get away with outside of heat (or IN heat, for that matter. Wanna talk about busted heat? Talk about Bryan's bitch ass). She's like B tier outside of heat. She's also very slow and tanky compared to my main (Lili) and lightyears slower than my other character Nina, who I would ACTUALLY call broken even without heat (see, I'm honest)--but Lidia? I swear Lidia fights like a Soul Calibur character with how slow and awkward she is. Her DF1 isn't as "punchy" as Lili's DF1 (and her DF1 follow-ups are both punishable in some form) and her lows aren't that great compared to Lili either. Her sidestep is obviously weaker than Lili and her sidestep options are...OK?...which takes away a large part of my playstyle of stepping people's shit. Also, you really have to pay attention to your hit confirms, because if you throw out her stance entries and they block yo shit, your ass is minus so you better hold the back button in time. Lastly, her tracking is fucking atrocious, and (again) this is coming from Lili main. If you want to beat me while I'm learning Lidia, just sidestep my bitch ass. I have a couple decent options, like DF1 (ok, at least it has that going for it) and QCF4, but overall I just feel like my only directions are "straight" and "back." I feel like I'm playing a 2D fighting game half the time, it makes me want to turn off the game and play Street Fighter 6--at least I actually win with Cammy lmao.

ANYWAY, I've gone long enough, but obviously my hot take is that Lidia is a pretty fair and honest character if you simply take away her heat shenanigans. She has very clear weaknesses that you have to work around (you know, how characters should be designed), and it makes her a lot more interesting to play this way. The developers obviously designed her to make heat her primary design focus (hence why it's her biggest strength), but I think that's bullshit because it goes against her personality of being honorable in battle. Lidia herself wouldn't play Lidia with heat. Nerf that shit. I'll continue to learn her, and give a little fist pump when her heat is inevitably nerfed, but all you guys saying she's 100% braindead are out of yo damn minds. She's hard as hell to pilot without heat. Hell, Kazuya has better 50/50s than she does. How's that for a hot take?

So go ahead and downvote me if you want but I said my piece and I don't think anything I said is controversial. I'm welcome to being proven wrong though. Just fight with honor. ;)

Hello all!
I recently got approved for a 50% service connection for sleep apnea. I did the following preliminary steps to ensure my case was solid:

1. I got diagnosed at a sleep clinic using an at-home study. They said my sleep apnea was so bad that it was likened to a person in their 70's or 80's.
2. As soon as I received my CPAP machine, I used it every day for 6 months to create a track record of compliance.
3. I got 2 buddy statements to show I had symptoms of sleep apnea at both the beginning and end of my active duty service.
4. I went to my C&P exam and told them of my experience dealing with sleep apnea in the military and how it has effected my sleep and energy levels. Due to being deployed in the middle east, I think my case was pretty much an automatic win due to presumed airborne exposure, my diagnosis, and my CPAP usage.

In the midst of all this, last year I was diagnosed with chronic migraines with vertigo and visual aura, in fact this was the reason I did a sleep study in the first place--to see if it could be the cause. My neurologist has me taking injections (ie Ajovy) and nortriptyline, but I still have symptoms that never really went away, even with the CPAP. I basically have strobe-light aura every day, a hypersensitivity to lights, and stress causes my migraines to get worse (lack of sleep, fatigue, physical exertion, strong negative emotions).

All that being said, I was wondering if anyone here has experience applying for migraines as a secondary to sleep apnea. From what I understand, sleep apnea can cause migraines so I'm wondering if that's the reason I've been dealing with all these issues and if so, I'd love to see what other people have done to get approved for it.

Thanks in advance!

I use a hybrid mask on an Airsense 11 and it's fine except the straps are uncomfortable.

I really wanted to get used to using nasal pillows because the strap is easily the most comfortable set-up I've tried, however breathing nose-only has proven to be harder than I expected.

I tried ordering replacement straps to see if they would be more comfortable, but honestly they're worse lol. Is there any way to make wearing hybrid masks more comfortable? I feel like the straps limit my neck mobility and if they're too loose they start to leak.

Any help would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

Hey guys!

So, I usually use a hybrid mask but I feel like nasal pillows would just be so much more comfortable...if I could actually fall asleep with it. I recently tried using a chin strap to keep from breathing through my mouth, but this doesn't seem to help. Is there a way to train myself to use it or am I just gonna have to stick with the hybrid? Any help would be much appreciated!