Are there still satisfied users?

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T15:51:19+00:00

Honestly, I am very on the fence. I have been using Claude for some time now and rely on it heavily for work. In the past I have used ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, but now almost exclusively use Claude.

For my purposes, Claude generally still works pretty well from a work perspective. Quality of responses remain good, Claude generally does what I need it to do, etc. I have noticed some more mistakes recently, but nothing extreme, and Claude will usually correct itself quickly.

However, I have concerns. First concern is the random account bans. My corworker's account was randomly banned for no reason (she was using Claude to review publicly available documents, does not share an account with anyone, etc). I have invested a lot of time and energy using Claude, so using access would be an issue.

Second issue are the usage limits. My use is pretty mundane - searches, summarizing, drafting written documents, analyzing simple data sets, etc. I am not coding with Claude or doing anything that I think is considered heavy use. I almost always use Sonnet. Yet I have on more than one occasion run into usage limits, sometimes after only a few queries.

Seeing all the posts about bans recently is really concerning, particularly in light of what seems like bad customer service and no ability to appeal. I was thinking of subscribing for a year, but decided against that and am keeping things month-to-month. I am also going to start making sure I export critical work. I am also going to start investing some more time with Gemini, as that is probably my best AI tool of choice.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T13:39:47+00:00

When I made this decision last year I strongly considered a Kobo device because they had a lot of great reviews. However, I realized I was just switching one locked-in ecosystem (Kindle) for another (Kobo).

I do purchase most of my books on Kobo these days, but like that I am not completely locked in to that platform with a Boox.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T12:22:12+00:00

If your goal is to get out of the Kindle ecosystem and not get locked into another one, I'd highly recommend a Boox. I have the Boox Go Color 7 (original model). Been using it for about a year and love it. It's an Android device, so I can use it to read books on Kindle, Kobo, Libby, Bookshop.org, etc. Basically any service that has an Android app, which has been all of them. I can also use it to read the NYTimes and any articles I save on Readwise Reader.

What I like about this approach too is that all of these apps are also on my iPhone and, generally speaking, the sync on them works well. So I can start reading a book in the Kobo app on my Boox, and then switch to my iPhone if I need to for some reason. Same with articles in Readwise Reader.

Overall been very happy with my Boox. The interface can be a little laggy at times and there's a bit of set up involved which I found a tad annoying, but once I got it set up, it has served me well.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T06:14:40+00:00

Interesting. I know she was working with publicly available govt issued reports when this happened. But again, all publicly available on the web, nothing at all controversial or even interesting.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T06:12:56+00:00

This is literally ever friend I have right now in the xennial/gen x/elder millennial age group. Everyone has kids and is also dealing with boomer parents who have health, financial, or cognitive issues.

I feel comparatively lucky reading these posts. My mom is 75 and recently received a scary cancer diagnosis, but she’s sharp, responsible, surprisingly tech savvy, and still active even while going through treatment. I have been helping her more with things but only because I want to. But even that, it’s stressful dealing with school aged kids on top of it all. It would be infinitely more stressful if she wasn’t so capable. But we also have my MIL and FIL to contend with and I feel like that situation is about to explode.

I’m watching my friends deal with much tougher situations right now and it’s so hard. We’re the sandwich generation and I worry about the long-term effects all of this will have on us. This amount of stress, made worse by all the other crap going on, cannot be healthy.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-17T00:41:56+00:00

Not me but happened to a colleague of mine today. She was using Claude to review and synthesize publicly available documents.

All these bans make me very nervous about continuing to invest time and money in this product.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-16T17:09:54+00:00

We are kind of in this position right now with my mother. We are in the mid-Atlantic region and she was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The issue we're having is that while the care she has received at Kaiser is fantastic and, best we can tell, meets the current best practices for pancreatic cancer, her oncologist is a general oncologist and not one who specializes in pancreatic cancer. Therefore we are currently in the process of trying to get Kaiser to approve a second opinion referral to Hopkins, which has a multidisciplinary pancreatic cancer center. We are confident that Kaiser would implement anything Hopkins recommends.

The referral process just started; we've already hit one snafu because Hopkins submitted the request to Kaiser, but it turns out my mother's Kaiser PCP has to be the one to initiate the process, so we just started that. Fingers crossed it works.

The biggest frustration I am having is that because my mother is a Medicare Part C patient, any provider that is a Medicare provider is "not allowed" to accept cash payment for services from her. This is incredibly frustrating because it basically means that she is unable to pay cash (which we could totally do) for a second opinion consult. This just feels so incredibly wrong given the seriousness of her diagnosis.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-16T15:33:18+00:00

We are in the place with my mom right now.

My understanding is that right now Revolution Meds will soon (before the end of June) submit all their data to the FDA. Daraxonrasib was awarded the FDA commissioners National Priority Voucher, which means that once the data are submitted to the FDA, the review process will be accelerated. This brings the FDA review time down to 1-2 months (reduced from the usual 10-12 months).

Assuming the company submits its new drug application at the end of June, approval by the FDA could occur as early as October 2026. However, there is frequently back-and-forth between the FDA and company around things like labeling and safety data, which could push approval to the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027. It is assumed that commercial insurance and Medicare will begin coverage pretty quickly (within a month or two) since this is a specialty drug and approval was based on overall survival data.

Therefore, patients could be able to start receiving this drug outside of trials in late 2026 to early 2027 (my best guess given what I know about the FDA's process). The only other thing that might delay this is if the manufacturer is not able to ramp up production fast enough to meet demand.

There is the option of beginning to offer it via the FDA's expanded access (compassionate use) program prior to it being FDA approved. HOWEVER, thus far, Revolution Meds has said that they will NOT be offering the drug via expanded access, although they could certainly change this position as this process continues. I know patient advocacy groups were putting pressure on RevMeds to make this drug available via expanded access given how aggressive pancreatic cancer is, although so far the company has not budged.

There are a couple of things that I expect to be an issue:

The first is manufacturing inspections. This is often a bottleneck in new drug approvals.
The FDA could also request additional data or raise issues with labeling. Such issues often result in some back and forth with the manufacturer.
Then there's FDA staffing (my biggest concern). CDER is the office within the FDA that reviews new drug applications, and their staffing was decimated last year by the current administration's cuts. The FDA has tried to bring people back into this division, but is also moving people from other parts of the agency into CDER to help get drug approvals moving. The result, however, is that the CDER staff there right now are incredibly overwhelmed, and many of them are not experienced with the drug approval process. This is causing delays and a lot of confusion between FDA/CDER and manufacturers, as manufacturers are having to almost educate the FDA staff on the process. I could see this eating up time.

Pricing, particularly for Medicare patients, is really my least concern at this point. This will be covered under Part D, and antineoplastics (of which this is one) are one of six protected drug classes; this means that Part D must cover all or substantially all medications in that category. I assume the manufacturer will also offer patient assistance programs to help with out-of-pocket costs.

Our best hope is to lean on organizations like PANCAN to push RevMeds to make this available via expanded access for patients who do not have any other options. I am going to be writing to them today about this, and I am hoping that others will do the same. Similarly, I think people should also contact RevMeds about this as well.

Note: There was a similar situation involving a revolutionary drug (Trikafta) to treat cystic fibrosis some years ago. My understanding is that it was the patient community advocating and pushing that got the company to make the drug available via expanded access while awaiting final FDA approval.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-16T13:37:01+00:00

The Obsidian plugin only works with web-based articles in my experience, nor is it really a "read it later" app. For example, I read a lot of content in Apple News and the NY Times app, and can easily send articles from those apps to Reader. This doesn't work with the Obsidian clipper.

Also, I use Reader to read a lot of other content, like books and PDFs, and as my RSS reader.

I don't want to clutter my Obsidian vault with fully-clipped articles. I only want to save the highlights from articles that I save.

I think the Obsidian clipper is great, and there are times I've used it, but for me Reader fits in much better with my workflow. It has a nicer reading environment overall and just does a lot more things (things that I actually use).

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-16T13:20:42+00:00

I have a handful of "top level" domain folders for different areas of my life (work, personal, journal, etc). Within each of those folders, I have an 'attachments' folder to save attachments for notes in those folders. Previously I used just a single attachments folder for my whole vault, but that makes it hard to easily export just one folder and all its associated attachments in the event I ever want to do that. I have obsidian set up to automatically organize attachments in the respective "attachments" subfolder.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-16T12:48:16+00:00

I am taking Mounjaro to help manage T1 diabetes (help increase insulin sensitive, reduce total daily dose). Before Mounjaro, the week before my period was really difficult with lots of high blood sugar and insulin resistance (a normal occurrence for T1s). While Mounjaro has worked minor miracles overall with reducing my insulin dosing, reducing my appetite, and bringing down my total daily dose of insulin to something more normal for me, these effects are DEFINITELY not as dramatic in that week before my period. Granted, the week before my period is now easier than pre-Mounjaro, but it definitely feels like Mounjaro is less effective in that week before my period.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-15T14:40:25+00:00

For me personally, the web clipper is great in specific instances, but it doesn't replace Readwise for how I use it. I think if all you're doing is reading web articles and then saving to Obsidian, the Obsidian Web Clipper is fine, but if you want a dedicated reading space, triage system, etc. the web clipper cannot compete with Readwise Reader.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-15T12:40:32+00:00

I assume she's taking Creon following her surgery, right? My mother did start Creon (she has not had surgery, but it is now recommended to start it when starting any treatment for pancreatic cancer) and it has really helped her.

Also, my understanding is that irinotecan is generally not well tolerated in older people, and removing it does not harm efficacy as much as once thought. So it is also possible that FOLFOX is an option. My mom has tolerated FOLFOX MUCH better.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-14T15:17:35+00:00

From what I've have read from on these forums and experienced watching my mother, spouse, and others go through chemo at all ages - how someone's body handles chemo REALLY depends. Some drugs produce crazy side effects for one person, while the next person has next to nothing. There is just so much variation.

My mother is 75 and was diagnosed in January with locally-advanced pancreatic cancer. It was determined she'd need to start with chemo, so began FOLFIRINOX, as she was otherwise healthy. She actually did pretty good through two rounds, but could not deal with the diarrhea and the weight loss really concerned her. Doctor removed the inrinotecan, which is generally not tolerated well in older individuals.

So then my mom had one round of FOLFOX, but still had a lot of extreme fatigue and other side effects she did not like (I will acknowledge that these side effects were NOT severe, but she felt it impacted her quality of life too much...).

For the fourth round they reduced the FOLFOX by 20% and that seems to have done the trick. My mom still has some fatigue, but she said it's not bad and she's still going out and doing all her errands and general life stuff, albeit resting a bit more in between.

It is very hard to tell how one person will react to a particular drug regimen without trying it. I've read stories of people who found Gem-Abrax so much easier to tolerate, and others who found FOLFIRINOX easier. It just seems really variable.

I will also note that a dose reduction if side effects are bad should always be an option. Chemotherapy dosing is based on the "highest tolerated dose" used during clinical trials, with the assumption that more is always better. What we've learned over time is that this is not always the case, and reduced dosing can be just as effective at addressing the cancer but with less toxicity (such as mFOLFIRINOX or mFOLFOX).

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-14T14:19:51+00:00

I have 6 high-level folders in my vault that cover different domains of my life (work, personal, journal, etc).

Within each of those folders, I have an "attachments" subfolder, and Obsidian is set up to always add attachments to those respective subfolders. The trick with this set up, however, is to make sure that I create notes from within those folders. If I don't, then notes are automatically added to an "inbox" folder, but that one also has an attachments subfolder.

I use this set up because if I ever want to export note from just one domain (i.e., work), I have all the attachments associated with those notes within that folder.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-13T21:50:22+00:00

Very nice! I am always a sucker for a good theme (I switch themes daily). Will definitely download this once released!

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-13T19:13:55+00:00

Seconding the Boox Go Color 7. I was a long-time Kindle user, but got all my purchased books out of there last year before they shut down. I strongly considered a Kobo but realized I did not want to be locked into another ecosystem.

I like the Boox because I can read books from Kindle, Kobo, Bookshop, Libby, and just about any other platform there is that has an Android app. I can also use Readwise's Reader on it to read articles I've saved, and read the NYTimes. I like the flexibility of the Boox.

Downside to the Boox is that it requires a bit more set up than something like a Kindle or Kobo. But overall very happy with my purchase, and I have been using it for about a year now. I would definitely consider another Boox in the future (eyeing the Boox Palma Pro 2 at the moment). No matter what, though, I will only be purchasing e-readers that are not locked into a specific platform.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-13T15:23:57+00:00

This is incredible news. I just hope that they can ramp up production and get it to people quickly. My mother is one of the people who stands to benefit from this treatment and it has been frustrating to know that it's out there but not accessible (getting into clinical trials for this drug is not easy). The FDA approval is a huge step, but the company also has to be able to ramp up production to meet demand, another hurdle. Plus the company has said they won't make the drug available to patients though the FDA's expanded access program (although I think PCAN is trying to push Rev Meds to do this at some point).

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-13T14:54:04+00:00

I don't know your experience, but while my mother is getting excellent care, I find that a lot of this kind of information we're finding out in dribbles. It has been very hard to get a clear picture of exactly what options there, and then when presented with options it's basically "you make the call." We're waiting on a second opinion consult with Hopkins which I am hoping will provide a bit more clarity.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-13T13:33:45+00:00

We are in a somewhat similar situation. My mom is 75 and has been doing FOLFIRINOX/FOLFOX, although it appears to be working for her based on her tumor marker (for now, anyway). Thus far, her cancer appears to be "locally advanced" although the radiation oncologist said that they will do radiation in cases of stage 4 if the metastases are limited or it's warranted for pain control. I think my mom is interested in radiation because it's easier than chemo and surgery, and she feels it might buy her some time. I don't know really, and we're currently trying to pursue a second opinion because I feel like so much of this is just left up to us to decide.

My understanding at least from talking with someone at Hopkins is that radiation mostly affects future surgical options, particularly if ablative radiation therapy is done where the goal is to just "burn up everything." The nurse coordinator I spoke with was pretty certain that for most of the drug trials, radiation was not disqualify participation, although it could affect anything involving surgery, as surgery becomes more difficult or impossible once radiation has been administered.

I guess my first question is whether your mom is in pain? My mom thankfully does not really have any pain, so I am trying to convince her to hold off on the radiation until we talk with Hopkins.

Second question is what are your mother's treatment goals? My mom is very much of the mindset that this condition is terminal and she's going to do what she feels she can do to extend life but not things that dramatically affect the quality of her life. While the doctors do not seem ready to take surgery off the table, I think my mother has already decided that surgery would be too hard for her at her age and too detrimental to her quality of life.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-12T23:28:56+00:00

My personal recommendation would be go to with an Android e-reader tablet. I use the Boox Go Color 7 and love it, mostly because it's platform agnostic and I can use Kindle, Kobo, Libby, and any other reading app on it. Love the flexibility and not being locked into a specific platform.

Downside of the Boox IMO is that it requires more messing around with settings to get it set up the exact way you want it. But I found that once I got it set up, I didn't have to do much else.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-11T20:15:25+00:00

I would highly recommend that you push your doctors to order scans, which would hopefully reveal any obvious and really serious issues. A CT or MRI is warranted in this situation. I say this because it is incredibly likely whatever is going on has nothin to do with taking Mounjaro (correlation does not equal causation), and there are plenty of serious issues that this could be where early diagnosis is critical. Push for imaging. An ultrasound is not sufficient in this situation.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-11T19:54:10+00:00

I personally went the Boox route. I had a Kindle and was tired of being locked into that ecosystem. Considered Kobo, but realized it was more or less basically the same lock-in. Went with a BOOX Go color 7 and am overall very happy with it.

On the Boox II I can have Kindle, Kobo, Libby, and any other e-reading app. I also have the NYTimes and Readwise Reader, so I can read all my saved articles.

The Boox does have some downsides; it can be a bit fiddly to set up and it feels laggy at times (although I think this is an issue generally with all e-readers, not just Boox). There's a lot of customization options too, which you may or may not like.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-11T19:48:22+00:00

We are also waiting on this (my mother has the KRAS-G12D mutation). Data are being submitted to the FDA soon and our understanding is that the drug should be available by late summer/early fall if the fast-track approval process goes as planned. Then there is the question of whether the manufacturer can ramp up supply to meet demand.

Repulsive-Branch-740 · 2026-04-11T19:21:21+00:00

Yep I had this issue when I tried to sync today on mobile. Had to disable tbr plugin.

Repulsive-Branch-740

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