Do you use a browser, or do you wait until you see the forum sent an email? For the email function, go into your preferences/settings, from your profile to confirm you have selected by default to be notified when someone replies to your topic.

For example, right now, on the right of the Reply box, there is a checkmark in a box for "Email me when someone replies" but in my profile, I turned off that function and I don't get email notifications. I come to the forum with a browser and see the indicator count on the little bell for notifications, top right corner.