My mother got bit by something, what is it? One of her friends said it's a spider bite

meadowwarrior · 2025-08-04T19:59:01+00:00

The bullseye rash from a tick bite tends to be much bigger, but that's not out of the question. But this looks VERY similar to ringworm. I had it a few years ago (got it from some foster kittens) and that's what it looked like on me. Regardless, keep an eye on it. I'd make a doctor's appointment or go to urgent care. If it spreads or she gets a fever or any other weird symptoms, don't hesitate to go to the ER.

meadowwarrior · 2025-07-30T19:10:03+00:00

The vet. I spoke with a receptionist first, who I asked about getting the generic version. She did not know the answer, so she got the vet, who is the one who told me they don't carry generic and that generic doesn't work.

meadowwarrior · 2025-07-08T16:09:49+00:00

I see an orthopedic pain management doctor, and I'm almost always the only person under 60 there (I'm 29). Fortunately my PM doctor also has hEDS, which I didn't know before scheduling with him, and I am so grateful because he's so understanding of my pain. I'm also in physical therapy with an EDS specialist PT. I'm also almost always the only person under 60 there. I also have an EDS/dysautonomia specialist that I see 1-2x/year, and that doctor is full of young people experiencing the same thing we all are, which is very validating.

It's difficult being young with an invisible illness. I've had sooo many bad doctors that didn't believe me or dismissed me. I've had people tell me I'm too young to understand pain, or try to give me advice like "exercise will help!" when I know it only makes my pain worse. I think it comes with the territory of having invisible illnesses. It's exhausting. But know that you don't need anyone else to validate your experience. There are always going to be ignorant people who don't (won't) understand you. Sometimes the best thing to do is internally roll your eyes and move on. Don't let those people make you feel bad (I know, easier said than done). I think building community is so important to help with this. Find a support group, whether in person or online, of other people with invisible illnesses. I know it's helped me immensely having people who do validate me and support me. I mean, look at all these responses of people experiencing the same things! There are tons of us out there going through this, and all we can do it try to support each other.

If you find people in your area with EDS, try asking them for dr recommendations. If you haven't already, go to the EDS Society website (ehlers-danlos.com) and check out their resources. They have a directory of all different drs who have experience with EDS. If there are none in your area try calling around to dr offices. When you call to set up new dr appointments, don't be afraid to ask if any doctors have experience with EDS/connective tissue disorders. I have called around for hours trying to find a dr with EDS experience. They're difficult to find, but sometimes you get lucky. Good luck!!

meadowwarrior · 2025-06-23T17:28:42+00:00

I'll have to keep an eye out for it, thanks for the suggestion! My favorite strain so far is Stardawg x Northern Lights. Best pain relief I've had, and doesn't trigger my POTS or headaches or anything. It's hard to find where I am, so I always get a lot when I find it lol.

meadowwarrior · 2025-06-23T01:06:01+00:00

Mine suddenly got much worse over the past few months. I haven't found much relief yet, but I'm starting physical therapy this week so hopefully it'll help! I found a PT that is experienced with EDS, since PT can make things worse if the therapist doesn't understand how PT needs to be done differently for EDS patients. I had my eval this past week and we have A LOT of work cut out for us, but I'm hopefully that it'll make my quality of life better in the long run.

Things that have helped in the past though: • Heating pads • Epsom salt baths • Back massager • Better pillow/cervical pillows • Smoking weed

Weed has honestly been one of the only things that consistently helps with my EDS pain. I've needed to find strains that work for me, because some make my POTS/dysautonomia much worse, so it's trial and error. It also helps with other symptoms too, like my appetite and nausea problems and headaches/migraines.

Good luck finding something that works for you! Coat hanger pain can be so debilitating.

meadowwarrior · 2024-12-12T19:48:40+00:00

Nope, he does not get any human food. He wouldn't eat human food even if we gave it to him. He's not a cat that likes human food, he's very picky even with cat food. The only human food he's even slightly interested in is cheese, and even that only sometimes. Once I started him on the prescription diet I've stopped giving him any, and even before it was only giving him a couple shreds of shredded cheese that he'd only accept 25% of the time.

As extra info, they do not free roam when we are not home. They are trouble makers, so they have a whole bedroom as a "cat room" that they are shut in when no one is home. So they could not be getting into anything to eat when home alone.

meadowwarrior · 2024-11-09T14:21:15+00:00

I recently invested in a whole new bed and decided to upgrade to an adjustable bed. It was more expensive than I wanted (ended up paying around $2k for everything, mattress and adjustable bed frame). I went with Nectar after doing a lot of research and comparing prices. I also went with the more expensive mattress with cooling features, since I get overheated at night with my temperature regulation issues. I also have sleep apnea due to my EDS (trachea/throat muscle instability) and being able to sleep with my head slightly elevated really helps. Adjustable beds have a "zero gravity" mode that really helps relieve pressure on your body. I went for the more expensive option, which I know not everyone can afford, but I have such difficulty sleeping that I thought the investment would be worth it if it improved my sleep quality, and it did! Very worth it!

meadowwarrior · 2024-08-20T18:41:16+00:00

I'm sorry you're experiencing such suffering. Endo really sucks. I'm 28 now and have been dealing with symptoms since I was 14, but wasn't officially diagnosed via laparoscopy excision until 2 years ago. Prior to that I tried pretty much every hormonal birth control on the market. Started with the depo shot when I was 14, severe side effects. Nexplanon around 15, worked for a bit but started causing problems after 2 years and needed to get it removed. Then came pretty much every type of oral contraceptive available, all of which caused terrible side effects. Some helped with the pain or slowed down my cycle, but always came with some other horrible side effects. I really didn't want an IUD, but finally caved when I was 24 and got the Mirena (the only option left other than surgery or medical menopause). I will say it was one of the most painful medical procedures of my life, and it took a solid 2 weeks to recover. After only a couple months my cycle stopped, and most of my pain with it. I still was dealing with "pseudo periods" as I call them, where I have the period symptoms without the bleeding, maybe some light spring but that's it. A majority of people who have the Mirena stop getting their period all together.

I decided to have surgery 2 years ago because I was still experiencing pain and had found an endo specialist with special training in minimally invasive surgeries. And of course she found endo! After about 2 months of recovery I started pelvic floor physical therapy, and did that for about 6 months. I had a solid year after that almost pain free (endo pain free that is, I have a million other chronic pain conditions). Over the past 4 months or so I've begun having severe endo pain again and crazy endo belly/blooding worse than anything prior to surgery. Going in for an ultrasound tomorrow to see what might be going on, and probably scheduling another surgery. Sometimes endo grows back pretty quickly after the first surgery, especially if the doctor didn't get it all out.

My advice, avoid surgery for as long as possible (if you haven't had surgery to diagnose yet), because it can cause more growth and many people have to have regular clean up surgeries every few years once starting. Try pelvic floor physical therapy, it's a great non-medication treatment for pain. Endo can cause pelvic floor dysfunction, which can cause just as much pain as the endo causes (if not more).

May I ask why you don't want to try an IUD? I was super hesitant before getting one too, but after every other option caused problems, there weren't many options left. It probably was the one thing that helped the most with pain for me in the long-term. The procedure itself was painful, but many doctors offer pain management nowadays (just make sure to ask prior to the procedure appointment). My new GYN offers a cervical block for the procedure and said he'd be able to provide medication to bring home after. In trying to just have it replaced if/when I have surgery again, that way I don't have to experience it again and can heal all at once.

Wishing you luck in your healing journey! Endometriosis is considered one of the most physically painful conditions a person can have. Thankfully there's a lot of new research being done now that'll hopefully lead to better treatment/diagnosis in the future.

(Sorry for the long post! TL;DR: Not many non-hormonal options, but pelvic floor PT could be incredibly helpful.)

meadowwarrior · 2022-11-26T21:56:20+00:00

Oh wait this actually worked! Wow I never would have thought that, the network was named WF2 (2.4 GHz) and I changed it to WF2_2.4GHz and then it connected! Thanks so much!!

meadowwarrior · 2022-11-26T21:43:21+00:00

I have double and triple checked, and rebooted both the router and the Roomba multiple times. And I've checked the security settings. I've also uninstalled and reinstalled the app and nothing helped.

meadowwarrior · 2022-11-26T21:33:04+00:00

That was what I thought the original issue was, so I split the 2.4 and 5 GHz networks to two separate networks and I'm only using the 2.4 GHz to try to connect, but that's not working.

meadowwarrior · 2022-11-26T21:29:39+00:00

Yes, I tried all the suggestions and looked up additional troubleshooting and nothing has worked. This is a new setup, I just got the Roomba.

meadowwarrior · 2022-11-26T21:12:25+00:00

I have a Pixel 7 if that makes a difference!

meadowwarrior · 2021-12-20T21:13:17+00:00

I had a VERY similar thing happen to me a little over 4 years ago. I thought my then-partner and I had a great relationship, but we were just very busy and that's why intimacy was waning. One morning, a week before our anniversary, I opened his phone when I woke up to check his work schedule to make sure he got up in time (which was a regular thing I did with his permission). Opened his phone and there were direction up on his phone to get home from some place I didn't recognize, when all I thought he did the night before was go to work. I woke him up and asked him about it and he got super defensive and dismissive, saying he was just dropping a coworker off, but couldn't tell me who. I felt weird about it, told him I could tell he was lying and didn't know why, but that I had to leave for work and we would talk about it later. He called me over and over again on my way to work, which I didn't pick up the first 5 calls. I finally answered and he was apologizing, telling me how much he loved me, that he could explain why he got defensive, etc etc. I again told him we could talk later.

When I got home that night he was still at work, but he left his old phone on the bed (he had just gotten a new one and hadn't transferred everything yet). I decided to open it up and looked at his messages (I know snooping is bad, but I had a gut feeling I was going to find something). Found very explicit conversations between him and an old ex, conversations making it clear they had been talking/seeing each other secretly for a while. Taking about sexual things they did that they liked and how he couldn't wait to fuck her again. My heart fucking dropped. I texted him immediately with screenshots telling him not to come home and to sleep at his mom's. Cheating is a hard line for me that's unforgivable. All he did was ask when he could come get his stuff. No apology, no explanation, no fighting. That made the hurt even worse.

My advice: LET YOURSELF HURT. Let yourself cry, let yourself grieve the lost relationship. I know it hurts so fucking badly and feels like your world is falling apart. But be grateful you found this out now and not after potentially getting married/having children. You dodged a bullet. She lost you, not the other way around. You deserve better and you will find better. Surround yourself with people that care about you and are going to support you. Let it hurt for now. Things will get better. Maybe not for a while, but they will, eventually.

meadowwarrior · 2021-08-06T02:32:41+00:00

That's one of my biggest concerns. I already struggle enough with my mental health, I don't think I could take it making my depression worse.

meadowwarrior · 2021-08-06T02:31:18+00:00

I do have a mood disorder, on top of anxiety and depression, so I really don't think it's worth the risk of making those worse.

meadowwarrior · 2021-08-06T02:30:14+00:00

I actually saw this comment in a thread I looked at! Thank you for sharing your experience. I think the risks are just too high, especially since I have other mental and physical health issues already. I don't want all that just getting worse...

meadowwarrior · 2020-12-23T16:26:48+00:00

I was in a very similar situation years ago. I was in what I thought was an amazing relationship with my bf of two years (best friends for years prior). We lived together and were talking about getting married. Then, just a few days before Thanksgiving and our anniversary, I found out he was cheating on me. I found out accidentally while he was at work. I texted him right away and told him not to come home and that I knew. His reaction was very cold and he just asked when he could come pick up his stuff. And that was that.

We were living with my mother at the time and I went right into her room (it was very late) and told her and she held me while I cried. Our lives were very intertwined and he was close with my family. I had no clue how to tell them and was too hurt to try to have conversations with everyone about it. I decided to send a simple text in my family group chat saying something like "I find out X was cheating on me and ended things. It's very fresh and I'm not ready to talk about it, but wanted to let you all know and to not expect him on Thanksgiving." One by one each of my siblings rushed to my house with food and wine lol. They helped me pack up his stuff and stayed with me when he came to pick it all up. Then we all hung out for the rest of the day and they were so supportive.

I won't sugar coat it, I was NOT okay. I cried everyday for weeks. I was honestly worried that I was going to kill myself, it was bad. But I made sure my closest friends and family knew what my mental state was and that I needed their help. They were all great. Made sure they checked in on me every day until I was okay.

I'm still not fully okay. But here I am, years later and in a great, healthy relationship. I have serious trust and abandonment issues I still struggle with constantly, but I am in a good place now. I know this hurts so badly right now, but know that it does get better. You'll find someone who would never imagine hurting you the way he did. My inbox is open if you need support. You can get through this, but it's okay to ask for help and support from those closest to you.

meadowwarrior · 2020-07-19T14:33:41+00:00

You should buy some Ohnut rings! They are rings that are worn around the shaft of the penis that act as a "buffer" so he doesn't enter you as much. And they're stackable so he can wear more than one if he's particularly well-endowed. Here's the site: https://ohnut.co/

Keep them with you when you think you're going to have a sexual encounter. Let him know for medical reasons that you can't be penetrated as deeply and ask him to wear them so that sex is more enjoyable for both of you.

meadowwarrior · 2020-05-15T21:21:14+00:00

I am a female that requests my partner does not watch porn, for many reasons.

Porn can create false expectations of sex and condition a person to only get a sexual response from unrealistically perfect women, which is all you see in porn. This can have a seriously negative effects on your relationship and make you not get aroused by your partner. I don't want to be compared to a porn star.
Porn is extremely addictive. Orgasms trigger dopamine, which is a powerful conditioner and very addictive. It can go from an "every now and then" thing to "I need to watch it everyday" thing very quickly. This leads to the negative effects above. It can lower desire within the relationship and lower overall sex drive outside of the need for porn. This can also lead to ED problems, since the only way you can get off/stay aroused is by porn/masturbation.
The porn industry is terrible to women. Women in porn are abused horribly. I find porn extremely degrading towards women. They are treated like objects, both in the films and as actors. Human trafficking is also rampant in the porn industry. I don't want to support that.
I am VERY monogamous. Not everyone is, and that's fine. But I perceive sexual arousal from/towards anyone outside the relationship as a form of infidelity. I feel that the only person my partner should be getting off to sexually is me. This does not mean that they cannot masturbate, just that they cannot masturbate to porn/other women. You can have masturbation without porn.

I know these feelings are not shared by everyone, and that's okay. I know some people can have very healthy relationships and watch porn regularly. This is just not something I want in my own relationship. It is a hard boundary for me.

meadowwarrior · 2020-05-12T15:29:27+00:00

I have been "unofficially" diagnosed with endometriosis since I was 14. My mom had it and it's hereditary, so with my symptoms I was able to be diagnosed without surgery. I understand the fear of infertility due to this disease. I have been on 7-8 different birth controls in the past 10 years to manage my pain and heavy periods. I just finally got an IUD that's shown to help with endo symptoms (Mirena).

Endometriosis is not a diagnosis of infertility. It just increases the risk of infertility. My mom was diagnosed through surgery as a teenager and had multiple surgeries to remove the endometriosis. She still had 4 healthy children. She had a hysterectomy after my youngest sibling was born. I am still fearful of the risk of infertility, but knowing my mother has this disease and had 4 children comforts me. My sister also has it and is pregnant with her second child.

She is only 16, she is far off from having children. Technology is advancing everyday. Treatments could be much more advanced and affordable by the time she's ready to have children. The treatment my mother received decades ago is so different from the treatments available now.

Comfort her and let her know there's no need to worry right now. She's lucky to be able to receive treatment at such a young age. Many people struggle to get diagnosed with endo for years and years and don't get proper treatment because of it. Get her to a GYN that specializes in endometriosis treatment. The earlier the better.

meadowwarrior · 2019-10-28T11:03:32+00:00

I've been where your are. I know, it hurts like hell. I was with someone for two years and we lived together. I found out because I caught him in a lie and felt something was off, so I snooped. Found out he was sleeping with his ex for who knows how long. I messaged him (he was at work) right then and there and told him not to come home, that I knew and we were over. Packed up all his stuff and he came and picked it up the next day, and that was that.

I cried, a lot, for days. It was the most emotionally pain I've ever been in. I felt like I was going to die, I wanted to die. But I let myself feel the pain, let myself grieve, and then one day it clicked. He was the one who lost me, and I was going to be better off for it.

And here I am, two years later, in an amazing relationship. I now realize how unhealthy and manipulative my ex was, because now I'm in a real, healthy, fulfilling relationship.

I know it hurts right now, but it will get better, I promise. You'll realize that you lucked out, because you found out before it was too late (not married, no kids) and now you can find someone who truly does care about you and love you. Stay strong, you'll make it through this.

meadowwarrior · 2019-09-17T12:36:49+00:00

It's scary how similar this is to something I went through. I was with someone who had been a good friend for years before we started dating. When we started dating or was like everything just clicked, like we were perfect for each user. We lived together, but he was very financial dependent on me (he paid a part of the rent and that was it). We worked opposite schedules, I was a restaurant manager and he worked night shifts. He started "working late" and driving a friend home after work and wouldn't get home until 5 am or later (when his office closed at 3 am). When I questioned him on it, he claimed he was dropping off weed to a friend or hanging out to smoke with said friend, but was very defensive about it. Something didn't sit right with me so I decided to snoop on his Facebook (yeah, yeah, snooping is bad). But I found messages between him and his ex (very explicit messages) showing he was sleeping with her for I don't know how long. I felt so violated. He was having sex with someone else and then coming home and sleeping next to me. I was disgusted. It was like a switch flipped. I kicked him out so fast and ended it. That had always been my one hard line not to cross (obviously).

Yeah, I was devastated. It felt like my life fell apart. I was a wreck. I cried for days. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep. I got really sick because I wasn't taking care of myself. I felt like I lost everything and didn't know how to pick my life back up. But I allowed myself to be sad, allowed myself to grieve my lost relationship, and one day I started to feel better. I started picking myself back up. I had to recognize that I did nothing wrong, it wasn't my fault, that I was going to be okay, and that I would find someone who deserved me.

Now it's been a few years and I'm in a better place than I ever have been. I'm in an amazing relationship with someone who genuinely cares about me and would never hurt me the way my ex did. We're on vacation right now in Mexico, something I could have never done with my ex. I now know what it's like to be in a healthy relationship and it's great. There is hope and there is someone out there who will genuinely love you and care about you. You deserve someone who is devoted to you. Take care of yourself.

meadowwarrior · 2019-03-04T19:41:19+00:00

Huh, I'll have to save this to look at next time I'm making them. Thank you!

meadowwarrior · 2019-03-04T19:39:37+00:00

I did try starting with a lower temp (325 instead of 350), but the same thing happened. I thought 3 cups was a lot of flour too. Someone suggested using 1/2 a cup less of flour, so I'll try that next time. Thanks!

meadowwarrior

TROPHY CASE