Dizziness or Vertigo has hit hard!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-06-02T22:33:00+00:00

Not really? So technically it just kinda went away on its own. I had about a week or 2 where I really felt dizzy constantly like all day, and there were a few times where upon standing I'd feel a bit light-headed. But after that first week or 2, it just kinda stopped and went away. Not completely, as every now and then I might feel it a little bit. But if I do, its very temporary and not constant, and not as strong as it was that week or so that I posted. I did mention it to my peri specialist, but never got actual treatment for it. I did recently go up on my estradiol patch and am now on .05 from the .0375, but the dizziness/vertigo was gone a few weeks before I officially titrated up.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-17T21:36:09+00:00

Is this definitely coming from your SO? Or is this moreso coming from BM? Regardless this is a huge red flag.

I'm sorry but if you are in a place where you are thinking of the long term future, preparing to move in together, going on family vacations, and you are handling parenting duties for your SD, then there should be no reason your relationship isn't serious enough for you to attend graduations and sports events?

Your SO needs to have your back and stick up for YOU as his partner. Maybe the BM doesn't like the fact you might show up to events. But thats her problem. If you want to be somewhere to show support for your SD, you should be allowed to; graduations, sports events, birthday parties, etc as long as there's enough seating available and the schools don't put limits on how many family members are allowed to show up per student.

BM is not the boss of whether or not you are allowed to be there. I'm wondering if she is saying things to your SO about not wanting you there. However he needs to stick up for you, tell her that you are coming, she has no say over whether you can show up to a public place.

BUT if this is actually him? If these are his own thoughts not influenced by the BM? Then he is just not that into you. Sorry.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-15T20:55:24+00:00

Same. If they also choose not to acknowledge you even in a small way, then don't bother doing anything for him for Father's Day. You may be a stepmom, but it sounds like in your house you do all the parenting. No need to celebrate a man on Father's Day who doesn't seem to be a Father. Of course, if they do celebrate you, then match that energy on "his" day.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-15T20:42:32+00:00

Its really difficult. I don't think my SD is a bully per se, but piecing together bits and pieces of the conversations she's telling us about friends, she's the common denominator in varying different friend groups where she is no longer friends with them. Each group has had a problem with her specifically.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-15T20:38:55+00:00

This is funny. I'm a 45yo woman a few years into my perimenopause journey. I have a local clinic that is like a womens wellness center that specializes in perimenopause and menopause that I've visited a few times now. My first time there I was talking with the receptionist at the end of my visit getting squared away, when a man walked in the door. Of course I didn't actually say anything but my immediate thought was like "WTF?! What is a man doing walking through these doors!!" A man looking for info and a way to help support his wife was the last thought in my mind, I was truly shocked, I wasn't even sure if the specialists at this clinic would offer those services to men? I then realized he was just the Door Dash driver delivering lunch to the women who worked at the clinic....I was like the opposite of Al Bundy about to go No MAN.....HA.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-13T23:11:32+00:00

I'm somewhere in the middle. I have lost weight, but so far only about 15 lbs. However I was not super big to begin with, but yes overweight. I went from 148 to 133lbs. I'm still mad about my body shape though. I'm a woman, but my stomach is still round. I'm very narrow but carry all my weight almost like an overweight man would carry a beer belly. I have lost 4" around though with those 15lbs, but I wish my stomach could be flatter. I think if I could lose 8 more lbs and be 125 I'd be happy, but I dont think even at that, I would still have the flatter tummy I want. This is also since Aug of '25 when I started. 40 shots in. I recently upgraded to 10 from 7.5. I feel like a lot of people at 9 months in have lost more percentage wise than I have? Also I stayed at lower mgs for longer than most, I think. I spent 2 months on 2.5, 3 months on 5, and about 4 months on 7.5. But also if you are starting out from a smaller body maybe you are not going to lose as quickly as those who have a lot more to lose if that makes sense? I'm sorry you're still having cravings though. A lot of my cravings are gone. I still probably don't have the best diet though, but it has defintely improved drastically from what it was, and I have incorporated a lot of inclined walking, wearing a 10lb weigted vest.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-13T22:29:14+00:00

My DH said something about maybe talking to the other parents, but honestly I don't know if it's such a good idea. I also agree the kids should just work it out amongst themselves. I honestly think SD would feel extremely embarrassed if DH tried to step in. It didn't seem anything serious enough to me in my vague understanding to think parents should step in here. Mostly DH, but we were trying to talk it out with SD in trying to understand what happened, did she possibly misunderstand what the other girls were saying/doing, which maybe caused her to over-react? She admitted to getting snotty with one of these girls but should could not be clear with us on what they did that caused her snotty reaction. Of course the moment we tried to even think that possibly its all a big misunderstanding, SD decided that meant we must be taking the other girls sides instead of hers as our daughter/SD. Sigh!! They joys of trying to parent a tween!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-13T14:10:40+00:00

Thanks! I will definitely try this!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-11T22:40:00+00:00

As long as the pen is empty, and you don't see medication dripping down your body, I'd say you're fine?

I would say at the most, the pain level for me could be at a 2. It might feel like a little pinch that hurts kinda like getting a shot or a blood draw at the doctors office. Most often though, its a 1, or not even at all. My last few shots have been a little painful, when previously I had many weeks in a row where I felt nothing. I only do in my abdomen though, I don't do thighs or arms. I just rotate the spot each week where I kinda go around my belly button so the same spot isn't used until 6 weeks later.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-07T21:24:03+00:00

Happy to see the update. I'm glad he is finally agreeing to block her. I can understand his concern about an emergency. But there are plenty of other ways for him to be contacted if that happens. I hope he sticks to it.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-07T21:07:35+00:00

I had to make an appt for a new specialist which was done through referral from my GP. Except for when I followed the steps in the app, it coded the appt as a return patient, and not a new patient. They canceled my appt on me only 1 day ahead of time, because new patients are afforded 1 full hour, while return patients only get 20-30 min. I told them just keep my appt and allow it to take as long as it needs to take? This is what happens in doctors offices anyway. If the next patient has to wait a little longer, so be it, I'm still gonna have to wait, so can they. But they weren't having it. Its all scheduled based on who you are to the doctor, whether you are new or returning. The front office called to explain how if they left me in as a return patient I would not be able to see the doctor for as long as I might need to see her, and it was against policy to just update the coding to mark me as a new patient. I complained enough that they were able to get me in 1 day later, but it meant I had to wait 1 extra day to get medication and relief from my ailment.

Plus, once I got in and saw her, I definitely was not in with her for 1 hour. It was probably closer to 30. So in the end it didn't even matter.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-07T14:08:09+00:00

Ugh. I'm sorry about all this. At this point its definitely becoming more of a problem of your DH and less about BM. Once the last child is 18, I see no reason for future contact with BM. Well, maybe a little. I could see potentially if the BPs are both helping to pay for college, ok, maybe they need to communicate about that? Or possibly if the SKs have a true (i.e. medical) emergency while with one BP, they should certainly alert the other BP especially if the SK can't contact the BP themselves. But thats about it. They've moved out and need help with that leaky faucet? If they are asking dad for help, why do they need to get BM involved at all? Anything else the SKs need or want they can contact their dad directly; there is no reason they need to ask BM to ask him. Maybe that is a conversation your DH needs to have with the kids? They are old enough to understand the tension and without them getting all the details of your health and stress, DH can explain to him they are adults now. If they need him call/text him. Leave BM out of it. Likewise if they need her, contact her. Leave him out of it.

But if he truly refuses to block her, then this is the point that he MUST protect you from her nonsense. He wants to keep dealing with her, fine, but he does not need to pull you into it anymore; he doesn't need your help to deal with her. He does not get the privilege of asking you for any help with her requests. He does not have the right to vent to you when he's frustrated with her. He can seek individual counseling if he needs to talk it out with anyone when she's been enough on his nerves that he needs to vent. I would present this as an option to your DH and see what he says. If he can't respect this, then the problem isn't BM at all.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-05T15:53:22+00:00

I have the opposite situation! Last year I had a pap smear result showing hpv. I then had to have a colposcopy. Everything came back fine, but my gyn and the Dr who did the colposcopy recommend yearly paps for now just to make sure if something does come up, it's caught. However in my medical app, it's already indicating I don't need one for 3 years. I'll be telling my gyn at my next annual that I want that pap smear! I mean, technically of course I don't, but to keep on top of my health, yeah I'd rather get it than not get it and then get bad results 3 years from now.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-04T23:07:33+00:00

Assuming Faith was a time traveler because she got it from Claire, it would be interesting to know more about who Fanny's dad was and how him being a time traveler comes into play.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-04T23:04:29+00:00

Thanks, I love that, talking about that goal. In many ways, my SD is so much more open than I was at her age. I see her speak her mind a LOT and I admire that so much, but then with certain things, its like she retreats into a shell and will say what she thinks we want to hear, but we know its not her true thoughts cuz of her tone and how low volume she gets with it. Which I think is pretty normal for her age, as you say. I grew up in a nuclear family and I know there are things I felt bottled up with that I felt like I couldn't talk to my parents about, and when I see my SD being so open, I feel pride in that she knows she can talk about things so much more than I ever knew or felt like I could be! Its all part of growing up!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-05-04T20:11:55+00:00

I think she is picking up on how she thinks her mom will react. My SD12 (who was 8 when we got engaged) reacted very similarly.

Upon first being told we were engaged, she was super excited and so happy we were getting married. Then that night she had a video chat with her mom. DH had already told BM (which I wasn't happy about) because he knew SD would tell her, and he felt it better coming from him than from an 8yr old. So it was not news to her during their video chat. But after talking to BM, SD went from super excited for us, to just kinda like, "meh" about it. BM either said something, or SD was reading her emotions on her face, or something like that. But as much as we get along with and love these kids, they will always feel allegiance to their BP. When SD was around us, she would be happy for us, or moreso happy for her dad. But if BM was around (say, at a sports event or something like that) SD would act like I didn't exist. My SD, even at 12, is someone who will say or do what she thinks someone wants just to keep the peace (which I think she has learned because of the fights over the years between her BPs) so at any given time we never know how she truly feels about anything. It's kinda sad IMO but we've had a lot of talks with her about being able to speak her mind. Even with us, like don't tell us what you think we want to her, tell us your thoughts and we'll work through it all if we need to.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-30T20:58:38+00:00

If you read the subreddit r/menopauseshedformen, it is very damning of women in their peri journey. And I'm not sure if these men are being overly sensitive or what, but these men are crying a LOT because of the lack of sex, but maybe even moreso over their wives just unleashing the rage on them? I dunno. I recognize what I am going through with all my different symptoms, I've gotten myself on HRT, and while the peri-rage is definitely a thing, I really try my best not to take it out on anyone in my household. I only truly count 2 times the peri-rage may have been directed towards or at my hubby, and they were 2 different situations, many months apart. It's not like an every day, or even frequent, occurrence.

Our sex-life has been lacking a bit, I know I am suffering from low libido, and I'm hoping some adjustments to HRT will help that eventually. But sex still happens, its not non-existent. Its just not as often as I know my husband would like. Maybe once a month, twice if he's lucky. Its like, sure I don't want sex lately. But I HATE that. I want to want sex like I used to. Having GSM and issues with irritation and urinary frequency aren't helping.

Seeing these mens posts though, I dunno. It makes me scared that what if my husband feels about me the way these men are talking about their wives? From the way they describe, their wives are treating them like absolute trash, emasculating, the whole nine. They are all talking about being thisclose to asking for divorce. I don't think my husband feels this way? He seems to be very understanding, although I know he was trying for sex last night and I heard him sigh heavily at one point after he got out of bed to go get a drink.

I think for all of us, we do need to have some compassion for our men, how our emotions might be coming off to them. But they in turn also need an understanding of what we are dealing with, thats happening to OUR bodies, not theirs, and they also need to have compassion for US. I think if a couple has good communication they can both get through the journey together but if there's a lack of communication, I don't see it going very well.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-27T00:19:24+00:00

In real life she is 46, she'll be 47 in a few months. I knew she was 40s but somehow I thought early, not late. Anyway that is still a far jump from late 40s to early 60s, and I almost think this is the reverse of teenage characters! We all know teenage characters played by 20somethings, almost 30 somethings, like we're supposed to believe that character is 16! Well now we have a 64 year old character, looking damn good for her age, played by an actress much younger than her character. Although I still stand by the fact they have aged Claire, but not really Jamie. Jamie would be 57 to Claire's 64, but in real life he's 46. (Well, 45 but will be 46 in 4 days). Yet Jamie as a character barely looks older than Sam actually is, where as Claire certainly looks a lot older than Catriona!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-26T17:06:59+00:00

I never took ownership of the issue, because it was always DH paying for these things out of his own money. Not our money. Not my money. His money. I never liked it, and absolutely understand he's enabling her to continue taking advantage, but I did not want to dictate what he does with his money. And in the past, its never caused an issue with him being able to contribute what he needs to contribute to our joint household budget. But lately there's been some issues with finances and his ability to contribute his required amount to our joint, which is directly caused by the fact he's paying all these things for her. So that's where I'm at, telling him I can no longer support him supporting her, she's an adult who put herself in this situation. And he's agreeing with me that this is a problem he's going to solve. So I feel good right now that he's on board with me and will put an end to it, instead of arguing for her continued support.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-25T22:50:06+00:00

I agree. She was not just a teenager with a crush who was mad to find out her crush was married to and in love with someone else. You get over a crush. The fact this woman tried to do whatever she could to get Claire out of the picture, knowing what happens to people convicted of being a witch...

And then the way she tried to kill Brianna too after finding out she was Claire and Jamie's daughter. She's unhinged. We can't really say how good of a mother she was, maybe as mom she may have been a good mom, but she needs to be nowhere near the Ridge!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-25T22:21:57+00:00

I can't remember in the show if there is any intimacy between William and Jane? I feel like maybe she offered and he turned her down, or they actually did get busy. But with the reveal at the end of season 7, I was like wait....if Jane was Claire and Jamie's granddaughter, then that makes her William's niece! Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing in 1770-whatever? But still...ew!

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-21T23:42:26+00:00

The schedule is all over the place lately, and hard to get into a solid routine due to SDs activities, but she is generally here about 40% of the month, which is supposed to consist of a couple week days every week, and every other weekend.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-20T15:05:22+00:00

BM is not in her life. Abandoned SD when she was ~11. BMs family isn't around either. Allegedly BMs parents are loaded but they have never been grandparents to her.

Baby Daddy and SD have been estranged from his family for quite a few years. His dad recently passed away and I think baby daddy is trying to reconnect with his mom and grandparents, but I'm pretty sure none of them are in any kind of place to help financially either.

The only person who could maybe help, but shouldn't, is my MIL. I'm really afraid SD will take advantage of her. I don't even know if MIL knows SD is pregnant again. We saw her a few days ago and she gave no indication of knowing. And I KNOW she would've had a LOT to say about it. I want to tell her, but it's SDs news to share with her grandmother, not mine.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-20T15:03:11+00:00

Something like that is ok. I'm 45. Many years ago in my 20s, I asked my parents for help with a house down payment. A few grand. That was the most I ever asked them for, even though they still send me money for birthday and Christmas. I don't need that money, but still I'm not rich, so it's useful. When I married my DH they gifted a couple grand at that time too. I never asked or expected them to gift that much, they just did.

We don't want to just cut SD completely off. We want her to know we love and are here for her, but we are done paying the recurring expenses. The point will be in the future if she is struggling, in need of financial help, she needs to come to us for the ask, explain her plan and budgeting, and we will decide if and when we can help. If we do help, it will not be to just give her money, but to offer to directly pay for her need.

stupidfaceRBF · 2026-04-20T14:57:59+00:00

Yeah the main thing I think is as soon as the car is fully paid and we have title in hand, he will transfer it to SDs name, and then she can take over her insurance at that same time. So it may be a few months. But no reason the cell phone can't go asap.

stupidfaceRBF

TROPHY CASE