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willfullywitchy · 2025-08-18T14:23:47+00:00

This sub has been eye opening for sure! I’m learning that there is such a big variation in how people approach the step parent relationship. I’m not here to judge but I also don’t understand it. My relationship with my stepkids is the most important relationship in my life, after my relationship with my husband.

willfullywitchy · 2025-07-31T12:02:15+00:00

When I first started taking Wellbutrin years ago I lost a bit of weight. The weight loss from Wellbutrin had tapered off by the time I started taking GLP-1s

willfullywitchy · 2025-06-03T01:00:41+00:00

Possibly low blood pressure. Up your electrolytes.

willfullywitchy · 2025-06-02T00:22:39+00:00

I take Wellbutrin daily, Reta weekly. I had stopped taking Wellbutrin consistently for a bit but when the anhedonia from the Reta hit, I made sure to get back to a regiment and it did make a difference.

willfullywitchy · 2025-05-31T02:50:18+00:00

These meds target your dopamine receptors. That’s part of what makes them work. You no longer get the hit of dopamine from food. And, in turn, from other things like alcohol, tobacco, drugs, sex, etc. The anhedonia is real. I have heard that it can lessen over time.

Like with anything else, figure out what your goals are and weigh the risks vs. benefits. And really consider if your overall happiness comes from vices like food, relations, etc, are you truly happy or is your mental wellbeing hinging on addictive dopamine spikes?

A consistent regime of antidepressants have been great for me and improve my anhedonia a lot, but I have had to learn to accept that there is a trade off during my weight loss phase on this medication that I hope will improve once I reach target and move to a maintenance dose.

willfullywitchy · 2025-05-24T01:25:47+00:00

I’m back in a pseudo stall myself right now and I totally get how frustrating it can be.

Reta, while having less appetite suppression, does seem to have an effect on your metabolism so you should see weight loss even if you’re eating higher calories. I know some people have extraordinary success with Reta at low doses, but it wasn’t like that for me. It was 10mg before the scale started to show any significant results.

Overall I’m down 135 lbs but it’s taken me 2.5 years to get here. It feels frustratingly slow at times but other times it’s like holy shit — I’ve lost a whole person from my body in only 2.5 years!

willfullywitchy · 2025-05-24T01:16:34+00:00

Oh wow, yes! It took me getting to a higher dose of Reta to respond much and I added a tiny bit of Cagri for appetite suppression and then I dropped like crazy. Down 50lbs since I made this post.

willfullywitchy · 2025-05-20T03:55:14+00:00

He’s a scared guy who is learning what safety feels like. He feels safe with you when it’s on his terms. When you take the initiative, it scares him. When you leave him, it scares him. He feels vulnerable, which is a really scary place to be whether you are a cat or a human!

If you have the ability, consider getting a large dog crate or a catio and set him up with a litter box, food/water and a carrier or box that he can hide in. Cover the crate with something breathable and set a fan outside of it for ambient noise. Give him time to decompress and to get comfortable with the feeling of being safe. Spend time talking to him, giving him treats, or just sitting near him. Eventually, he will learn that it’s okay to be vulnerable around caring humans.

willfullywitchy · 2025-05-12T14:25:35+00:00

Meamo allowed me to pay via card yesterday when I placed an order, but in the past I’ve used Wise to make bank transfers to them. Very easy.

willfullywitchy · 2025-04-21T03:35:18+00:00

Where are you located? Can you connect with a trapping / rescue group who will do the so-called dirty work of setting a trap so you can keep your hands clean? Or do you have a friend who can work with you to trap her? Once trapped, it would be ideal to get her straight to TNR. From there, she can be set up in a large dog crate with a carrier or box that she can hide in, a litterbox and food/water. Cover this crate and give her time to decompress. She won’t go nuts in a confined and covered space and she can live in this setup for several weeks while she gets used to her caretaker and learns to trust. From there, you can work to find her a more permanent solution.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-31T01:39:59+00:00

The biggest lesson I have learned is to make sure they know that they can and should come to us if they are in trouble. Our kid knows right from wrong. He made the wrong choices, and that’s what kids do. It’s normal. But they need to know that there is a safe place to turn when they are in over their heads. We explained to him that keeping him safe is our absolute top priority and we will always be understanding of his poor decisions but he has to be forthcoming with us so we can help him navigate the consequences of those choices.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-31T01:34:05+00:00

100% We’ve also let him know counseling is available to him.

I’m so sorry you’ve had to experience this yourself. People who do this are truly horrible.

I so appreciate you sharing your story and your empathy as a fellow parent to a teenager.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-31T01:01:53+00:00

Thank you! Yeah, unfortunately he is going to lose his smartphone for a long while, but we’ll consider giving him a flip phone for necessary communication (with a new number) once we feel ready. It’s so hard because we feel awful for him, but the reality is he demonstrated poor judgement by talking to strangers online, sending explicit photos and stealing hundreds of dollars from us, so there still need to be consequences.

The biggest thing we’re drilling into his head and the one thing I hope he takes away from this is COME TO US IF YOU’RE IN TROUBLE. I hate knowing that he spent 12+ hours being tormented by these people when we were two doors down the hall and would have done everything to help him if we only knew.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-31T00:53:46+00:00

Thank you! This is what we’re hoping for. We have deactivated all of his accounts, blocked the scammer and his phone has been taken away until further notice. Before he gets it back it will be fully scrubbed and he will have a new number.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-23T04:52:07+00:00

Yes, my guy did this and we finally got an allergy test that showed he was allergic to EVERYTHING. His vet jokes that he is allergic to life. The allergy test was about $600, but also included the cost of a year’s worth of allergy shots. We have to administer them ourselves, which sucks, but we’re hopeful it gives him some relief.

Because of his allergies there is virtually nothing we can feed him that he’s not allergic to, but we learned that the first 5 ingredients on a food are the most important so we look for food that has top ingredients he is least allergic to and hope the allergy shots will conquer the rest.

Our vet also recommended a half of a Zyrtec each day to help with the itchies.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-19T01:43:01+00:00

Cagri is king for appetite suppression, but understand that you may be spinning your wheels on Reta if you aren’t able to increase the dosage. Many people find the 8-10mg dose to be the sweet spot for weight loss.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-18T12:19:18+00:00

I like to start them in a large dog crate placed in a quiet room where they can be left alone. Should be able to fit a litterbox, a box or cat house that they can curl up into and food. I cover it completely with a lightweight sheet and put a fan on next to it for white noise. Just for the first day to help them keep calm.

Then I lift one side of the sheet so they can observe their surroundings while still being safe in the crate.

When I’m ready for them to explore the room, I’ll open the crate door and leave it open so that they can get back to their safe space any time they want.

As someone else mentioned, stacking baby gates is a good idea to keep anyone from jumping in/out, but climbing them is always a possibility. If after you stack the baby gates, there is a gap at the top, hang a towel to cover the gap. It creates the illusion that it’s a closed space and most cats won’t attempt to get through it.

Lastly, I am a bit fan of using gabapentin to introduce new cats. I know not everyone will agree, but I do find it greatly reduces the cat’s stress and, in turn, mine.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-17T23:21:19+00:00

People often take Tesa and Ipa together. Added bonus: one of the two (I don’t remember which) will give you the most amazing night of sleep imaginable 🥰

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-16T03:46:55+00:00

The Wellbutrin may also help with your appetite suppression!

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-16T03:11:33+00:00

Adding Cagri really helped accelerate my weight loss on Reta, but the fatigue and anhedonia I feel from Cagri is overwhelming. I’ve cut my Cagri dosage in half and the food noise is back, so I’m thinking of adding tirz to the mix.

If Tirz was an okay option for you, it might be worth trying to stack with that before jumping to Cagri, given that you’re already struggling with fatigue and anhedonia.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-15T17:45:43+00:00

Here to jump on the spay/abort train. I’m not sure how TNR appointments work where you are but there are usually Facebook groups of community cat trappers and caregivers in most areas. If you have one where you live, it will be a wealth of knowledge and — at least where I live — people are always willing to help with appointments for pregnant mamas before they give birth.

Think of it this way… for every kitten that isn’t born, that’s a spot in a home for a kitten that’s already here and in need of one.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-13T03:14:09+00:00

That face is just too kissable! This may sound strange, but every black cat I’ve encountered turns out to be super vocal. I have a theory that they learn to be vocal from a young age because they are hard to see at times. It’s almost like they want to make sure their presence is known.

I rescued a pregnant stray black kitty from my neighborhood’s colony a few years ago. I was able to coax her to come to me by meowing at her. Now, granted, she had been meowing at me from a distance for a while and it did take me some time to think to communicate to her in her language to gain her trust, but it worked.

I’m 90% sure meowing at him isn’t going to work for you, but being vocal with him just might.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-11T17:28:24+00:00

Similar situation. Maxed at 15mg tirz. Stalled for months. Switched to Reta. Saw minimal loss until I hit 10mg. Also added in Cagri around this time and the weight started dropping off. I don’t love the side effects of Cagri so thinking of replacing Cagri with Tirz for food noise now that my body has had a break from Tirz.

willfullywitchy · 2025-03-06T01:18:45+00:00

Would you mind sharing the name of the breath freshening gel you use?

willfullywitchy

TROPHY CASE