It’s completely normal. You’ll likely start seeing some peeling after just a few days—mine started about a week in, but my second one actually began peeling by day three or four. Whatever you do, please don't pick at it. Just keep rinsing it with water and applying Bepanthen exactly like you were instructed. It might itch like crazy, which can be incredibly frustrating, but you really shouldn't scratch or pull at anything. It is perfectly standard for that top layer of ink to flake off. Pretty soon after that happens, the tattoo settles into your skin and won't feel raised anymore.
I really think your absolute top priority needs to be getting clean. No matter how much of a loving or responsible mother you are, the system isn't going to let someone struggling with addiction raise a child. You have to get rid of the drugs—both for your own sake and for the well-being of your baby. I once met a girl who had spent six years in rehab, and she’s currently three months pregnant. She fought incredibly hard to get sober, which meant walking away from her old crowd entirely and moving out of the neighborhood where everything first started for her. She realized pretty quickly that if she didn't make a change, her life was headed for total ruin. I suspect you already know this deep down, but now you have an extra layer of motivation that is incredibly powerful. You might want to look into joining a local recovery community; a lot of people swear by them, and even the folks on this forum suggest it, but if you go that route, you really have to stick to their rules. Just keep in mind that both your future and your child's destiny depend entirely on your decision to get sober. Good luck 😘
Yeah, I deal with that quite a bit too, mostly whenever I’m just completely burnt out. Sometimes the stress hits me so hard it actually catches me off guard, and my nerves just start fraying. That feeling of being paralyzed is honestly the worst part. It feels like my brain is stuck in this hyperactive state of semi-consciousness where everything is dialed up to eleven. As soon as I hear the kids playing outside or even just the sound of older folks nearby, my mind snaps into this state of total, piercing alertness, yet my body feels like it's been poured into concrete from pure exhaustion. I struggle just to move an inch. Once I finally manage to get up, I’m usually so drained that I just crash back into sleep, unless I practically force myself to roll onto the floor just to stay awake because I'm terrified of slipping back into that state. I'm not sure if there's a specific psychological term for this phenomenon? I'd really love to find a real explanation beyond just the usual cliché answers..
Emily Foster4 said:I have a ring tattoo, and when I was getting it done, my guy told me that tattoos never move down there.
It’s definitely not going anywhere. That's exactly why you really need to think twice about whether you want to go with some random butterfly or something that actually represents who you are...
Does it really matter if everyone else is doing it these days? I don't see how what everybody else chooses to do has anything to do with you personally. To me, it feels like people just rush out and get tattoos without thinking about them for more than a few years, whereas I believe you should really sit with the idea for a long time. I mean, what's even the point of following the crowd? I heard there's a clinic over on Sunset Boulevard that handles removals, but honestly, I'm a bit worried about what the end result might actually look like...
mistyseal11 said:ha, 😬 😬 someone really needs to study for those damn exams 🤣
😈 ....you should have been doing this regularly .... 🙂 🧐 🙂 every single day, instead of being like this....
🙂 🙂
...just look at the absolute mess on Elm Street... 🤣
Yeah, I definitely need to. It just happens that after working all day, I'll sit down to watch a movie in the evening and suddenly I'm so hooked that I end up staying up until 2 AM, and then there is absolutely no way I'm waking up before 1 PM. It's been like this for a while now. Usually, I have a decent routine where I go to bed around 2 AM and get up by 9 or 10 depending on my classes at NYU, but lately, my schedule has been a total disaster.
Andrew Clark, where can I actually find some of that? And how much does it usually run me?
So... I’m looking for those old-school, "grandma’s kitchen" kind of remedies to deal with fatigue and constant sleepiness. Coffee just doesn't seem to do much for me anymore. I can handle a few Red Bulls if I really need to, but is there anything else out there that actually helps clear the mental fog?
I honestly believe that talent acts as a massive head start. While you can certainly achieve just about anything through sheer practice, having that natural gift combined with hard work puts you leagues ahead of someone who is relying on effort alone.
I never have and I never will. I don't buy into those stories about how you can't get hooked or how it's somehow healthy, because I have a friend who started out just smoking a little bit with her group at her grandma's place once a week, and before she knew it, she was doing it multiple times a day. It didn't even stop there, since the marijuana eventually lost its appeal for her, so she ended up moving on to things like ecstasy and other stuff. If that's someone's way, then more power to them. Personally, I think spending $83 every month on cigarettes—which I've already managed to get addicted to—is plenty of stupidity for me, let alone getting into something like marijuana that isn't even remotely harmless.
Everything seems to be healing up just fine on my end without any issues. It looks like some areas have just flaked off; I actually shaved my legs today, and it feels like that peeling effect has been there for a little while now. Looking closely at it, it doesn't really look like the ink is fading, but more like the actual skin is peeling away. I am wondering if this is just a normal part of the healing process or if I should be worried about something going wrong. By the way, my skin tends to get pretty dry.
To be more specific, it looks more flaky than anything else, though that’s mostly just how it appears visually.
graniteeagle10 said:Has anyone actually had a bad experience with tattoos, and what’s the word on the shop in Washington, D.C. run by Gandalf? My son is really pushing for one, so I'm feeling a little anxious about the whole thing. Any advice?
Look, some people might have had issues, but for the most part, everything usually turns out fine. The shop with Gandalf in Washington, D.C. is incredibly expensive, though. If you want my opinion, I'd suggest going to Mustard—they work with Robyttatoo over on Tratinski Street.
It’s been about seven days since my skin started peeling more noticeably, and now that I’m on day nine, I can actually feel the texture changing under my fingers whenever I apply lotion. Honestly, I’m feeling a bit lost right now because I really don't know what the next steps should be—like, when is it safe to take the film off, and when will I actually be able to go back to my normal hair removal routine on my leg?
And honestly, what reason does anyone have to worry about them accidentally overdosing? If anything, we should just let them finish what they started. ☕