So, picking the wrong primer for the ceiling shouldn’t be too big a deal, right?
Wrong.
Turns out that when your ceiling drywall wasn’t primed 25 years ago when they put the stipple on it, you really should use an oil-based sealer and primer before you put new texture on it, or you can expect yellow colour bleed through the new texture. 2 top coats of what should have gone under the texture just makes shiny circles and splotches appear, and even the oil-based flat finish that I was assured covered up even the worst crimes scenes (eewwww!) doesn’t fix the problem. Stripping the ceiling and starting from scratch may be the next step.
The next solution better be the final solution. I don’t care how it gets fixed.
In the meantime, grit teeth, smile, repeat.
my vote would be strip it and refinish in a nice smooth painted surface. I detest the stipple our ceilings have and said we should at least do that in the bathroom while they were in there, but I got voted down. However, my dad snuck in there and repainted it, so it looks really good. But that doesn’t address your ceiling.
Depending on the stipple, it could be removed by saturating with water and scraping off …
Sounds like it is time for some mindless knitting and junk TV.