re: photos and how normal everyone looks..

I notice that some have photos of themsevles with their posts. I can't helpbut see how 'normal' everyone looks. You would never know how much pain is within. I think perhaps that this is the reason it is so difficult to get across how much pain we're in. Speaking for myself when I am in the worst of it nobody see's me. So nobody truly 'gets' it. Any thoughts?

the reason i look so normal in my picture with my posts is that it isn't me!
the picture posted is of my 39-year old daughter, with her cute dog. i used to look like she does, more or less. now, i'm just an older, white-haired and wrinklier version.

people often say i look "good". i don't believe them, of course, because i don't feel good at all. still, it's better than being told one looks like hell, isn't it?

when i'm at my pain-filled worst, there is no mistaking me for looking anything like good. but i'm glad people on the street don't stop and tell me i look like i'm at death's door. that would be much worse, imho. dianne

I don't take photo's when I'm not well. I simply can not tolerate the flashes, even on good days, so we don't have many photo's of me in the past few years.

Charlotte

Oh, that's not you! Oh well, your daughter looks good then!! ha ha

My picture is the British Isles covered in snow.
Believe me that looks better and more normal than me.

I think it's kinda like facebook or any other public thing, People let you see what they want you to see.

I was having a good day, (below zero temperatures are good for my migs.) that's why I put this one on here, and my dog brings me such joy, even in the midst of it, he lays with me and cuddles and knows when I am hurting.

Well sorry to say...I'm not a dog. I feel like I've been run over by a pack of them often. I just haven't had enough good days to feel up to taking a recent photo. I have figured out my digital camera but don't want to show this face to the world.

aha, so i'm not the only one who has a digital camera and can't face learning how to use it!!

my youngest son gave me one for xmas. i had told everyone i DID NOT want one, but he thought i should have something better than my cell phone and disposable cameras.

well......it's into march and i haven't even looked at it yet. son doesn't live here, but daughter will (someday) teach me how to use it, when i feel up to learning a new "thing" and reading a book about it.

for gosh's sake, even the toaster i got for xmas has a book one must read to learn how to use the dratted thing. dianne

Well, I see your point. I find it hard, because I'm like the quiet one out of my friends (well not that quiet with my close friends). I try to smile and have a good time with them, because I do not want to think about M's.

So when people see me. I don't look like I'm in pain. They don't see me as a girl with a 'medical condition' or 'problem'. It's hard, when I'm hurting and they think I'm just having a hard/bad day.

My picture is not of me, but I photo of a wood plaque that says "Believe in yourself and all things are possible". It's my personal motto.
I don't know where I got it from, or how long I had it, but it's been with me hanging on my wall through the good and bad times for as long as I can remember.

Lillian

My picture's not of me either but it's kinda how I feel somedays. I picked the picture because on bad days inside my head is the old swollen "block of cheese" and the meds make my thinking kinda fuzzy. I'm a forum admin elsewhere and learned early on that posting real pictures can lead to problems...the copy - paste kind, so I tend to shy away from it. If it works for some people, all the better

Of course my avatar picture is not me
I put a penguin because they in the cold and cold is the best thing for my migraine.
I think that no one would ever put a picture of him/herself during a migraine
We look so scary
Bye

Funny, cold helps me when I get a migraine sometimes to, in the winter when I have one that isn't to bad yet, I try to get out and go for a little walk, sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

I actually think people don't know the real me. I am usually always medicated or in pain and am pretty quiet when I do get out amongst people. Weird huh?

sherri b wrote:I actually think people don't know the real me. I am usually always medicated or in pain and am pretty quiet when I do get out amongst people. Weird huh?

Yes, that's how I feel.

My picture is me, but I don't often stand on my head. If there is pain this is a sure fire way to make it a lot worse. I guess I just like the picture.

from my experience with my family I have come to believe that people do not want to know. Most people. And also, we put up a good front and a good mask. None of the people at work know I have most days a migraine b/c I smile and appear cheerful when that is the last thing I feel. It makes me feel like I'm living a lie though. And when my family calls and we talk and I say nothing about the pretty much 24/7 migraine, it's upsetting b/c I don't have to rant about it, but it takes up so much of my life but nothing is said. But it's why I don't have a lot to say. Sure, I can get to work (by sheer will) and keep my house and husband, but that's about it. There's no more energy for anything else.

I understand completely! Thank goodness we are slow at work right now and I am only required to make it 2 days a week now, (last week had to call off one of them) but it is a battle and a struggle everyday....

Paradox - Charlotte - I LOVE your bear picture! I have one on my desktop where the bear has found a small mound of icy-snow and flopped down, head first into it, bum in the air.

My picture of a wave means to me an ice cold wash of the pain away and the sun is hope in the future.

Angela

It's frustrating when you don't look like you have a chronic illness. People just don't get it. Even those closest to you. I sometimes wish that I looked like I felt. That something would be obvious so that people would understand that I am not as healthy as I seem.

Alli

I often notice that my daughter frequently looks so much better than I do. I am always the one who is a mess with stains all over me, greasy unkempt hair and bags under my eyes and she is the picture of perfection. She represents me well when I used to be healthy so I'd much rather a picture of her up than me.

dCook 60 - So people are fessing up. I have a digital I haven't bothered with yet either. My kids gave me a GPS and digital camera for Christmas. I have conquered the GPA (pretty simple) and am sure the camera is just as simple. It is JUST ONE MORE THING though. I owe people pictures though so I have to get with it.

Face your fears! Hey, if I can learn so could anybody! What's it gonna be like when we are in our 70's? technology, yikes