Facebook Lashing

For those of you who may not know, I have a migraine page on Facebook, Migraine Awareness. It is basically an extension of this page with more of a conversational tone to it and some informational content thrown in. If you haven't checked it out, you should...(I had to throw that in--no more plugging, I promise..).  I have been so delighted with the page--it's growth is steady, many regulars comment and connect with me and with each other, valuable and interesting information is shared, stories exchanged, moral and emotional support is being given and so forth...I figured everyone who visited or who has been a part of the page was happy with it, too. Little did I know that there was a hater is the wings!  A woman and a migraine sufferer to boot basically ripped me a new one, to put it bluntly! She criticized me for not having enough information on the page. She called me narcissistic and a whiner! I could not believe it! I have been criticized by non-migraine sufferers who do not understand what having a migraine or living with chronic pain is like, so when this happens, it does not surprise me. But, I have never, until now, been so thoroughly insulted and dismissed by a fellow migraineur. My first thought was to tell her off...how dare she treat me like that?  Who the hell did she think she was?! But, then, I thought about it for a bit, and I realized that maybe she just needed to be steered in the right direction. So, I kindly pointed out that the page was not intended to be wholly (or even mostly) informational, that it was designed to be a page where migraine sufferers could share their stories, struggles, experiences and support one another, and, if that was not what she was looking for, then, she did not have to return to the page---seemed pretty innocuous and quite obvious to me. She did, in fact, return to the page after several of my regular posters defended me and my page (thank you, my friends!), still accusing, not only me now, but others on my site of being whiners! I guess one cannot assume that just because another is engaged in a similar struggle that she is automatically an ally. I have learned my lesson.