I know someone who does this all the time and she is very irritating. She is an alpha mum type, and I know her from a local mother and toddler group. There are about 10 of us that are friends from the group, and we all meet up regularly with the DC and have mums' nights out.
She always has to have things far worse than anyone else does. Initially it was PND. Several of us in the group, myself included, had it, but somehow she decided hers was far worse than anyone else's, and somehow managed to get the sympathy and attention of the whole group of friends, whilst anyone else with PND was overlooked and basically made to feel that we were lucky as we "hadn't had PND as bad as poor X". This woman also has private healthcare insurance, so she went to see a private psychiatrist, and basically I feel that often with private care you get told whatever you want to hear, as obviously it keeps you paying if you get good treatment. And the private consultant was happy to confirm that her PND was "severe" even though she generally seemed perfectly fine. I'm not saying she didn't have PND by the way, just that I don't think it was any worse than anyone else's.
Now it's the same with her child. If ever anyone else's child is unwell, hers is always far worse. She takes him to see a private GP if her GP doesn't say what she wants to hear. I posted a facebook status a few days ago about my son having a cold, and she replied saying her son was far worse, he had tonsillitis, and that I was lucky it was only a cold. His teething was apparently far worse than the teething that anyone else's child has gone through. Giving birth was apparently far more painful both times that she has gone through it than it has been for anyone else.
She just really annoys me. I can't avoid her unfortunately as we all often meet up, but I just find her so attention seeking.
AIBU?
To get fed up with people that always have to 'trump' anyone else's illness?
mollymalloolamoomoy · 22/02/2014 19:58
Private GP? Do these exist? usually with medical insurance you have to see the poor bog 
standard NHS GP and be referred. I await to be told my ins is somehow substandard
DMil had a Sil like this. When DMil had a very rare illness that requires specific treatment, lo and behold Sil was going through the same thing. When DMil had cancer, Sil was having treatment for 'cancerous' lumps on her scalp, or cysts as everybody else thought. DMil has since died from her cancer. 
I could have lumped Sil when she said they'd shared a Macmillan nurse. Um, no, you didn't actually. You didn't even see a bloody Macmillan nurse. Bloody attention seeker. It's not empathy, it's attention seeking.
We all know someone like this, I'm afraid! No helpful advice really, other than just keep your distance and breathe 
well I guess it might have been. I had pnd but sil deffo had it worse
Even so overall yanbu I hate competitiveness over children. Maybe she should take up tennis if she wants to compete?
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YANBU, I live with a girl like this.
OH works lates delivering pizza as well as studying full-time, after a few days of continuous shifts followed by full days in uni, housemate asked him how he was. He said 'A bit tired' and she said "You think YOU'RE tired? Have you not seen how much I'm working?". She spent two weeks working two hours a night after uni in a call centre, sitting down, before the job finished.
Asked me how I was and I said my back hurt - I was 23 weeks pregnant and helping to roll out floor mats for our Christmas show, she was sat down watching. She scoffed, rolled her eyes and said "You should try waking up with back pain EVERY day". I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was 23 weeks pregnant, I DID wake up with back pain every day
Everything that happens to someone, happens twice as badly to someone she knows, and vice versa. Having a chat with one of my lecturers recently, and she was asking about the pregnancy and plans for when the baby arrives etc, and housemate kept jumping in, telling us all about her friends' pregnancy and what her friends are doing with their babies, and what she'd be doing if she had a baby.
Latest is that she's no longer talking to me and got in a huff with everyone at uni, because I was in hospital for a couple of days and didn't tell her exactly why before I told anyone else. I told my best friend on the course instead, he spread the news around, and apparently she was fuming that I didn't tell her because she's my housemate and she should've been the one to tell everyone and have all the questions etc. Unsurprisingly, she hasn't once asked how I am.
If she does, I'll be telling her all the gruesome details about how my bowels aren't functioning normally and all the lovely side effects that go with it. Not pleasant conversation but would be interesting to see if she tries to 'top it' when it's something distinctly un-glamorous
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