To know anyone irl with munchausens?

[Lw87]

Watching the gypsy rose doc, I'd never heard of munchausens disease before and can't even think I'd know anyone with it in real life

Has anyone actually had an RL encounter with someone with this?

I know a munchausens by proxy, but she denied it despite the evidence against her.

I've worked with plenty of parents on the wards who have been suspected.

It's not called that now though.

@DontBiteTheBoobThatFeedsYou oh really? What is the new name for it?

I know someone whom I suspect has munchausens and also munchausens by proxy. Of course, I can never prove it so I keep my mouth shut, but I do feel for her three children, who all seem to have medical issue after medical issue.

As I understand it the Gypsy Rose case is one of Munchausen's "by proxy" not classic Munchausen's. The difference is fabricating illness in someone else not in the person with Munchausen's themselves. The NHS website says:

"Munchausen's syndrome is a psychological disorder where someone pretends to be ill or deliberately produces symptoms of illness in themselves.

"Munchausen's by proxy, is a type of Munchausen's syndrome.

This is where a person fakes or induces illness in a person under their care. Most cases involve a mother and her child."

Source: www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/munchausens-syndrome/overview/

yes I know someone with Munchausen's and Munchausen's by proxy. A thoroughly unpleasant, manipulative and devious individual I was unfortunate enough to get involved with some decades ago. Her sons are adult now, but both very severely damaged. So many medical problems we were told they had been diagnosed with, I still dont know which, if any were actually true. Awful

Eminem’s mum had this! I believe his little brother was put into care at one point because of it.

It’s now called factitious disorder. When I worked in hospital, had a few patients who were making themselves ill - tampering and inserting things into their cannulas/PICC lines etc.

I work in education and have come across cases of suspected FII (Fabricated Induced Illness) before, although its actually very difficult to prove.

I have seen patients who have done this. One patient went round A abs E departments pretending to have been raped. That was pretty distressing as a health care professional .

My mother called social services to report me for having munchausen by proxy a few times (we haven't spoken for over a decade).

She said I was coaching my dd to be autistic - there was never a suggestion, appointment or anything else to suggest she had it. My mother heard a couple of things, added 2 and 2 and came up with 3483.

Said that I forced one of my dc to come out as gay so I could claim extra benefit money

The worst one was when she said that I was calling my son by the name of my dead son and was trying to replace my child.

I do know someone who used to fake fits and other symptoms in their child to get taken through to a big city so they could go shopping there and get hospital transport back home, they used to laugh about their child having a lumbar puncture for nothing. Their child eventually got removed from them for different reasons.

DH nearly lost his job over someone with it. The details aren't suitable for sharing but it was awful, she was awful. As soon as any professionals started getting close to the truth she made complaints against them and moved on to the next. It all ended very tragically because of what she did to her children. And the professionals that engaged with her.
It can be extremely dangerous

@olympicsrock

I have seen patients who have done this. One patient went round A abs E departments pretending to have been raped. That was pretty distressing as a health care professional .

You have my sympathies. Sadly it seems not uncommon,

@DaphneDeloresMoorhead

DH nearly lost his job over someone with it. The details aren't suitable for sharing but it was awful, she was awful. As soon as any professionals started getting close to the truth she made complaints against them and moved on to the next. It all ended very tragically because of what she did to her children. And the professionals that engaged with her. It can be extremely dangerous

Yes oh my goodness Similar to my situation Few of us got a meeting together to share concerns and she put serious complaints in against us

I know the parent who was fabricating her child's illness would prob do that
I could not stand by and say nothing

Glad I did so

I remember watching an episode on tv of one of the documentaries that follows ambulances around. There was a woman on it who claimed to be about 20 weeks pregnant and in labour having a miscarriage. It was all completely fake. She had apparently done it multiple times and been taken into hospital for the same thing over and over again. One of the ambulance people had had an actual miscarriage and was really upset by it.

I know of a parent who was claiming her children had all sorts of illnesses that they didn’t, saying publicly that one had Leukaemia!
When a social worker came into school to look at one of the children we tried to tell her, and many other officials but no one would listen.

I knew someone with munchausens. At least, I suspect she had it, she was diagnosed as having a personality disorder. But the things she would do and say.
Sudden onset of random chest pains and dizziness, collapsing to the floor, begging me to ring an ambulance. They'd come out and wire her up, normal results, but they'd always end up taking her in to hospital because of one thing or another.
Every week a stream of pictures of her in a hospital bed, pictures of cannulas. Always a serious illness. The list of conditions she has or has had is long, meningitis, heart attacks, fibromyalgia, temporary blindness, severe breathlessness, etc.
Last I spoke to her, she had some paralysis condition and was wheelchair bound, in one of those chairs with a joystick control? She fell out of it apparently and broke her wrist in such a horrific way that she can't use that hand anymore.
While it's quite fascinating, I think it must be awful to be so unwell in your mental health to be like that.

Gypsy rose was a victim of munchausen by proxy. Unfortunately I think it is more common than we hear of. I have suspected it with an odd individual but who would ever admit it? I don’t think anyone can really confirm it

Yes I've come across a few patients with it.
One sticks in my mind in particular

Quite distressing

Yes. Very hard to prove and very distressing when it is so glaringly obvious to the professional however. I have heard of parents with munchausens by proxy intimidate consultants etc and lodge formal complaints against health professionals who don't give them what they want. It's awful.

My mums cousin almost definitely has it. She is insane and very nasty with it. She demanded an appointment with a gynaecologist, the one that she got told her he couldn't see anything untoward so she demanded a different doctor look at her until they found something basically. She phones ambulances for headaches. Constantly phones the Gp and has a stash on antibiotics in her house. Any illness that anybody has, guarenteed she has had it and 100x worse. She's painful to listen to.

Yes, in the DDs primary.

What channel was the documentary on please?

Yup. She miraculously gets any condition that’s en vogue or that someone around her is diagnosed with. Her children have been diagnosed with all sorts (or not and she just tells people they are). Of course all the conditions are things that can’t really be tested for it can be manipulated. When DS was diagnosed with glue ear, she and one of her children suddenly became “deaf” and needed hearing aids. She even tried to get the child into a school for the deaf… for glue ear…

Yes I have supported someone in the community with it. It's very sad. We had many issues. Multi agencies were aware, she was banned from calling 999 eventually.