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?

@Rosemaryandlemon I think @Mickarooni has said it well These people still need NHS resources, just different ones.

Yes unfortunately, an ex EDT SW. Horrific for not only the children and their wider families but also the individual with the disorder and the suffering they imposed on their victims.

I have found it really hard to read this thread.
Munchausens, Fii, I was accused of many years ago by my Ds1's primary school, when I suggested he had ASD.

I found that incredibly insulting when I eventually found out about it, when I asked for a copy of the school records. I fell to my knees and sobbed. My solicitor said it was all part of their 'systematic bullying'.

On the Mn SN boards there have been many many posters who have been accused of it, re their ASD children.

It very well known thing that schools do re parents wanting to get their child's ASD recognised. It's bullying by the school. They have no medical knowledge to suggest a mum has fii.

I remember a link I found at the time, in 2014, sorry it's the mail newspaper. fii

I’m sorry this has been difficult for you @Oblomov21. I am concerned at how people are throwing around these terms but please know they do so without really understanding it and not knowing what it actually means. FII is poorly understood by healthcare professionals also, so we all need to be careful. It’s a huge accusation.

@Schuyler

It’s unusual so many MNers know multiple people with FII given it is rare. I’ve seen it once in my long professional career.

For those who genuinely suspect FII - you need to contact children’s social care immediately. It is a form of a child abuse, in the same way as not feeding your child or physically assaulting them is abuse.

The reason I didn't report is I wasn't in the doctor's appts with this woman and her child. Interestingly she was a medical professional herself. It was all very odd but I really didn't trust myself/feel informed enough.

This mother's "thing" was allergies, so also very hard to prove or disprove. None of the symptoms ever emerged when the child was with others but it was always: they're not careful enough.

Difficult but the child did go through so much.

This thread has depressed me, it makes me wonder what people say about me and my dd, she has hypermobility, chronic fatigue and very painful periods, she’s also being tested for POTs and autism, they can all be co-morbidities of each other.

Because of the suspected asd I mostly speak for her at medical appointments as she can’t, I do worry what they think.

With other people I actually downplay her problems in case they think I’m exaggerating, I worry how people will treat her in the future

IMO there's a difference between people who relish the drama of being ill, and people who don't.

Have you faked an illness? Told your children repeatedly that you were probably dying and this time really was your last holiday, birthday or Christmas together? Called ambulances routinely and spent hours in A and E being tested for everything, had mysterious surgeries? Told your children they had life threatening allergies (which they've been tested for as adults and er, no, we don't)?

If not, you're probably not one of the people being mentioned here, but surely you can understand why medics should be alert for it or consider it as a possibility? Whatever the label for it, it happens.

@Indespair

I have unfortunately had several friends with children with health problems, ranging from CFS, cancer, to learning and physical disabilities.

There are no similarities between them and this woman.

I am talking about a situation whereby the mum would contest anything positive heath-wise to do with her child. Anything positive required "further investigstion" to confirm her concerns/beliefs were in fact correct. These were often unpleasant and time consuming investigations for the child.

I guess you could say it was an extreme form of health anxiety
Possibly? But one that had day to day consequences for the child and their ability to live their life independently from the parent.

I.kmow someone with this
. . Wd be v keen.to.get advise on hoe to deal with it.. if u agree wirh.them.feels like.colusion ??

Sorry if someone has mentioned this but has anyone seen those people on you tube that claim to have multiple personalities? I’m pretty sure a girl has recently been accused of making it all up. I’ll try to find a link

Yes, Tik Tok is full of them.

I don't know personally but know of
Can't go into specifics as very outing.
A person was drugging her baby and brought said baby into work to show everyone how poorly baby was. When got took to a and e baby was found to have high doses of anti depressants which were a sedative type in system. Baby got took of the person. Persons partner changed locks and took custody of baby. Person had supervised contact after and baby thrived. Before been found out baby was under weight and constantly poorly at hospital

@OVienna allergies can be an absolute nightmare in a child, leading to other difficulties, and they won't show if they are being managed, and also they aren't hard to prove or disprove, you can have tests, it is pretty straightforward. One of my dc had a breathing issue and the doctor prescribed extensive allergy tests, and the outcome was pretty clear. This woman might have had anxiety. And she might have been hacked off about being constantly questioned about things which could be fatal to her child. Or she may have had M by Proxy as you suspected, who knows.

I’d rather people were vigilant than pretended it didn’t happen.

@oblomov21 what was the outcome in the end, did you get your dc assessed for ASD? What did the school do? There is a certain irony in the fact that it is ASD which is often armchair diagnosed, perhaps they were outraged that you had queried it first and armchair diagnosed you with FII instead.

A lot of people mentioning faking hEDS here.

I was told by a GP that I would not be happy until my daughters were ill.

My daughters (both adults) would ask me to attend their GP appointments out of frustration as they thought they weren't being taken seriously.

They were diagnosed at University College Hospital in London a couple of years ago. They were 23 yrs and 25 yrs of age. One has hEDS and the other Classical EDS.

Since their diagnosis, I was diagnosed at the grand old age of 53 yrs - hEDS.

We were all previously diagnosed (incorrectly - from the consultant's mouth) - fibromyalgia.

We all have some form of autonomic dysfunction as a result of the Ehlers type condition.

My 'fantastic' GPs have always hoodwinked me into believing that my aches, pains, dislocations, dizziness, slow wound healing were due to hypothyroidism.

Good job I found a brilliant endocrinologist who pointed us in the right direction and we finally got a correct diagnosis because my 'fantastic' GP had ME questioning my own sanity. He was implying that I had projected my own health difficulties onto my daughters when in fact they had inherited my undiagnosed condition.

My daughters both have much worse problems with their conditions than I ever suffered.

Lots of medical people on here relating tales of how common mental health issues are with regards to people faking illness when there's many more suffering as a result of misdiagnosis by people who are well paid to do their jobs competently.

[quote sjpiold]@OVienna allergies can be an absolute nightmare in a child, leading to other difficulties, and they won't show if they are being managed, and also they aren't hard to prove or disprove, you can have tests, it is pretty straightforward. One of my dc had a breathing issue and the doctor prescribed extensive allergy tests, and the outcome was pretty clear. This woman might have had anxiety. And she might have been hacked off about being constantly questioned about things which could be fatal to her child. Or she may have had M by Proxy as you suspected, who knows.[/quote]

That is why I said nothing at the time. There are other things I haven't mentioned here but felt like he said, she said too. Difficult.

Surely it’s quite hard to fake a hypermobile joint? I mean either it ends too much or it doesn’t.

TBH it's difficult to believe so many people have conned doctors to give them unnecessary tests, treatment, surgeries and diagnoses.

Especially given its a test of endurance just to get through on the phone to your GP surgery. Nevermind getting an appointment, or referral

But seriously I think it's about a billion times more common to have symptoms dismissed, for things to be missed, or to be sat on a waiting list until it's too late. And increasingly so given the current state of the NHS.

I knew someone who, thinking about it now, possibly did have Munchausen's rather than hypochondria. She'd been a nurse when younger and still had her old books (and plenty of time to reread them) so had the knowledge at her fingertips.

She was forever at the doctor's demanding tests and scans for this, that and the next thing. There was rarely anything wrong with her (she was 70 odd, you'd have to expect something). She would adopt illnesses her friends had. Copying my depression was bad enough, deciding she also had a very rare, and terminal, condition as a mutual friend was a step too far. She'd also manage to go down with something just before she needed to do something, like travel, or pack for a house-move. But if she wanted to do something, she could.

I know a woman who has subjected her poor eldest daughter to all sorts of bullshit. Her symptoms change as soon as they're not getting her anywhere, she'll stop seeing a particular doctor if they're not playing along, she's had everything from Crohn's to autism to 'profound deafness' (despite clearly being able to hear) and her now 7/8 year old has gone from a happy normal kid to withdrawn and terrified because she believes she has all these things wrong with her. It's been reported, by both nursery and school, but this woman is a healthcare professional and very convincing.

It's really sad. I only know her socially but whenever I bump into her (she lives nearby) it makes me seethe.

@GreatestHits

TBH it's difficult to believe so many people have conned doctors to give them unnecessary tests, treatment, surgeries and diagnoses.

Especially given its a test of endurance just to get through on the phone to your GP surgery. Nevermind getting an appointment, or referral

But seriously I think it's about a billion times more common to have symptoms dismissed, for things to be missed, or to be sat on a waiting list until it's too late. And increasingly so given the current state of the NHS.

In the case of the person I know, sometimes she had a doctor do tests and such (which invariably never corroborated any diagnosis) and often she just outright lied about seeing a doctor or specialist.

In the instances where she was ever properly tested for her Disease Of The Month, she simply paid cash to private specialists and even then none of the tests ever turned anything up.

I know she is unable to touch the bulk of her inherited wealth unless the trustees agree, and the medical thing may have begun as a way to circumvent this.

I have a patient with a very specific psychological condition that is similar to Munchausens. I was seeing her for years, constantly being pressured into referrals for different treatments. Until I read an article in a professional journal. It was incredible how accurately it described her behaviour. Unfortunately I was helpless to treat her since it was a real niche psychiatric disorder (type of complex body dysmorphia) and treatment was not possible without a psychiatrist.

I knew someone who faked so much stuff and got arrested for it. Kelsey Whitehead. I knew her through the loss community and claimed to have lost 3 children and then got 'cancer' she literally cut open her chest to fake a drip and conned so much money out of her work. The loss community would send her gifts and items and so many people sent her so much money from overseas. She even got married and lied to her new wife about dying. It was horrific.

If you google her name you can find some articles but they barely scratch the surface of the hell this woman put grieving mothers through. I know a lot of them sent her Christmas gifts in September towards the end of her con thinking she'd be dead before Christmas!

Everything came to head with her faking when she tried to kill herself to get out of her lies but she was instead admitted to the hospital and all the truth came out.

Here's one article about her mum's reaction to all this stuff
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4350342/Mum-turns-cancer-fraud-daughter-Kelsey-Whitehead.html