Munchausen by proxy

[temp345]

Hi

I'm wondering if a female relative suffers from this. Anyone have any experience of a women suffering and inventing illnesses for her husband? I read an article about a mother doing this to her child but I feel the woman I know might have done this to her husband. I might be wrong so I'm just asking for others experiences.

This relative and her husband very frequently visited doctors and hospitals. The illness would change every time and the previous ones would be forgotten about. They have no friends and can't take part in normal life because of the number of hospital appointments they have. They have no friends and no social life. The woman used to get very excited about hospital visits,the lovely doctors etc. Sadly the man is no longer here and died of something he hadn't visited hospital for. I'm not trying to be mean . Would this be something the GP would pick up? Thanks

My mother invented all manner of illnesses for me until I moved out. Then, she switched her attention to herself and is constantly at the GPs, being 'rushed' to hospital for just about everything. So maybe look out for that, her having loads of appointments / constant drama?

I'm not sure whether the gp,would pick it up or not. I can understand how it occurs though. People always treat you nicely when you go to appointments. Also, if you don't have a good social life, then the appointments etc give you a purpose in life.

How is,your relative since her husband has died?

i have a family member i highly suspect has this and wonder the same as you - does the GP intervene?

She used to have one of her dc to the hospital almost weekly. Her smallest is diagnosed with all sorts even thought people i know whose children genuinely have the same thing can not get their dc assessed until they are 5. She also always throws in conversation about how she thinks she has a brain tumor and has been referred for urgent mri's that never materialise.

It's quite sad and very concerning where the children are concerned but i can only assume a GP would be involved from a safeguarding point?

Thanks - these are interesting replies. The number of different illnesses seems way out of line with all other people I know of a similar age but if they are fabricated I wish someone had picked it up because it causes an awful lot of stress in the family.

It's a very worrying thing. Tbh i have another family member who often has 'ailments' rather than illnesses but insists on seeing GP and is never satisfied with the outcome as i think she wanta it to be something more dramatic. I guess some people can just be like that?

If her husband has now passed I would question why it's necessary to bring this up now?
You also risk the situation where his complaints were genuine and if you mention something it could be very painful for your relative.
Are there any children involved ? If not best to leave well alone. FII is a complicated condition probably not as prevalent as certain people would like us to believe, it's more likely she had health anxiety and was just very worried about her dh

My reasons for bringing it up here is partly to understand the person better and perhaps to be prepared as a family for what lies ahead. It may well be health anxiety but if this now transfers to herself it will be difficult to deal with.

I'm sure her gp will be very well aware of what the warning signs would be. Sometimes it's better to just take a step back and not speculate or get too involved before something has happened. Your concerns are valid but only time will tell. I'd watch and wait in this situation.
It's very likely health anxiety or worse that this person will need a lot of support, read up on it and just be prepared to step in at some point but I wouldn't worry too much for now just be aware. You seem like you are already and it's good she has someone looking out for her just tread carefully as I think with these sort of things if it is the case you risk totally alienating the person if they feel cornered