- Joined
- Apr 30, 2021
Is it normal for people who have an actual medically needed trach to retch like that when pumping the shit out of it or whatever?
Community Munchausen's by Internet (Malingerers, Munchies, Spoonies, etc) - Feigning Illnesses for Attention
- Thread starter Petronella
- Start date
McDonalds Hashbrown
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2023
Always been a lurker here but I’ve always wanted to talk about her. Everything about her just seems so fake. Her fainting spells doesn’t look natural and now she has rings to prevent her fingers from bending backwards too much due to her EDS? don’t all fingers do that?
A tree
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2021
Ring splints are a thing but a very uncomfortable thing that arguably makes your hands less usable when sporting a full set. I've never known anyone to actually use them in day to day life but they can be made to look like such super cute (uncomfortable, impractical) jewellery every HEDS munch orders a pretty set at least once in her career, takes some pretty photos before shoving them in a drawer.
They're actually primarily recommended for supporting joints with arthritis so the girls are jumping the gun. They're for after the bendy fingers stage of (real) EDS when things stiffen up and you get bone spurs.
Drain Bamaged
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2022
Notes from Drain Bamaged: This is a firsthand story of the experience of a victim of MBI. On January 31st 2023 a Reddit user with the name aitagw2023 posted her experience with a “friend” to the Reddit subforum “AmITheAsshole'' a forum considered a court of public opinion. She wanted to know if she herself was “the asshole” in her confrontation of someone having mimicked her illness for social media attention. This story is not a peer reviewed case study nor is it confirmed to be true. The nativity of the original poster “aitagw2023” (hereon named “OP”) leads me to believe the story is genuine but remember my opinion is not proof of validity. I did not transcribe the post’s text manually.
DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE POST OR OP. Sudden surges of interaction after initial popularity has dissipated can lead Reddit users or forum moderators to delete content. It may be tempting to message OP or comment to add information about MBI but DO NOT DO IT.
Reminder: I am not OP. I have copied the text of her post which is written in her first person perspective.
Title: AITA for telling my friend to stop mimicking my symptoms as her own for her followers?
The verdict from the court of public opinion: “NTA” & “She is not your friend.” OP has not used this account to post new updates.
Critical reminder: DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE POST OR OP. Do not comment on the post. Do not message OP. Sudden surges of interaction after the initial popularity has dissipated can lead Reddit users or forum moderators to delete content.
DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE POST OR OP. Sudden surges of interaction after initial popularity has dissipated can lead Reddit users or forum moderators to delete content. It may be tempting to message OP or comment to add information about MBI but DO NOT DO IT.
OP: Original Poster (“aitagw2023”)
AITA: Am I The Asshole
26F: OP is a 26 years old female
24F: “Janet” the perpetrator is a 24 years old female
NTA: Not The Asshole
YTA: You’re The Asshole
AITA: Am I The Asshole
26F: OP is a 26 years old female
24F: “Janet” the perpetrator is a 24 years old female
NTA: Not The Asshole
YTA: You’re The Asshole
Why I call OP a victim of MBI:
OP’s trust was exploited for the perpetrator to gain medical knowledge with intent to imitate OP’s symptoms on social media.
The perpetrator made no effort to conceal this exploitation from OP. This demonstrated the perpetrator’s desire for social media attention was greater than the perpetrator’s desire to respect OP.
OP terminated a friendship of many years when she wanted to believe the friendship was genuine as a direct result of the MBI behavior.
OP expressed feeling violated by the perpetrator’s MBI behavior.
OP’s trust was exploited for the perpetrator to gain medical knowledge with intent to imitate OP’s symptoms on social media.
The perpetrator made no effort to conceal this exploitation from OP. This demonstrated the perpetrator’s desire for social media attention was greater than the perpetrator’s desire to respect OP.
OP terminated a friendship of many years when she wanted to believe the friendship was genuine as a direct result of the MBI behavior.
OP expressed feeling violated by the perpetrator’s MBI behavior.
Link to the original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAssh...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Link to OP’s final update comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAssh...&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Link to OP’s final update comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAssh...&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3
Reminder: I am not OP. I have copied the text of her post which is written in her first person perspective.
Title: AITA for telling my friend to stop mimicking my symptoms as her own for her followers?
AITA for telling my friend to stop mimicking my symptoms as her own for her followers?
Throwaway, the friend has Reddit.
I (26F) have been friends for a decade with “Janet,” (24F). We had never been super close up until 2020. Janet has always had some sort of disability, the most prominent being an autoimmune disorder that causes chronic pain. Janet is also very prominent on social media, and often discusses her disabilities very openly. I am not, and haven’t really discussed mine in length.
Recently, I have been afflicted by really bad pains in my hands due to my job. I expressed how badly things had gotten when I found myself physically incapable of using my left hand for the most basic of tasks, such as picking up a pencil, or waving. I told Janet about it, as she is a friend, and she was sympathetic. But then, less than 24 hours later, I went onto her social media and I found her crying to her followers about her own “chronic hand pain.” I was kind of dumbfounded, since she had just been with me the day before opening jars and carrying around things with no pain or complaints. I decided to let this go and believe that she may in fact be suffering like I am because, how do I know if she hasn’t been dealing with this? But then it started getting weird.
Janet started asking me more and more questions. What the pain feels like, how frequently, does it shoot to other places or was it localized, etc. At first, I didn’t think anything of it and answered her… only for her to have the same type of pain less than 24 hours later! I was shocked that she would say that she had the same level and type of pain as me, even using the same terminology I did. I decided to stop answering her questions, and for a couple months, she stuck with what she had already told her following. Until last night.
After a few visits with my doctor, my pain is gone, thankfully. The only thing that is gone for good is the grip strength I once had, but I just have to cope with it and manage. Janet called me last night and I, stupidly, told her that my pain is gone and explained my grip strength issues. Can you guess what happened next?
This morning, less than 12 hours later, Janet posted a 20 minute sob fest on social media regarding her “grip strength,” and how she is going to have to cope with it leaving her. I watched as she dramatically let tears fall down her face while discussing how she can’t do basic tasks anymore. Frustrated, I texted Janet and told her to stop mimicking my very painful condition and using my symptoms as her own for her following and for attention. She wrote back that I was an asshole for suggesting she was doing that, and then ran to her social media to state that a friend thinks she’s faking and how hurt she is.
At first, I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but after her symptoms mirrored mine so quickly, it was suspicious. Am I the asshole?
Edit for clarity: I do not know what kind of autoimmune disorder she has or if that is a contributing factor to her pain. She told me that she has not been tested, but she feels she has one, she just doesn’t know which one. I didn’t ask further questions because it’s not my business.
I also do not discount any pain she has, as I stated, I first was sympathetic with her because I was not going to assume that she was not experiencing things. However, the only time it was brought up was when I had expressed something about mine to her, either good or bad. And this has gone on since late October, so it’s not a snap judgement kind of deal.
Edit 2: Wow I did not expect this many comments lol. I cannot give her false symptoms or anything like that because she is a compulsive Googler. She googles everything and will know that symptoms are fake. I have decided that I will not be including her in conversations revolve around my health, whether physical or mental, as I don’t want to be used as inspiration for her attention seeking, as someone mentioned in the comments somewhere. Thank you all for your comments, it really solidified that I wasn’t going crazy.
Edit 3: Final update in comments.
Throwaway, the friend has Reddit.
I (26F) have been friends for a decade with “Janet,” (24F). We had never been super close up until 2020. Janet has always had some sort of disability, the most prominent being an autoimmune disorder that causes chronic pain. Janet is also very prominent on social media, and often discusses her disabilities very openly. I am not, and haven’t really discussed mine in length.
Recently, I have been afflicted by really bad pains in my hands due to my job. I expressed how badly things had gotten when I found myself physically incapable of using my left hand for the most basic of tasks, such as picking up a pencil, or waving. I told Janet about it, as she is a friend, and she was sympathetic. But then, less than 24 hours later, I went onto her social media and I found her crying to her followers about her own “chronic hand pain.” I was kind of dumbfounded, since she had just been with me the day before opening jars and carrying around things with no pain or complaints. I decided to let this go and believe that she may in fact be suffering like I am because, how do I know if she hasn’t been dealing with this? But then it started getting weird.
Janet started asking me more and more questions. What the pain feels like, how frequently, does it shoot to other places or was it localized, etc. At first, I didn’t think anything of it and answered her… only for her to have the same type of pain less than 24 hours later! I was shocked that she would say that she had the same level and type of pain as me, even using the same terminology I did. I decided to stop answering her questions, and for a couple months, she stuck with what she had already told her following. Until last night.
After a few visits with my doctor, my pain is gone, thankfully. The only thing that is gone for good is the grip strength I once had, but I just have to cope with it and manage. Janet called me last night and I, stupidly, told her that my pain is gone and explained my grip strength issues. Can you guess what happened next?
This morning, less than 12 hours later, Janet posted a 20 minute sob fest on social media regarding her “grip strength,” and how she is going to have to cope with it leaving her. I watched as she dramatically let tears fall down her face while discussing how she can’t do basic tasks anymore. Frustrated, I texted Janet and told her to stop mimicking my very painful condition and using my symptoms as her own for her following and for attention. She wrote back that I was an asshole for suggesting she was doing that, and then ran to her social media to state that a friend thinks she’s faking and how hurt she is.
At first, I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but after her symptoms mirrored mine so quickly, it was suspicious. Am I the asshole?
Edit for clarity: I do not know what kind of autoimmune disorder she has or if that is a contributing factor to her pain. She told me that she has not been tested, but she feels she has one, she just doesn’t know which one. I didn’t ask further questions because it’s not my business.
I also do not discount any pain she has, as I stated, I first was sympathetic with her because I was not going to assume that she was not experiencing things. However, the only time it was brought up was when I had expressed something about mine to her, either good or bad. And this has gone on since late October, so it’s not a snap judgement kind of deal.
Edit 2: Wow I did not expect this many comments lol. I cannot give her false symptoms or anything like that because she is a compulsive Googler. She googles everything and will know that symptoms are fake. I have decided that I will not be including her in conversations revolve around my health, whether physical or mental, as I don’t want to be used as inspiration for her attention seeking, as someone mentioned in the comments somewhere. Thank you all for your comments, it really solidified that I wasn’t going crazy.
Edit 3: Final update in comments.
Final edit/update, answering all of the questions that I have received, and then an update on the current situation.
1: The plan is to drop the friendship. I will not be continuing on with this because I honestly feel violated. And not just for me, but for others who have very real disabilities. Falsifying symptoms for attention is something I cannot stomach. I won’t drop her immediately because I am concerned for her mental health (again, she has never been diagnosed with anything other than bipolar disorder, but she denies she has this. She claims to have many others, just not the one she has been diagnosed with), but the plan is to step away and slowly integrate myself out of her life.
2: THANKFULLY, she is not monetized on any of her social media accounts. So this behaviour is currently not resulting in monetary gain. This appears to be strictly for attention.
3: While I appreciate the petty (
), I do not believe in telling someone I have a life threatening illness, so I will not be doing that. While I believe she would mimic some, I believe she wouldn’t mimic a terminal illness. A friend did tell me to tell her that I have throbbing in my ear lobes though
For the update: She did call me last night and left a voicemail, I have not called her back, nor do I intend to right now. I am distancing myself until I can speak with her without rage. I just don’t want to deal with her level of drama.
Thank you all for the feedback and the comments regarding your own stories. While my condition is not as serious, and actually rather small in comparison to the stories I have read, I thank you all for sharing this with me, as physically, mental and invisible disability discussions are so vulnerable and I don’t think I would have been able to speak out anywhere else.
Thank you all again.
1: The plan is to drop the friendship. I will not be continuing on with this because I honestly feel violated. And not just for me, but for others who have very real disabilities. Falsifying symptoms for attention is something I cannot stomach. I won’t drop her immediately because I am concerned for her mental health (again, she has never been diagnosed with anything other than bipolar disorder, but she denies she has this. She claims to have many others, just not the one she has been diagnosed with), but the plan is to step away and slowly integrate myself out of her life.
2: THANKFULLY, she is not monetized on any of her social media accounts. So this behaviour is currently not resulting in monetary gain. This appears to be strictly for attention.
3: While I appreciate the petty (
), I do not believe in telling someone I have a life threatening illness, so I will not be doing that. While I believe she would mimic some, I believe she wouldn’t mimic a terminal illness. A friend did tell me to tell her that I have throbbing in my ear lobes though For the update: She did call me last night and left a voicemail, I have not called her back, nor do I intend to right now. I am distancing myself until I can speak with her without rage. I just don’t want to deal with her level of drama.
Thank you all for the feedback and the comments regarding your own stories. While my condition is not as serious, and actually rather small in comparison to the stories I have read, I thank you all for sharing this with me, as physically, mental and invisible disability discussions are so vulnerable and I don’t think I would have been able to speak out anywhere else.
Thank you all again.
Note from Drain Bamaged: OP referenced the existence of other firsthand accounts in the comments. There are 400 comments on the Reddit post at the time of my KF post upload so I am not going to dig through hundreds of comments for stories that are even less verifiable than this one. In the “Additional information” spoiler is the link to the original Reddit post if you wish to search the comments yourself.
snookbug2985: NTA. Sounds like she self diagnosed herself with fibromyalgia. I have it and hashimotos and lupus. It really pisses me off when people fake illnesses for clout. Trust me it’s not glamorous or fun it’s misery every day even with medication. She can piss off
OP: It’s funny that you mentioned this… she just called and left a voicemail (I deliberately did not answer) saying she was having a “fibro flare-up” and that her whole body was on fire. So I think you hit the nail on the head.
polly-adler: Also see the edit: the friend "feels" like she has an autoimmune disease but isn't getting tested to know which one. As someone with an autoimmune disease (a real one), I am abso-fuckin-lutely furious at that "friend". Not only is she a liar, she is also incredibly stupid. It's very obvious she has nothing and is pretending for attention.
snookbug2985: NTA. Sounds like she self diagnosed herself with fibromyalgia. I have it and hashimotos and lupus. It really pisses me off when people fake illnesses for clout. Trust me it’s not glamorous or fun it’s misery every day even with medication. She can piss off
OP: It’s funny that you mentioned this… she just called and left a voicemail (I deliberately did not answer) saying she was having a “fibro flare-up” and that her whole body was on fire. So I think you hit the nail on the head.
polly-adler: Also see the edit: the friend "feels" like she has an autoimmune disease but isn't getting tested to know which one. As someone with an autoimmune disease (a real one), I am abso-fuckin-lutely furious at that "friend". Not only is she a liar, she is also incredibly stupid. It's very obvious she has nothing and is pretending for attention.
The verdict from the court of public opinion: “NTA” & “She is not your friend.” OP has not used this account to post new updates.
Critical reminder: DO NOT INTERACT WITH THE POST OR OP. Do not comment on the post. Do not message OP. Sudden surges of interaction after the initial popularity has dissipated can lead Reddit users or forum moderators to delete content.
TheBigZee
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2021
Believe it or not, no. Finger hypermobility is really common, but more people than not have finger joints that don't go beyond 180 degrees. If it causes problems, there are non-jewelry splints called oval-8s. They come in a variety of tones so they aren't obvious.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2022
Yeah it's very unpleasant, it's like having a drink go down 'the wrong pipe'. Your trachea doesn't like stuff being in there and will make you cough and gag and your eyes water. She's doesn't look like she's faking her discomfort there.
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2021
I love it when they list stuff like "Reynold's" and "IBS". Also way to hide the plan to collect as many as possible by saying "currently".
Also, "FAPS" lol. No idea what it is, but my inner 12 year old boy sniggered.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2022
you have a pre teen boy inside you? I'm calling the cops.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2019
Seeing that stumpy little dog makes me so sad. She's going to fuck up that dogs joints worse than she fucked up her own.
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2021
Maybe that’s an alter, are you interested in joining the DID crowd? I hear inner 12 year old boys are hot right now.
A tree
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2021
Somethings going on with Rose.
She didn't just stage a miraculous walking recovery because of trach disappointment. The powerchair is GONE. Maybe insurance took it back because physio told them she can walk. Maybe it broke. Rose ain't telling but she broke her walker and can't afford a new one despite buying all the shit she constantly consooms.
And now appears to be fully ambulatory. No explanation given other than she worked hard in physio. Love the little neckerchief to catch the stray lung butter.
Meerkat on the other hand is bossing it with this spiffy hoist which she shows us while we can clearly see her standing in the reflection.
She didn't just stage a miraculous walking recovery because of trach disappointment. The powerchair is GONE. Maybe insurance took it back because physio told them she can walk. Maybe it broke. Rose ain't telling but she broke her walker and can't afford a new one despite buying all the shit she constantly consooms.
And now appears to be fully ambulatory. No explanation given other than she worked hard in physio. Love the little neckerchief to catch the stray lung butter.
Meerkat on the other hand is bossing it with this spiffy hoist which she shows us while we can clearly see her standing in the reflection.
Last edited:
Oracular Slug
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2022
She‘s also either mastered the speaking valve or the fucking hole in her throat is just for decoration.
A tree
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2021
The claim there is that she comes off the vent to film her tiktoks for a few minutes a day but as we've noticed she doesn't desat or get into any breathing difficulties at all other than trach related horrors during filming time and she films plenty.
HerbertWest
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2020
FAPS is a functional abdominal pain syndrome. It’s a nonspecific “tummy ouchy”.
Here’s a good summary https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16678562/
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2022
Lol @ they found a way to make IBS even more vague and ill-defined
TheCakeIsALie
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2016
Familial adenomatous polyposis maybe? It causes polyps to grow but the polyps turn cancerous so the large intestines have to be removed eventually. The munchies could claim de novo mutation unfortunately
Last edited:
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2019
I totally bought that the discomfort was real. But my own discomfort was made orders of magnitude more intense by the super creepy way she keeps eye contact with the camera the entire time she is gagging... Performative-but-genuine discomfort is way grosser than just plain old 'fuck this is unpleasant' without eyefucking the camera the whole time, for whatever reason.
A tree
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2021
She's back already! And she's got a funky new gait that brings all the boys to the yard.
Noah Boddy
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2021
She has a boyfriend???
A tree
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2021
Last edited: