Community Munchausen's by Internet (Malingerers, Munchies, Spoonies, etc) - Feigning Illnesses for Attention

[StasisOne]

Morgans new clothing line

 

[Kate Farms Shill]

Who in god's name would fucking wear that? Even if you had AE and were trying to advocate for awareness or whatever, why would you wear a shirt that looks like you got it for free from the Bumfuck, Ohio Volunteer Fire Department's Annual Charity Cookout & Chili Competition?

 

[rosco996]

I am new here. Was a lurker for quite a while and now am getting more informed about these munchers.

I am curious as to what everyones opinion is on officalcassiemnolin (instagram).

So far she claims she has POTS, RSD/CPRS, EDS. She recently posted she had seen an MCAS specialist and awaiting testing. Also has “2 new teams” in the last month. A while back she seemed like she was hoping for a lung problem, frequently mentioning lung function... hasn’t been mentioned since I guess her ‘lung specialist’ didn’t find anything. This was also coincidently around the time some CFers passed away and MF was having difficulty with her health. EDIT: had a pulmonologist appointment today so I guess still trying for that lung disease diagnosis.

She frequents the ER every couple of weeks for infusions and is hoping for a PICC line soon. I noticed when she goes to the ER she brings about half of her couch with her... sorry being sarcastic but she always has a ton of stuff like she is planning on being inpatient or moving in but always ends up going home “thankfully”.

I noticed she usually ends up in the ER before a big event or after a day of fun... like many other munchies who can’t let their chronic illness get in the way of vacations. I would think if she is needing infusions that badly she would at least be going to an infusion center at this point... rather than visiting the ER every other week. We all know how expensive that is. The ER visits seem to be ramping up... she mentioned that her insurance resets and has to make the most out of it. While I realize that is a practical thing to do for appointments, I feel like going to the ER on the regular is pretty ridiculous.

I think some of this probably is going to come off as sounding rude but she definitely likes her various tools and is hoping for some toobz soon. Has many braces and even a arm splint for wearing when she has IVs. I didn’t know those were a thing for adults during a short ER stay. She seems to like to wear those braces whenever she gets the chance... HKAFO with a knee brace together (I don’t see the purpose of wearing both at the same time), shoulder braces, cervical neck brace, wrist braces, boot(s), etc. Had a freestyle libre for CGM.

Also has a blog and website. She is also launching “Living the Chronic illness life” merchandise next month. Her poor family had to pretend to be excited to wear the “joint relocation team” T-shirt’s for Christmas. Her new bumper stickers are to remind people how sick and how much attention she needs.

 

[Kate Farms Shill]

I am new here. Was a lurker for quite a while and now am getting more informed about these munchers.

I am curious as to what everyones opinion is on officalcassiemnolin (instagram).

So far she claims she has POTS, RSD/CPRS, EDS. She recently posted she had seen an MCAS specialist and awaiting testing. Also has “2 new teams” in the last month. A while back she seemed like she was hoping for a lung problem, frequently mentioning lung function... hasn’t been mentioned since I guess her ‘lung specialist’ didn’t find anything. This was also coincidently around the time some CFers passed away and MF was having difficulty with her health.

She frequents the ER every couple of weeks for infusions and is hoping for a PICC line soon. I noticed when she goes to the ER she brings about half of her couch with her... sorry being sarcastic but she always has a ton of stuff like she is planning on being inpatient or moving in but always ends up going home “thankfully”.

I noticed she usually ends up in the ER before a big event or after a day of fun... kind of like CZ. I would think if she is needing infusions that badly she would at least be going to an infusion center at this point... rather than visiting the ER every other week. We all know how expensive that is. That is something else I wanted to bring up but not be nit picky about - the ER visits seem to be ramping up... she mentioned that her insurance resets and has to make the most out of it. While I realize that is a practical thing to do, I feel like going to the ER on the regular is pretty OTT.

I think some of this probably is going to come off as sounding nit picky but she definitely likes her tools. Has many braces and even a arm splint for wearing when she has IVs. I didn’t know those were a thing for adults during a short ER stay. She seems to like to wear those braces whenever she gets the chance... HKAFO with a knee brace together (I don’t see the purpose of wearing both at the same time), shoulder braces, cervical neck brace, wrist braces, boot(s), etc. Had a freestyle libre for CGM.

Also has a blog and website. She is also launching “Living the Chronic illness life” merchandise next month. Her poor family had to pretend to be excited to wear the “joint relocation team” T-shirt’s for Christmas. Her new number stickers are to remind people how sick and how much attention she needs.

I've never looked into this person you're posting about but a quick skim of her insta sets off all my alarm bells. Sleeveless/spaghetti strap shirts to show off the 800 pain patches even at her wedding (jesus fuck christ the last thing I'd want in my wedding photos is fucking lidocaine patches stuck all over my back), VOG mask, ER selfies, doctor hopping, and wtf is she using a Shiba Inu as a service dog?! Please don't tell me she's using a shiba inu as a service dog.

 

[rosco996]

I've never looked into this person you're posting about but a quick skim of her insta sets off all my alarm bells. Sleeveless/spaghetti strap shirts to show off the 800 pain patches even at her wedding (jesus fuck christ the last thing I'd want in my wedding photos is fucking lidocaine patches stuck all over my back), VOG mask, ER selfies, doctor hopping, and wtf is she using a Shiba Inu as a service dog?! Please don't tell me she's using a shiba inu as a service dog.

I think she has applied for a service dog. Hasn’t gotten one yet though.

She is in the ER every couple of weeks and looks like she is about to move in with all the crap she brings. If I was working there and saw her walking in the door with all that stuff I’d need a break like right now.

 

[Lysenko]

I am new here. Was a lurker for quite a while and now am getting more informed about these munchers.

I am curious as to what everyones opinion is on officalcassiemnolin (instagram).

So far she claims she has POTS, RSD/CPRS, EDS. She recently posted she had seen an MCAS specialist and awaiting testing. Also has “2 new teams” in the last month. A while back she seemed like she was hoping for a lung problem, frequently mentioning lung function... hasn’t been mentioned since I guess her ‘lung specialist’ didn’t find anything. This was also coincidently around the time some CFers passed away and MF was having difficulty with her health.

She frequents the ER every couple of weeks for infusions and is hoping for a PICC line soon. I noticed when she goes to the ER she brings about half of her couch with her... sorry being sarcastic but she always has a ton of stuff like she is planning on being inpatient or moving in but always ends up going home “thankfully”.

I noticed she usually ends up in the ER before a big event or after a day of fun... kind of like CZ. I would think if she is needing infusions that badly she would at least be going to an infusion center at this point... rather than visiting the ER every other week. We all know how expensive that is. That is something else I wanted to bring up but not be nit picky about - the ER visits seem to be ramping up... she mentioned that her insurance resets and has to make the most out of it. While I realize that is a practical thing to do, I feel like going to the ER on the regular is pretty OTT.

I think some of this probably is going to come off as sounding nit picky but she definitely likes her tools. Has many braces and even a arm splint for wearing when she has IVs. I didn’t know those were a thing for adults during a short ER stay. She seems to like to wear those braces whenever she gets the chance... HKAFO with a knee brace together (I don’t see the purpose of wearing both at the same time), shoulder braces, cervical neck brace, wrist braces, boot(s), etc. Had a freestyle libre for CGM.

Also has a blog and website. She is also launching “Living the Chronic illness life” merchandise next month. Her poor family had to pretend to be excited to wear the “joint relocation team” T-shirt’s for Christmas. Her new number stickers are to remind people how sick and how much attention she needs.

1) How did her family wear her munch t-shirts with a straight face, is she a new munchie are they just really bad at picking up on it?
2) I love how instead of getting 1 stronger pain patch she piles on like 100 OTC pain patches to show everyone how super sick she is.
3) Very telling how vague her pain is and she can't tell us what hurts in general, like "my lower back," or "my wrist," is just pain all over the place apparently

 

[Kate Farms Shill]

ALRIGHTY now that I'm not being rushed out to a dinner reservation, let's look at Miss Cassie's totally terrible ailments.
(Giant pics because I'm old and don't know how to computer.)

Spoiler: much chronic, very illness, such sick.

Alright, she claims hEDS. Symptoms: joint laxity, cigarette paper scarring, poor wound healing, stretchy elastic skin.

Those joints don't look hyperextended to me. I know fuck all about ballet, but I'm gonna guess getting to this level requires a bit of practice and a whole lot of stretching which would be pretty impossible if you had clinically significant hypermobility. Yet her knees are perfectly straight.

Stilettos. Nice. I'm sure with her super easy to dislocate joints that require full foot-to-hip orthotics these shoes will not cause any problems. I have absolutely no connective tissue problems that I know of and I would probably dislocate something walking in these.



Oh yeah she claims she had amnesia, forgot her boyfriend and who she was and everything, and tagged #amnesiawontwin for a while. That's so soap opera I'm not even going to unpack it.


Those shoulders and elbows look pretty gosh darned stable to me, too.

Standing naturally, knee locked, no sign of hypermobility.

And finally, holding an extended leg out long enough to take a photo, leg perfectly straight, hip and knee fine. And her hip isn't squared up like I would expect a dancer's to be in this position (again, don't know dance terminology, but in this position shouldn't her leg be more in line with her arm?)

So she doesn't have even the hypermobility one would expect of a ballerina who stretches the shit out of her joints. How about fragile, elastic skin that bruises and tears easily?

I mean you could say the adhesive from the unnecessary lidocaine patches would damage her skin but frankly, the adhesive on those things sucks. Even if you prep your skin and apply them perfectly you're going to have it peeled off on your shirt in an hour. Here's a pic of her without them after many many pics with them, just for shits and giggs. No skin damage here. Let's see then...

Hmmm... I can't imagine adhesive pore strips would be a good idea if your skin tears easily and doesn't heal.
If you've never used one of these fuckers, they take not only the gunk from your pores but also the top few layers of skin and the fine baby hairs out of your skin. They hurt like a bastard coming off sometimes.

Diagnosis: does not have hEDS. Not even as flexible as most other ballerinas, no hyperextension, no skin damage from repeated use of sometimes very harsh adhesive.


EDIT: PART 2: POTS/dysautonomia. Dizziness when standing from a seated or lying position due to not enough blood reaching the ole ticker right away. Symptoms: elevated heart rate, feeling faint, fainting when changing positions, heat intolerance.

Spoiler

She sure enjoyed her nice honeymoon to a tropical location where she stood in the heat. The average high in Orlando in May is close to 90 F. Poor baby was probably passing out left and right. She's from the northeast (Massachusetts) and definitely not acclimated to the tropics. It's often still cold as balls in Mass in May.

I don't know how to save/embed/link videos but she has a few dance clips that show her popping right up from a seated or lying position like no one with super serial POTS would ever be able to do.

Diagnosis: her autonomic system is fine.

CRPS/complex regional pain syndrome. A nerve issue following stroke, heart attack, or other severe injury that causes pain disproportionate to the cause. Symptoms: Constant burning pain, swelling of the affected limb, changes in skin color and/or texture in the affected limb, swelling, stiffness, difficulty moving the affected limb. She often uses the older acronym, RSD, for Reflexive Sympathetic Dystrophy because it sounds scarier. This is the first disease she mentions on IG, way back in 2012.

Spoiler

Here is someone with CRPS:

Notice that the affected limb looks goddamned awful and is swollen up to cartoon levels.



Which one of her perfectly normal limbs and extremities do you think she claims this disorder affects? Serious question, because I haven't seen her mention it once and it sure as fuck is a localized disorder.


No gross deformity here. Maybe it's one of her feet.


Oh look, her foot is swollen! ...because she took a bad fall and did soft tissue damage.

The very next day it looked markedly better.

And a month later both feet look healthy as fuck despite the kt tape she has wrapped all around it.

Diagnosis: people with actual CRPS should be grabbing their pitchforks and hobbling to her house for claiming she has this godawful disease when she's perfectly fine.

Final diagnosis: she realized she was only ever going to be mediocre at dance and was about to age out of competitions and classes, and with her very unfortunate fat distribution (girl's built like a linebacker) she would always be "company" even in the Bumfuck, Massachusetts Community Ballet Corps. She had no other hobbies or skills so one time she got hurt and claims to have suffered immense pain ever since. Now she's the bravest little ballerina, struggling every day against a litany of health problems but keeping her toes pointed and her chin up.

EDIT AGAIN TO AVOID DOUBLE POSTING FOR BULLSHIT: I tried to look up her dance videos on yt to prove she can stand up just fucking fine with no joint laxity issues, pain from CRPS, or POTS-related fainting. Instead I found a reborn doll morning routine aka a grown ass woman pretending her doll is a real child and showing how she "gets it ready for school" in the morning. Holy shit it's cowception.

EDIT THE THIRD.
Because I am fucking moron and didn't realize the url to one of her dances is in one of the screenshots I posted. Enjoy this totally exceptional dance about her serious pain disorder. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say she's not even a mediocre dancer.

 

[Tubie Whoobie]

First post, I normally lurk but damn do I love people claiming both EDS and being a ballet dancer (or worse, when they call themselves ballerinas)

Spoiler: Some sperging below

First picture: at least she’s over the box of her pointe shoes. I’ve seen some EDS “ballerinas” who can’t even get over their shoes. No hyperextension to be seen.

Sixth picture: Her hips aren’t square. She’s making up for the lack of flexibility range in her hips by lifting the right one. Arm position isn’t terrible, but looks like a casual dancer mimicking ballet arm positions without actually knowing the position and it’s mechanics.

Second picture about CRPS: GOD her back leg is entirely turned in, her front knee isn’t over her foot, meaning she’s forcing her front foot in that turned out position. Even in something like this lyrical looking piece, ballet technique should exist, especially if you do a fourth position. Or, in her case, a poor mix between a fourth position and some sort of lunge

Now for that video..
Her technique is..pretty bad. She’s doing the steps but missing everything that goes INTO the steps. It’s like someone trying to mimic ballet. I’ll save you all from my excessive sperging, because I could write an essay on everything that was wrong in that. I didn’t even finish it. I saw there was four minutes left and thought “fuck it.” Too boring and technique too bad to make me want to watch any more.

edited because I’m a dumbass

 

[Kate Farms Shill]

http://www.sentinelandenterprise.co...injuries-pain-and-amnesia-mayo-has-persevered

And here it is folks. She had a "career ending injury" that ruined her dream of being a professional dancer.

...or she sucked at dancing and found a way to make it not her fault.

 

[Tubie Whoobie]

The amount of times I’ve heard that, it’s funny.

It usually means “I was pretty okay at my dolly dinkle studio, but I was improperly trained which of course resulted in injury.”

For someone claiming “career-ending”, she lacks everything anyone who could make a career out of dance has. There’s a lot more than the moves, the little things like hand movement, posture, and head position are very telling of your training.

 

[Kate Farms Shill]

The amount of times I’ve heard that, it’s funny.

It usually means “I was pretty okay at my dolly dinkle studio, but I was improperly trained which of course resulted in injury.”

For someone claiming “career-ending”, she lacks everything anyone who could make a career out of dance has. There’s a lot more than the moves, the little things like hand movement, posture, and head position are very telling of your training.

Like I said I don't know jackshit about ballet, but I know a fuck ton about how munchies think. I'd say 9 times out of 10, they realized they weren't as good at their hobby, area of interest, or special skill as they thought they were and that's when they start playing sick. Usually right around college age. They were really good dancers or writers or photographers for their little town. They might have worked hard for it. They might believe they're naturally talented. Doesn't matter. The point is they were the best _____ in their town and everyone fawned over them.

Then they graduate high school and they get thrown in a shark tank with a bunch of kids from other little towns who are equally good or better. They realize they aren't as special as they thought. Their ego takes a blow. They give up. They need to make it not their fault they failed. Then, the monolith appears, and they get some random illness or injury that puts them in the hospital or has them rushed to the ER. Suddenly everyone is fawning over them again, so they keep it up and it becomes an addiction.

She seems to have realized her "dance career" was DOA before she even graduated high school. Good for her. Too bad she decided to waste all these medical resources so she didn't have to admit she just sucked.

 

[There_is_no_Dana]

I've seen quite a few people involved with dance go the Munchie route - I think they do it because they realize they're not all that talented and taking their dance career to a professional level isn't going to happen. Demand for perfection is pretty high in ballet, If you aren't perfect, you're not going to move forward at all. It's also obsessive, the successful ballerinas live ballet 24/7 . Being sick as a hobby gives them something to fill the void.

 

[Bunny at Law]

First post, I normally lurk but damn do I love people claiming both EDS and being a ballet dancer (or worse, when they call themselves ballerinas)

Spoiler: Some sperging below

First picture: at least she’s over the box of her pointe shoes. I’ve seen some EDS “ballerinas” who can’t even get over their shoes. No hyperextension to be seen.

Sixth picture: Her hips aren’t square. She’s making up for the lack of flexibility range in her hips by lifting the right one. Arm position isn’t terrible, but looks like a casual dancer mimicking ballet arm positions without actually knowing the position and it’s mechanics.

Second picture about CRPS: GOD her back leg is entirely turned in, her front knee isn’t over her foot, meaning she’s forcing her front foot in that turned out position. Even in something like this lyrical looking piece, ballet technique should exist, especially if you do a fourth position. Or, in her case, a poor mix between a fourth position and some sort of lunge

Now for that video..
Her technique is..pretty bad. She’s doing the steps but missing everything that goes INTO the steps. It’s like someone trying to mimic ballet. I’ll save you all from my excessive sperging, because I could write an essay on everything that was wrong in that. I didn’t even finish it. I saw there was four minutes left and thought “fuck it.” Too boring and technique too bad to make me want to watch any more.

edited because I’m a dumbass

I literally had to quit halfway through because I started laughing at her posture. If she was 13, I'd be impressed. At this age? Girl, you suck.

 

[Maggots on a Train v2]

Nobody sane would spend a whole day in the ER if some kind of appointment could be arranged instead. The ER will take, what, an hour to admit you, another 1-2 hours to talk to a doctor, another 1-2 hours for him to call your regular doctor, 2-3 hours for any 15-minute procedure, then another 2 hours to get discharged? That's insane.

 

[There_is_no_Dana]

Nobody sane would spend a whole day in the ER if some kind of appointment could be arranged instead. The ER will take, what, an hour to admit you, another 1-2 hours to talk to a doctor, another 1-2 hours for him to call your regular doctor, 2-3 hours for any 15-minute procedure, then another 2 hours to get discharged? That's insane.

It depends on the ER size, how busy they are, and what the condition is. Smaller ERs have to be very careful about leaving beds open for life threatening emergencies like heart attacks, strokes, allergic reactions etc so someone who is just ill might have to wait quite a while to be seen. The longer you're in the hospital, the higher your chance of contracting a serious infection gets. Munchies who get overnight stays in the hospital are putting themselves at risk for contracting a deadly antibiotic resistant infection as various nursing staff come in and out from other rooms. FYI - this is why most surgical centers try to get you home asap after a procedure like gall bladder removal. Surgery centers are WAY more clean than hospitals but even then, they don't want you lingering because you're much safer to recover at home. Hospitals are actually very dangerous places to be, especially if you have a weakened immune system.

 

[Lysenko]

I've seen quite a few people involved with dance go the Munchie route - I think they do it because they realize they're not all that talented and taking their dance career to a professional level isn't going to happen. Demand for perfection is pretty high in ballet, If you aren't perfect, you're not going to move forward at all. It's also obsessive, the successful ballerinas live ballet 24/7 . Being sick as a hobby gives them something to fill the void.

I have seen the same thing in other munchie's sob stories, like they were going to go to "an ivy league school," "USA pro figure skating,"or "med school" or whatever is the best school/carreer ever until their tragic POTs occurred and all those dreams were dashed! I'm like girl, give me proof you (mediocre girl from Idaho) made it into Harvard Med or I don't buy it. They seem to have a pathological belief that they are the most special best ever.
I think the munchies try to get extended hospital stays for a double purpose, more glam selfies of them in a hospital bed AND they are all eager to get C Diff and tell everyone and their mom about their dramatic experience coming into contact with some infected shit. Oh boy!

 

[A Seagull]

I should point out that EDS pain is also a localized pain. Especially for hyper mobility type. If you've injured a joint, there's going to be chronic pain there a lot. It's not a whole "abloobloo everything hurts" and more of "that joint I fucked up that one time hurts a lot and I can't walk on it too much."

I should also point out, by the way, that doctors recommend stretching your joints as a physical therapy. The more they can safely stretch without injury, the less damaging any random dislocation will be. While yoga is definitely preferable because of how low impact and low risk it would be, I wouldn't count out someone with EDS taking up ballet, especially if they really enjoy it.

However, ballet puts you at a really high risk of ankle related dislocations. Your knees and especially your hips may benefit from ballet, but your ankles will take one hell of a beating and one wrong landing, you're going down. Sometimes not even from a wrong landing, really. You can stick a perfect landing after a pirouette and your ligaments will decide they won't support it this time and just give out.

 

[UT 514]

I should point out that EDS pain is also a localized pain. Especially for hyper mobility type. If you've injured a joint, there's going to be chronic pain there a lot. It's not a whole "abloobloo everything hurts" and more of "that joint I fucked up that one time hurts a lot and I can't walk on it too much."

I should also point out, by the way, that doctors recommend stretching your joints as a physical therapy. The more they can safely stretch without injury, the less damaging any random dislocation will be. While yoga is definitely preferable because of how low impact and low risk it would be, I wouldn't count out someone with EDS taking up ballet, especially if they really enjoy it.

However, ballet puts you at a really high risk of ankle related dislocations. Your knees and especially your hips may benefit from ballet, but your ankles will take one hell of a beating and one wrong landing, you're going down. Sometimes not even from a wrong landing, really. You can stick a perfect landing after a pirouette and your ligaments will decide they won't support it this time and just give out.

That's only partly true. Must doctors tell you NOT to do yoga because most people are doing it incorrectly without help and are likely to tear connective tissue. Dance is similar. It can strengthen and stretch to a degree, but the you couldn't be hardcore about it. It's just not possible with true EDS.

There is always an emotional component with munchausens. Its not just that they can't be the best at whatever, but that they need to feel seen and cared for. And possibly because they want illness to be their identity which is why they don't improve, even when they should.

 

[A Seagull]

That's only partly true. Must doctors tell you NOT to do yoga because most people are doing it incorrectly without help and are likely to tear connective tissue. Dance is similar. It can strengthen and stretch to a degree, but the you couldn't be hardcore about it. It's just not possible with true EDS.

There is always an emotional component with munchausens. Its not just that they can't be the best at whatever, but that they need to feel seen and cared for. And possibly because they want illness to be their identity which is why they don't improve, even when they should.

Yeah, I probably should have clarified that I meant yoga in a proper setting. One with someone who can help you and teach it to you correctly.
Not just getting a mat and doing it at your own house.
I forgot that some people will get a yoga DVD and call that their PT.

 

[UT 514]

So morgan is saying there's CFS in her knees.......

but what does that even mean??

Also it doesn't look too interesting in the picture on instagram. I often wonder about who morgan would be with a different mom. In my experience, those with severe Munch would have self harmed themselves by now (ie injecting something into herself or intentionally making herself sick). But she doesn't seem to be doing that. Does that mean that mom was controlling most of the munchie behaviors?