Doctors' time is far too valuable to be wasted. Still, not everyone respects it. Every now and then, whether it's for attention, prescription drugs, or skipping class, people attempt to fake a condition. Only it's not easy to trick someone who's spent years in medical school and even longer treating patients.
So when Reddit user Palmfranz asked doctors to describe the biggest manipulators they met at work, more than 2,000 replies came in. Scroll down to read some of the craziest stories and decide for yourself if any of them actually stood a chance of succeeding. As for the case files? Diagnosis: "Nice try."
#1
Lady was in a minor rear-end collision and claimed that she was unable to see ever since the accident. Not just claiming that her vision was blurry, she was claiming no light perception. Safe to say we were a little suspicious based on the mechanism and initial imaging. Called neuro-ophthalmology in to prove she was full of it. You can’t just say, “Patient full of s**t” in a medical record unless they’re there for constipation, but Ophtho was able to write a beautiful not that said just that, without directly saying it.
14points
#2
(Obligatory) not a doctor, but my favorite story from one of these threads said that this lady came in looking for painkillers, saying she was having seizures. The doctor essentially said "you're fine, you're not having any seizures, go home."
This lady flops on the ground and starts writhing around, pretending to have a seizure, before she eventually stops, going "unconscious." The doctor says to the nurse in the room, "She's not actually having a seizure, if she were she would have lost control of her bladder." Right on cue... this lady pisses herself.
This lady flops on the ground and starts writhing around, pretending to have a seizure, before she eventually stops, going "unconscious." The doctor says to the nurse in the room, "She's not actually having a seizure, if she were she would have lost control of her bladder." Right on cue... this lady pisses herself.
12points
#3
Saw a guy fake a stroke convincingly enough that he got a very powerful clot-busting medication to try and reverse the effects of the stroke. His story only fell apart when he got a little cocky and started describing some visual symptoms that weren’t consistent with his other symptoms. Repeat imaging revealed his secret.
I thought the neurologist was gonna m****r that guy. Instead we just discharged him back to jail.
I thought the neurologist was gonna m****r that guy. Instead we just discharged him back to jail.
7points
#4
"Ugh, I'm in so much pain, but boy does that ibuprofen make my stomach upset. Do you have anything else you could give me that's... different?"
"Mam, I'm a physical therapist, I can't prescribe medications"
This conversation took place while she was nearly nodding off and slurring during therapy, obviously from opiates. Lots of faking takes place to try to score more d***s.
"Mam, I'm a physical therapist, I can't prescribe medications"
This conversation took place while she was nearly nodding off and slurring during therapy, obviously from opiates. Lots of faking takes place to try to score more d***s.
4points
#5
Not a doctor, but relevant.
My professor was a Paramedic for many years, and people fake a lot of illnesses. Sometimes for d***s and sometimes for attention.
It turns out, it’s really hard to act like you’re unconscious, there is a lot of ways to tell. For example, unless they have practiced, they won’t hit themselves. So if you hold their hand above their face and let go, they will move their hand out of the way of their face.
So, many years ago my professor arrived on a scene where someone “had”a seizure and was “unconscious” in a busy market. He goes and checks the patient and he had good breathing and circulation. My professor was suspicious about he situation because of his years of experience. He lifts his hand and drops it. Sure enough, his hand misses his face and lands above his head. At this point, my professor knows he’s not really unconscious.
My professor leans down and whispers in his ear,
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is we will put you on oxygen and you will wake up, he hard way is we will do CPR and put 3,000 volts of electricity through your heart and it will hurt and you will wake up.”
Simple to say, he woke up with oxygen and walked it off. A miracle!
My professor was a Paramedic for many years, and people fake a lot of illnesses. Sometimes for d***s and sometimes for attention.
It turns out, it’s really hard to act like you’re unconscious, there is a lot of ways to tell. For example, unless they have practiced, they won’t hit themselves. So if you hold their hand above their face and let go, they will move their hand out of the way of their face.
So, many years ago my professor arrived on a scene where someone “had”a seizure and was “unconscious” in a busy market. He goes and checks the patient and he had good breathing and circulation. My professor was suspicious about he situation because of his years of experience. He lifts his hand and drops it. Sure enough, his hand misses his face and lands above his head. At this point, my professor knows he’s not really unconscious.
My professor leans down and whispers in his ear,
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is we will put you on oxygen and you will wake up, he hard way is we will do CPR and put 3,000 volts of electricity through your heart and it will hurt and you will wake up.”
Simple to say, he woke up with oxygen and walked it off. A miracle!
9points
#6
Had a teen patient who was transferred from an outside hospital to the academic center where I was an intern (first year doctor, newly minted from medical school). Claimed no sensation below the waist, no motor control, lost all of her hair a week or so after the illness came on, and had "bubbles" that would swell up and then stool would appear in her urine. Neurology had seen her and they couldn't get reflexes on exam so figured something must be seriously wrong.
Okay, I think - perhaps she has a fast growing malignancy that has grown into her spinal cord, and maybe there's a fistula due to that, and she had alopecia areata totalis as a result. As an intern, it was my job to look through all of the outside records, of which there was a good amount - think War and Peace.
Edit: I wondered if she had cancer that was growing into her spinal cord and cutting off the signals to her legs. Sometimes cancer will cause abnormal connections (fistula) between organs that should not have them, like the bowel and bladder. Alopecia areata totalis is a condition where a lot of scalp hair falls out after a serious illness.
I'm flipping through the records, and looking at the imaging that was done, hoping there would be an MRI of her spine - yes, there it is ... and it's normal. CT scan of her abdomen and pelvis ... normal. Labs ... normal. A bunch of ... normal. Nothing but normal.
Now, when you see someone with real illness that's causing them to have things like paraplegia (loss of sensation and muscle control usually in the legs), and stool in the urine, you expect to see at least some abnormalities, like anemia, elevated inflammatory markers, and the imaging should be highly abnormal. I'm getting the flavor of deceit here.
Urology came by, and I watched as they did a methlyene blue test, where they instilled a special dye in her bladder, and put white gauze in her v****a and a**s with the idea that if there were an abnormal connection, the gauze would be colored by the dye. The test was negative, but she sure felt the catheter go in her bladder. She couldn't help but move her legs. Mom was super disappointed about the results.
Edit: a catheter is placed in the bladder and it is filled with a strongly colored dye that if you look at it wrong will stain your clothes. If there is an abnormal connection betwixt the bowel and bladder or the v****a and bladder any gauze will stain, confirming the presence of said abnormal connection.
Next came the spinal tap, which I was to perform with supervision. Mother was positively gleeful about doing the test, patient less so. I haven't seen that reaction before about that test, and it rings alarm bells. Fluid comes out clear, sent off to lab.
I happen to be on call that night, and I'm called to the room by the nurse. The patient has a catheter in her bladder, and now there's a small bit of fecal matter in the tubing. The patient looks at me triumphantly, and says "see, I told you it happens." For those who don't know, the catheter has a female end to which you attach another tube that's connected to a collection bag. So there's a watertight male-female connection, and I break that open, and there's stool smeared on the male end - but urine doesn't flow there. And I note two dirty brown smears across her gown.
Now I'm an intern, which means I'm kinda the lowest guy on the totem pole when it comes to decision making. It's also my 3rd week, so I've got very little in the way of confidence. I know now that she's faking her illnesses. But I'm not really in a spot where I can up and accuse her and her mom of that. And doctors really do not like to accuse patients of feigning illness, because what if you're wrong?
My attending is of no help. We do two (!) MRI's of her brain and spinal cord. We do a CT of her chest, abdomen, and pelvis. We send heavy metals, 24 hour urine, and even end up doing an EGD and colonoscopy because she was "spitting up blood". This goes on for days and days, and meanwhile when she sleeps, her legs move - everyone can see that. But the attending forges on, not addressing the g*****n elephant in the room, that her reported symptoms are not consistent with any finding at all. We even did somatosensory evoked potentials, which is normal, which means you d**n well can feel your legs despite reports to the contrary.
Edit: we did a boatload of special tests looking for every illness under the sun.
All this testing just further cements the idea in the mother's mind and the patient's mind that "there must be something wrong, you just haven't found the right test". Oddly, however, there's little concern on the mother's part or the patient's part about these rather drastic limitations. There's a great deal of happiness when I announce that we're going to do another lab, or imaging study, or procedure - mostly on the mother's part. But the teen is going along with it too.
Finally, we reach the end of our testing. The attending has me call for a Psychiatry consult (which should have been done from the get-go). The family explodes, because the message now is "it's all in your head (which it is of course)". I get the unfortunate duty of discharging her, informing the family that CPS has been called, and weekly counseling is required, etc. I get called names, the hospital is called names, there's yelling, and I'm standing there in my 4th week of internship with no backup dealing with a situation for which there is no training. Awful, and I don't forgive my attending for any of it. The case was mishandled from the beginning and saddling me with that burden was just a ducking of responsibility.
I was angry at the patient and her mother for putting the patient through everything, and putting me through it as well (I was told to document everything I saw carefully). I was angry because I knew they were faking it, but could not confront them (I had been instructed not to). I was angry because I wanted an answer as to WHY, because it really didn't make sense to me.
Fast forward several months, and I'm called by an out of state area code. It's a resident from another program, who confirms who I am, and tells me that thanks to my documentation, they were able to surreptitiously record this patient.
They'd gone to another academic hospital, with the same symptoms. In the interim, the mother and daughter produced a VHS tape that clearly showed stool coming out of her urethra. Essentially they took p**p and injected it via a catheter into her bladder to buttress this claim of "bubbles". Some astute social worker figured out that they must have been at some other hospital, and obtained records, which included my notes.
So, the resident says, of course the patient would move her legs normally when not being watched. She would disconnect her IV from the pump, suck blood out of the vein, and then claim she was vomiting blood. She would pick out her hairs and say they were falling out on their own. You get the picture.
They confronted her and her mother, and the mother immediately lost custody, and the patient was placed in a psychiatric ward. Past that point I don't know what happened, but I sure wish I could have been there for the confrontation which included video evidence.
So, basically Munchausen by proxy along with Munchausen, and possibly folie a deux (though they knew they were manufacturing illness). Awful all the way around, and no winners.
Okay, I think - perhaps she has a fast growing malignancy that has grown into her spinal cord, and maybe there's a fistula due to that, and she had alopecia areata totalis as a result. As an intern, it was my job to look through all of the outside records, of which there was a good amount - think War and Peace.
Edit: I wondered if she had cancer that was growing into her spinal cord and cutting off the signals to her legs. Sometimes cancer will cause abnormal connections (fistula) between organs that should not have them, like the bowel and bladder. Alopecia areata totalis is a condition where a lot of scalp hair falls out after a serious illness.
I'm flipping through the records, and looking at the imaging that was done, hoping there would be an MRI of her spine - yes, there it is ... and it's normal. CT scan of her abdomen and pelvis ... normal. Labs ... normal. A bunch of ... normal. Nothing but normal.
Now, when you see someone with real illness that's causing them to have things like paraplegia (loss of sensation and muscle control usually in the legs), and stool in the urine, you expect to see at least some abnormalities, like anemia, elevated inflammatory markers, and the imaging should be highly abnormal. I'm getting the flavor of deceit here.
Urology came by, and I watched as they did a methlyene blue test, where they instilled a special dye in her bladder, and put white gauze in her v****a and a**s with the idea that if there were an abnormal connection, the gauze would be colored by the dye. The test was negative, but she sure felt the catheter go in her bladder. She couldn't help but move her legs. Mom was super disappointed about the results.
Edit: a catheter is placed in the bladder and it is filled with a strongly colored dye that if you look at it wrong will stain your clothes. If there is an abnormal connection betwixt the bowel and bladder or the v****a and bladder any gauze will stain, confirming the presence of said abnormal connection.
Next came the spinal tap, which I was to perform with supervision. Mother was positively gleeful about doing the test, patient less so. I haven't seen that reaction before about that test, and it rings alarm bells. Fluid comes out clear, sent off to lab.
I happen to be on call that night, and I'm called to the room by the nurse. The patient has a catheter in her bladder, and now there's a small bit of fecal matter in the tubing. The patient looks at me triumphantly, and says "see, I told you it happens." For those who don't know, the catheter has a female end to which you attach another tube that's connected to a collection bag. So there's a watertight male-female connection, and I break that open, and there's stool smeared on the male end - but urine doesn't flow there. And I note two dirty brown smears across her gown.
Now I'm an intern, which means I'm kinda the lowest guy on the totem pole when it comes to decision making. It's also my 3rd week, so I've got very little in the way of confidence. I know now that she's faking her illnesses. But I'm not really in a spot where I can up and accuse her and her mom of that. And doctors really do not like to accuse patients of feigning illness, because what if you're wrong?
My attending is of no help. We do two (!) MRI's of her brain and spinal cord. We do a CT of her chest, abdomen, and pelvis. We send heavy metals, 24 hour urine, and even end up doing an EGD and colonoscopy because she was "spitting up blood". This goes on for days and days, and meanwhile when she sleeps, her legs move - everyone can see that. But the attending forges on, not addressing the g*****n elephant in the room, that her reported symptoms are not consistent with any finding at all. We even did somatosensory evoked potentials, which is normal, which means you d**n well can feel your legs despite reports to the contrary.
Edit: we did a boatload of special tests looking for every illness under the sun.
All this testing just further cements the idea in the mother's mind and the patient's mind that "there must be something wrong, you just haven't found the right test". Oddly, however, there's little concern on the mother's part or the patient's part about these rather drastic limitations. There's a great deal of happiness when I announce that we're going to do another lab, or imaging study, or procedure - mostly on the mother's part. But the teen is going along with it too.
Finally, we reach the end of our testing. The attending has me call for a Psychiatry consult (which should have been done from the get-go). The family explodes, because the message now is "it's all in your head (which it is of course)". I get the unfortunate duty of discharging her, informing the family that CPS has been called, and weekly counseling is required, etc. I get called names, the hospital is called names, there's yelling, and I'm standing there in my 4th week of internship with no backup dealing with a situation for which there is no training. Awful, and I don't forgive my attending for any of it. The case was mishandled from the beginning and saddling me with that burden was just a ducking of responsibility.
I was angry at the patient and her mother for putting the patient through everything, and putting me through it as well (I was told to document everything I saw carefully). I was angry because I knew they were faking it, but could not confront them (I had been instructed not to). I was angry because I wanted an answer as to WHY, because it really didn't make sense to me.
Fast forward several months, and I'm called by an out of state area code. It's a resident from another program, who confirms who I am, and tells me that thanks to my documentation, they were able to surreptitiously record this patient.
They'd gone to another academic hospital, with the same symptoms. In the interim, the mother and daughter produced a VHS tape that clearly showed stool coming out of her urethra. Essentially they took p**p and injected it via a catheter into her bladder to buttress this claim of "bubbles". Some astute social worker figured out that they must have been at some other hospital, and obtained records, which included my notes.
So, the resident says, of course the patient would move her legs normally when not being watched. She would disconnect her IV from the pump, suck blood out of the vein, and then claim she was vomiting blood. She would pick out her hairs and say they were falling out on their own. You get the picture.
They confronted her and her mother, and the mother immediately lost custody, and the patient was placed in a psychiatric ward. Past that point I don't know what happened, but I sure wish I could have been there for the confrontation which included video evidence.
So, basically Munchausen by proxy along with Munchausen, and possibly folie a deux (though they knew they were manufacturing illness). Awful all the way around, and no winners.
11points
#7
Had a patient about 2 years ago. Woman in her late 40s, had a good job, kids in university, divorced. She had insane uncontrollable asthma. No matter what we prescribed, she was having attacks, even wound up in ITU a few times. Went through everything we could think of with the team. Started doing really niche research. Brought her into the hospital as an in-patient to run more tests, etc.
The plan was to see her body's reaction to a steroid. We would take a blood sample before, give the medicine, take another sample, give her more, take another sample, etc.
The first tests showed NO reaction to the steroid. It's something we haven't seen before, nothing in the literature....
Then I see her throwing her garbage away into a large, communal garbage. Odd, nurses + healthcare support workers + ward cleaners are quite good with this. I don't know why I go to investigate, but I do.
Saw a tiny puddle of pink liquid at the bottom of her trash. Her steroids. She was drinking it in front of the nurses, then spitting it out into another solid (as in, not see-through) cup, and throwing that cup away.
I know it sounds obvious, but this woman was super normal and educated and just not someone who I pegged to be literally making herself unwell for attention. And by unwell, I mean to the point of putting her life at risk. Then I realized her kid took a semester off school to come home and look after her because she had such severe asthma attacks so often.
The plan was to see her body's reaction to a steroid. We would take a blood sample before, give the medicine, take another sample, give her more, take another sample, etc.
The first tests showed NO reaction to the steroid. It's something we haven't seen before, nothing in the literature....
Then I see her throwing her garbage away into a large, communal garbage. Odd, nurses + healthcare support workers + ward cleaners are quite good with this. I don't know why I go to investigate, but I do.
Saw a tiny puddle of pink liquid at the bottom of her trash. Her steroids. She was drinking it in front of the nurses, then spitting it out into another solid (as in, not see-through) cup, and throwing that cup away.
I know it sounds obvious, but this woman was super normal and educated and just not someone who I pegged to be literally making herself unwell for attention. And by unwell, I mean to the point of putting her life at risk. Then I realized her kid took a semester off school to come home and look after her because she had such severe asthma attacks so often.
4points
#8
We had a young guy come in with severe lower leg pain and a red area the size of your palm over his shin. We start treatment for cellulitis as his story sounds like that, but over the course of four days it doesn't get better or worse, despite very normal blood tests and no fevers. On the fourth day one of the nurses hears a banging noise coming from the toilets, and sees the patient walk out with a metal water bottle. We confront him and he confesses to hitting his leg repeatedly so he could get time off work and pain meds. We discharged him on the spot and gave him a very stern talking to about wasting resources and lying and d**g seeking.
3points
#9
Not a doctor, but I worked as an Emergency Room secretary while I was finishing school. There were a few crazy ones, some people would come regularly looking for pain killers (or attention) and make a huge scene every time.
One guy in particular was actually someone I knew outside of work. It was the first time I had seen him there, but I knew he had had a few surgeries in the past, and that he had a lot of qwerks.
Dude comes in with his wife in the odd hours of the night, really worked up, saying his shoulder was dislocated and having painful muscle spasms. Tells me it happens all the time since he had his surgery, had this big story about how he did and when he knew it was separated. We were talking while I checked him in and waited for the triage nurse and he would randomly jump or violently flop in his chair clutching his shoulder for a few seconds, then go back to normal.
Goes back, doc checks him out, says he doesn't have a dislocated shoulder, dude insists, doc takes an xray at his request, no dislocation, and my man loses his mind. Starts screaming at the doctor that he is insinuating he is a liar in front of his wife. Doctor keeps it cool, tells him he's not calling him a liar, just telling him his shoulder isn't separated, and that he can give him IV acetaminophen if the pain is really bothering him. Dude asks if he can have dilaudid pills instead so he can just go home and go to bed. Doc says no, dude loses his mind again, screaming that he is going to sue to hospital and get the doc's license revoked. Doc just says ok and tells him they are finished. Haven't seen the guy since, but we are facebook friends.
One guy in particular was actually someone I knew outside of work. It was the first time I had seen him there, but I knew he had had a few surgeries in the past, and that he had a lot of qwerks.
Dude comes in with his wife in the odd hours of the night, really worked up, saying his shoulder was dislocated and having painful muscle spasms. Tells me it happens all the time since he had his surgery, had this big story about how he did and when he knew it was separated. We were talking while I checked him in and waited for the triage nurse and he would randomly jump or violently flop in his chair clutching his shoulder for a few seconds, then go back to normal.
Goes back, doc checks him out, says he doesn't have a dislocated shoulder, dude insists, doc takes an xray at his request, no dislocation, and my man loses his mind. Starts screaming at the doctor that he is insinuating he is a liar in front of his wife. Doctor keeps it cool, tells him he's not calling him a liar, just telling him his shoulder isn't separated, and that he can give him IV acetaminophen if the pain is really bothering him. Dude asks if he can have dilaudid pills instead so he can just go home and go to bed. Doc says no, dude loses his mind again, screaming that he is going to sue to hospital and get the doc's license revoked. Doc just says ok and tells him they are finished. Haven't seen the guy since, but we are facebook friends.
3points
#10
Not a doctor but a buddy of mine had a crazy ex. When he ended it with her she said she was pregnant. Knowing she was a little crazy he wasn't buying it. She sent him a "positive" pregnancy test. Just out of curiosity we googled positive pregnancy tests and clicked images. It was like the third image. So knowing she was full of s**t he just stopped responding but that didn't settle well with her. The next day she went on to send him a very gory, disgusting tale of her having a miscarriage. She was basically describing a horrific, ER worthy medical debacle that somehow she was dealing with all on her own in her room and still having the where with all to type out every single detail. The last text just simply said, "I think it's d**d..."
Don't know about any baby but the relationship most definitely was.
Don't know about any baby but the relationship most definitely was.
6points
#11
I was a paramedic and picked up a so-called unconscious patient. He passed the sternal rub and the n****e twist test and when I tried the hand drop to the face test his hand hit ground above his head. I told his family that something wasn't right because when I dropped his hand an unconscious patient would hold their hand up in the air. I repeated the test and sure enough he He held his hand in the air. Because of local policy I did have to transport him to the local emergency room. Just before we went into the back of the emergency room with him lying flat on the litter I told my partner "hey let's check on one more time and make sure he's still unconscious." I took his hand and extended it straight up into the air and shaped a bird with his fingers. We walked to the back with his arm straight in the air flipping a bird at the entire emergency department. When I came out of the room a trauma physician ask me what the hell was going on. I told him I was shocked that he didn't recognize an unconscious patient when he saw one. He laughed and told me to get the hell out of his emergency room.
3points
#12
I have allergies to most plants and animals (foods by extension) around me, but for years this went undiagnosed because my mother was so certain I was faking it.
I would feel a great deal of pain after eating a normal meal at school and be sent to the nurse because I was in too much pain to concentrate. For a long time, the nurse also thought I was faking it, but she must have picked up on it at some point because she began taking me seriously.
This pattern persisted with my mother accusing me of faking it and blaming my internal body heat (I regularly wear sweaters regardless of temperature) on my "sick" stomach.
Just after starting high school, the constant trauma to my digestive tract began to take its toll. I would occasionally have to spit up blood (I have blisters in my esophagus due to the allergic reactions which was discovered years earlier when I was projectile vomiting blood one day, but that's another story). I would constantly feel week, be extremely pale, and constantly need to sleep for long periods while my body recovered.
Went to a gastroenterologist, and I am indescribably greatful to that man. After a lot of tests and scopings, he came to the conclusion that my digestive tract was just covered in blisters constantly bleeding, making me sick, and costing a lot of energy to keep up repairs on the daily basis because I wasn't digesting most compounds in my food and instead just damaging the lining on various organs.
Mom was very supportive after that. I have so much gratitude for that man. He saved my life and make special trips to his clinic on his days off whenever I was having severe problems. He gave me his personal supply of diet replacement shake/powder because my insurance wouldnt pay for it. The man did everything in his power to keep me alive. I have never met a more selfless person in my life.
I would feel a great deal of pain after eating a normal meal at school and be sent to the nurse because I was in too much pain to concentrate. For a long time, the nurse also thought I was faking it, but she must have picked up on it at some point because she began taking me seriously.
This pattern persisted with my mother accusing me of faking it and blaming my internal body heat (I regularly wear sweaters regardless of temperature) on my "sick" stomach.
Just after starting high school, the constant trauma to my digestive tract began to take its toll. I would occasionally have to spit up blood (I have blisters in my esophagus due to the allergic reactions which was discovered years earlier when I was projectile vomiting blood one day, but that's another story). I would constantly feel week, be extremely pale, and constantly need to sleep for long periods while my body recovered.
Went to a gastroenterologist, and I am indescribably greatful to that man. After a lot of tests and scopings, he came to the conclusion that my digestive tract was just covered in blisters constantly bleeding, making me sick, and costing a lot of energy to keep up repairs on the daily basis because I wasn't digesting most compounds in my food and instead just damaging the lining on various organs.
Mom was very supportive after that. I have so much gratitude for that man. He saved my life and make special trips to his clinic on his days off whenever I was having severe problems. He gave me his personal supply of diet replacement shake/powder because my insurance wouldnt pay for it. The man did everything in his power to keep me alive. I have never met a more selfless person in my life.
19points
#13
I’m a new medical coordinator at my job. When one of our residents (teen girls and boys) has an injury and the nurse isn’t there I have to check them out. A lot of the kids fake for attention. Girl claimed she broke her ankle and was crying and “ow ow ow it hurt it hurts”. Was told she had walked back from the gym fine. I just severely sprained my ankle 4 weeks ago so I told her all I can do is give her ibuprofen, an ice pack, and she needs to rest it and keep it up. Not 30 minutes later she’s walking fine and says the ice pack made it better. I’ve had to learn not to give them to much attention or they just keep “injuring” themselves.
4points
#14
We had a lady come in hysterical after a car accident. At first, we were convinced she had a complete spinal cord injury at the mid thoracic level. (We checked her reflexes, rectal tone, pinprick in the feet, etc.) We got a CT scan.
Normal.
We had no explanation as to why she seemed to be paralyzed from the chest down.
Then she sat right up and vomited. And then immediately went limp again.
We admitted her. Within a day she had fully recovered.
I believe she was subconsciously terrified of being paralyzed and so her mind invented it. I don't believe she was intentionally faking it. After awhile, it just faded away and she was normal again.
One of the weirdest things I've ever witnessed firsthand.
Normal.
We had no explanation as to why she seemed to be paralyzed from the chest down.
Then she sat right up and vomited. And then immediately went limp again.
We admitted her. Within a day she had fully recovered.
I believe she was subconsciously terrified of being paralyzed and so her mind invented it. I don't believe she was intentionally faking it. After awhile, it just faded away and she was normal again.
One of the weirdest things I've ever witnessed firsthand.
7points
#15
IANAD, though I was once accused of being a faker.
I had a UTI on Christmas Eve a few years ago. Suffered through it for a few hours, thinking it was testicular torsion and eventually ended going to the ER Christmas morning complaining of groin pain. It hurt real bad and I was doing my best to muscle my way though it. The nurse helping me through all of this was pleasant and cheerful and really making the best of a s**t situation.
I eventually asked if there was anything they could do about my pain and got this horribly stern look from the nurse and the friendliness disappeared. She told me in a hateful tone that I'd have to wait until the doctor could see me (turned out to take hours). Meanwhile, I got to sit on a gurney in pain and listen to countless other people come in, all with varying degrees of stories about looking for pills. "My prescription ran out and my doctor is on vacation", "I'm travelling and have this chronic knee problem but forgot my pills at home", etc.
I had a UTI on Christmas Eve a few years ago. Suffered through it for a few hours, thinking it was testicular torsion and eventually ended going to the ER Christmas morning complaining of groin pain. It hurt real bad and I was doing my best to muscle my way though it. The nurse helping me through all of this was pleasant and cheerful and really making the best of a s**t situation.
I eventually asked if there was anything they could do about my pain and got this horribly stern look from the nurse and the friendliness disappeared. She told me in a hateful tone that I'd have to wait until the doctor could see me (turned out to take hours). Meanwhile, I got to sit on a gurney in pain and listen to countless other people come in, all with varying degrees of stories about looking for pills. "My prescription ran out and my doctor is on vacation", "I'm travelling and have this chronic knee problem but forgot my pills at home", etc.
4points
#16
Not a doctor, but had classes with a girl who faked seizures for attention. Ranging from rolling her eyes back and falling over to full on flop like a fish. Definitely aren't any Oscars in her future.
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7points
#17
Obligatory not a doctor... I stubbed my toe on a bannister when I was maybe 9-10 years old. After hobbling around for a week complaining literally all the time while my mum thought I was faking, my dad finally gave in and took me to the hospital. Turns out I pushed all the bones in my foot backwards and was on crutches for 2 months. Take that mum!
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6points
#18
Not a doctor but this girl in my school lied about having cancer. F*****G CANCER. She would wear a scarf to school bc of the treatment for her cancer and even got called out for lying. Everyone knew but she still kept up with the lies. She was batsh*t crazy.
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3points
#19
I felt like a faker back in March. I had an abcess on my jaw that I had gone to an urgent care for and gotten two fairly strong antibiotics. Two days later I got in bed after no change in the abcess and started shivering violently like i had a fever so I had my wife take me to the er thinking the infection was maybe spreading.
I told the nurse what was up and they took my temperature which ended up being completely normal. The nurses mood changed and I had a feeling that she thought I was in there looking for pills.
They took me to a room and luckily the dr recognised my symptoms as an allergic reaction to bactrum, one of the antibiotics I was on. He drained the abcess and prescribed me a milder antibiotic and some Vicodin for my troubles.
I told my mom what had happened the next day and she then informed me that I've been allergic to bactrum since I was young. For some reason it wasn't in my records.
I told the nurse what was up and they took my temperature which ended up being completely normal. The nurses mood changed and I had a feeling that she thought I was in there looking for pills.
They took me to a room and luckily the dr recognised my symptoms as an allergic reaction to bactrum, one of the antibiotics I was on. He drained the abcess and prescribed me a milder antibiotic and some Vicodin for my troubles.
I told my mom what had happened the next day and she then informed me that I've been allergic to bactrum since I was young. For some reason it wasn't in my records.
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8points
#20
Had a friend who was on probation and had twice daily breathalyzer tests that he absolutely could not afford to fail.
One night he drank too much, and knew he wouldn't blow clean in the morning. The only excuse he could think of was an emergency room visit.
So in the morning he immediately went to the emergency room complaining of insane amounts of pain in his lower abdomen. Half the day, several expensive tests, and some opiates later, the doctors told him to eat more fiber.
This bought him the time he needed though, so happy ending!
Edit: sorry, I should clarify.
He did not have a portable device. He went to the station every 12 hours, every day, for many months.
Additionally, I don't believe he was ever charged with any crimes involving drinking alcohol. It is close to a decade later now…still no alcohol related crimes, and actually no further crimes I know of. He was originally charged with vandalism, and violated his probation by smoking w**d. The original vandalism was just him and a couple other kids 16-18yo walking across downtown one night, and for some f*****g reason they decided to smash some random windows along the way.
It was very s****y of those guys to do, but, the damaged property got replaced promptly, at the boys expense, while those young guys endured legal situations and personal crisis that will absolutely haunt them forever and destroy a large percentage of their opportunities to follow a decent path. We aren't talking about g*ngs, hardened criminals, d**g dealers, or mean people, just four guys who made one big mistake in their teens.
They used the breathalyzer as both a financial and time related punishment, basically making his probation more difficult on him.
The reason my particular story was a relatively happy ending is because a depressed small town 18 year old didn't spend a significant sentence behind bars because he got too drunk at home one night.
One night he drank too much, and knew he wouldn't blow clean in the morning. The only excuse he could think of was an emergency room visit.
So in the morning he immediately went to the emergency room complaining of insane amounts of pain in his lower abdomen. Half the day, several expensive tests, and some opiates later, the doctors told him to eat more fiber.
This bought him the time he needed though, so happy ending!
Edit: sorry, I should clarify.
He did not have a portable device. He went to the station every 12 hours, every day, for many months.
Additionally, I don't believe he was ever charged with any crimes involving drinking alcohol. It is close to a decade later now…still no alcohol related crimes, and actually no further crimes I know of. He was originally charged with vandalism, and violated his probation by smoking w**d. The original vandalism was just him and a couple other kids 16-18yo walking across downtown one night, and for some f*****g reason they decided to smash some random windows along the way.
It was very s****y of those guys to do, but, the damaged property got replaced promptly, at the boys expense, while those young guys endured legal situations and personal crisis that will absolutely haunt them forever and destroy a large percentage of their opportunities to follow a decent path. We aren't talking about g*ngs, hardened criminals, d**g dealers, or mean people, just four guys who made one big mistake in their teens.
They used the breathalyzer as both a financial and time related punishment, basically making his probation more difficult on him.
The reason my particular story was a relatively happy ending is because a depressed small town 18 year old didn't spend a significant sentence behind bars because he got too drunk at home one night.
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4points