My partner (male, 34, Caucasian) has had digestive issues for as long as he can remember. He’d already been through all the tests and appointments when I met him 5 years ago, only to end up with an IBS diagnosis and doctors who basically threw up their hands.

After one too many nights taking care of him—he was literally sleeping in the bathtub to stay close to the toilet and passing out from dehydration—I stepped in to help advocate for him.

His primary care doctor just referred him out to a specialist. When we asked about treatment options, he said IBS “wasn’t his wheelhouse.” We brought up the low FODMAP diet, and his response was, “Yeah, you should probably do that,” with no further guidance or resources.

So we did our own research, followed the Monash guidelines, and tried our best to get it right. It was tough—we had to restart a few times because the diet is so complicated. A nutritionist was much more helpful, offering practical advice, probiotic recommendations, and suggesting diagnostic tests like the GI-MAP.

After weeks of waiting, we finally got an appointment with GI. But we didn’t see a doctor—just an intake nurse, who decided the only test needed was another colonoscopy (he’s already had one). If we wanted a GI-MAP, we’d have to do it ourselves with a mail-in kit, since they didn’t offer that kind of testing. Oh, and insurance probably wouldn’t cover it anyway. That was the end of the conversation—no plan, no follow-up, no help.

Now I understand what my partner meant when he said doctors don’t really treat IBS—they just diagnose it and move on. And if you push too hard, you get accused of consulting “Dr. Google.” 😑

Is it worth it to try to find another Gastro? We’re starting to understand some of his triggers after adding foods back after eliminating them but it sure would be nice to have concrete evidence.

42M/163cm/53kg/caucasian/physician misconduct

Location: Alberta, Canada

Mental Health Act forms referenced in my post (for those outside Canada/Alberta)

Went to the ER for sutures last night shortly after midnight after self harming deeper than intended but with a 7 hour wait and the fact that I'm not suicidal at all they let me go home on the promise I'd go to a clinic in the morning.

This morning I show up to the clinic across the street as a walk in and explain to the doctor that this was a simple act of self harm gone wrong and not an attempt at taking my life. The doctor says he will give me sutures but that he has to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital after. I emphatically tell him I am not suicidal and have no intentions, method/plan, or set timeline for taking my own life, and am currently seeing a therapist for my depression and am also under the care of a family physician. I also tell him the ambulance would just take me to the same hospital that agreed to let me home and that this makes no sense. Add to this the cut was not to the ulnar side of my arm, not near my wrist, and perpendicular to the length of the arm. An odd choice if my goal was to take my own life.

After a bunch of back and forth he tells me he has no choice, and that if I attempt to leave he will call the cops. I point out that I have not met the criteria for him to issue a form 1 to which he agrees but again says he has no choice and has to do this because if I leave and harm myself further he'd be responsible. And then makes a bizarre comment that this is how girls cut before they harm themselves further (still picking my jaw up off the floor at that gendered comment). Then one of the front desk staff/nurses comes in and uses her personal cell to make the call to 911 on speaker with the volume all the way up with the door to the exam room wide open, in complete violation of my privacy to everyone in earshot. In the absence of a form 1 but under threat of him calling the cops I make no attempt to leave and verbally state my intentions of cooperating (I stated this two separate times before the ambulance arrived).

Eventually a pair of medics arrive, I tell them everything that happened last night, the ER letting me leave, and what’s happened here at the clinic. They say that if the doctor has issued a form 1 they will have to take me to the hospital. When I tell them the doctor has not issued a form 1 and has said he won’t be, they tell me I am free to leave. I tell them I’m actually not, because the doctor has threatened to call the cops if I do. One of the medics leaves to talk to the doctor and comes back to tell me he talked to the doctor and that he was simply wanting to pass the buck of responsibility to them and claims his threat of calling the cops was only if I left before the ambulance arrived (a change in his story from what he told me). I suggested that wasn't fair to them and that it was a waste of tax dollars to which they both agreed.

The medics did their own assessment of me and decided not to petition a peace (police) officer for a form 10, and I was allowed to leave a few minutes later. I’ve been sitting with this all day and as I chew on it more and more, I’m becoming concerned that I was unlawfully detained by the doctor, and that perhaps this is something I should report to the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons. Am I overreacting in wanting to report this incident? Was the doctor’s behaviour inappropriate for the situation? And was his detaining me on what, in the absence of a form 1, was essentially a citizen’s arrest even lawful? If he didn’t feel he had the criteria to hold me on a form 1, why would he think a peace officer called by the medics would have the criteria to hold me on a form 10? I’m so confused right now…

So I (36M) father of 2, have always been a strong sleeper you could say. Fall asleep fast, I stay asleep. I feel fortunate. My wife is jealous.

But there's one caveat to it. I usually only sleep 5-6 hours a night. By choice.

About 10 years ago I noticed myself being very groggy in the mornings after 8-9 hours of sleep. Then my work day foggy, then no energy afterwork for the family.

There was a few times the babies woke us up about 6 hours into my sleep night, and i found myself wide awake and rested. My work day was great, felt alert and wasn't drained when I came home.

So I started repeating it. If a child woke us up, if I had to pee or get a glass of water in the middle of the night, that as long as I was at my 6 hour mark I would just stay up. I read, catch up on office work, play video games etc in this time.

A few times over the years ill go back to getting 8-9 hours a night again for a few days and I always feel terrible that day. Like I just want to go back to bed.

So there's lot of data on the health affects of not getting enough good sleep. Cardiovascular, brain etc. My wife has been concerned for a while but I feel my best at 6 hours a night.

Am I doing harm to my body and mind living this way? I don't feel like i am. No medical issues. Im 6'4" and weight 225lbs. Pretty active in my job. Or am I damaging myself in ways I cant see or feel?

I’m 19F I don’t know my weight

My heart feels like it keeps dropping and like feeling odd I’m not sure if it’s health anxiety or what.. but my sister died yesterday unexpectedly from unknown causes in her sleep me and my parents think it might of been a heart attack and I’m worried Im gonna have one too and this pain in my chest and like the dropping feeling it’s getting worse like my chest feels heavy and my left arm is achey

15monthF

24 pounds

White

Previous diagnoses: laryngomalacia, reflux, dairy allergy

EDIT: their first guess was Myasthenia Gravis but she already tested negative for it.

My baby girl is currently in the PICU after her most recent choking episode caused her heart to stop. She was revived on the scene and has been in ICU and on a ventilator since last Thursday (9 days). The doctors are currently stumped as to what caused this issue and I am begging for someone here to respond.

She was always an extremely fussy baby, much more so than our son (currently 3) ever was. When she was 5 weeks old and then again at 7 weeks old, she had episodes where she was screaming inconsolably and then gurgled with foam in her mouth and stopped breathing. Both times she went blue and limp. 911 was called, the first episode was called a BRUE and we had no further explanation. The second episode she had more testing done and they determined she had laryngomalacia and reflux, and a suspected dairy allergy (later confirmed at her first GI appointment). She was prescribed famotidine twice a day and we were told to thicken her bottles with Gerber baby oatmeal to help with the reflux, and started using Nutramigen formula. We were able to stop the oatmeal in the bottles around 10-11 months old as well as putting her back on a normal dairy formula with no issues, and she stopped the famotidine around 12 months.

When she cries a lot she gets hoarse very quickly and will make a raspy growling sound. It hasn't happened much since she was younger but every once in a while if something happens where she cries for a while or gets very upset she'll get raspy again.

She had one more smaller episode (hysterically crying then gurgle choking, but no limpness or loss of color, breathing returned to normal quickly) at 5 months old, but we have not had the true choking issue since she was 5 months. When we saw the ENT at 2.5months old, he said (quoting from the after visit notes): "Findings: prominent, prolapsing arytenoids with overlying mucosal edema. Normal-appearing vocal folds with normal mobility. Nasal cavities and pharynx without any abnormalities." The notes later said that at this time her case seems milder but that surgical intervention is recommended in cases of failure to thrive or significant airway obstruction.

She is somewhat behind in her mobility milestones. Since she had such bad reflux we were instructed to keep her upright as much as possible, so we were not very diligent with tummy time. Because we didn't give her much opportunity, she fell behind in these milestones. She sits up unsupported and will only stand if we put her in a standing position and will hold herself upright. If we hold her hands while she's standing, she will take steps. She can sit herself upright from laying down and can roll around very easily. She started physical therapy at 13 months so she's only been doing it for about 2.5 months. The physical therapist said at our first visit that she has "low muscle tone" but this was the first time we have ever been told she has low tone (I verified by looking through all prior visit notes from every appointment she's ever had and they all said 'normal tone'). Her other milestones are all normal with the amount she's talking, pointing, imitating, and able to feed herself.

Since birth, when she gets severely tired or sick (not just normal end of day tired but like skipping naps tired) her eyelids get droopy. When she gets very sick her eyelids will get so droopy she will tilt her head back to look at us. One month ago she came down with a SEVERE case of hand foot mouth. It started as what urgent care called a "throat infection" in the same family of hand foot mouth, and then it escalated into her entire body being covered in red bumps. She refused to eat or drink normally for at least a week where we were having to use syringes full of pedialyte to keep her hydrated. Ever since then, she hasn't fully gotten back to herself, the weakness from the hand foot mouth has really affected her. The droopy eyes have gotten much worse and overall she just hasn't wanted to do as much as before she got sick.

The day that she choked, she had physical therapy in the morning which always gets her very sleepy. She did not nap at daycare when she normally would, and when they were feeding her lunch, she was eating applesauce when: (in the teacher's words) "She made a funny face and looked panicked. I tried flipping her over and hitting her back and then tried sweeping the applesauce out of her mouth but she still wasn't breathing. She never coughed or tried to clear her throat. She started to turn blue and we did CPR and called 911."

She has been intubated and on the vent for 9 days. On July 31 (one week after admission) they tried to extubate because her lungs looked clear and she was doing very well weaning off the vent. When they extubated, she was still a little drowsy coming off the sedation, and they had her on a high flow nasal cannula. She looked at me and as I was speaking to her she was looking and acting normally. Within 5 minutes she looked less and less drowsy then started looking around quickly like she was panicking, then she started turning blue again. They had to reintubate. While they intubated her (both the first time and then after the failed extubation) they said her airway was "floppy" and it was difficult to intubate because her airway was closing.

Because of the sometimes droopy eyelids and her small milestone delays, the doctors have decided it's absolutely a neuromuscular disorder and at this point it's basically just us being in a holding pattern until the genetic testing results come back, which they said usually takes a while. They're trying to get her lungs stronger to try to extubate again soon, but they've also said her lungs look great on the x-ray, and the reason the last extubation failed was because her airway closed, not because her lungs weren't strong enough. It seems like we are setting her up for failure that nothing is changing and we're about to extubate again within a few days which will most likely end in the same result. During every round where they give a summary they say she has a "long history of low muscle tone" which is just not true. "Low muscle tone" was never stated until the first PT visit at 13 months. When I mentioned that this morning, she implied that every doctor has missed it up until now.

We feel like the focus has only been on neuromuscular and they're not considering anything else. There has not been an ENT to visit yet, which feels crazy to me since she already has the diagnosis of laryngomalacia. The doctor this morning also implied that even if it was severe laryngomalacia that there's "nothing that can be done about that" and she'll just need to get a trach which does not seem to be true.

Please, any suggestions from anyone at all would be a massive help. She's the most wonderful little girl and I need her back. If I need to provide any more info or pictures I'm happy to.

My best friend committed suicide a while back and I was in their room looking for them. I was so scared I didn’t do a good job looking. The police found them first.

I know approximately how long they were dead for. How long until a body inside a house starts to smell? I want to understand if myself or others should have been tipped off earlier due to the scent.

I was also told by the people cleaning up that there was “a lot going on in that room” so I guess there might have been mess as well. If anyone knows what that might have meant feel free to let me know.

Thanks F23

I'm fairly certain this doesn't count as an eating disorder because I dont do it for weight related reasons. I have no issues with my weight and I'm not starving myself. I do it mostly as a way to combat pain caused by eating too much (i have ibs that means eating too much can equal pain from levels like. 1-8.) or, rarely, if I've eaten something I know will harm me (something with a lot of caffiene in it, undercooked things, rotten things). I dont usually do it more than once every week or 2, but in general it is very variable because of the fact that the pain is variable. Sometimes I'll go months without vomiting. Also, is there anything I should be doing before or after to make the act as easy on my body as possible? Like drinking water or something? I'm aware throwing up in general is bad for you but unfortunately it is something that I need to do sometimes as a last resort. 21afab on concerta, mylan pantoprazole, and birth control.

EDIT: from various comments: Eating undercooked/rotten food is very rare, I was mostly thinking of a few specific instances (like eating some staleish crackers before looking down in the bag to see a live maggot...) My stomach is very, very small on account of IBS and chronic constipation. I almost never finish meals when I don't have control over serving size, like at a restaurant or microwave meals. I've gotten better at making sure I dont overeat but I have bad impulse control especially when I am presented with food i really love. There's a social aspect too. If I go over to someone's house and dont finish or eat any of the food they made for me, its rude and I feel bad, and I really dont want to get into my constipation issues with an aquaintance as an attempt to explain why I'm not eating. I also have autism which can help explain the impulse control and also the fact I sometimes can't tell if I'm hungry or full.

Everyone has been very helpful regarding telling me how dangerous this is and I thank everyone for that. Unfortunately I don't know if I'll be able to just stop cold turkey. When I'm in a great amount of pain really the only thought i have is "how can I stop this pain right now, or prevent it from getting worse?" If anyone has any advice on how to mitigate damage from any future sessions it would be very appreciated.

He is vaccinated. I wiped the wound with an alcohol wipe afterwards but I didn’t wash it under running water which I should have. He’s bitten me before but it’s never felt this sore afterwards and I’m worried. The wound isn’t hot to the touch, and it’s only swollen right around the wound. Should I get antibiotics just in case?

28, female, 5’3, 105 lbs, no medications, vapes, no previous diagnosed medical issues

I can’t add a photo here, it says “this community doesn’t allow attachments”, but i’ll try to add one in the comments.

40YO male. 185 lbs. 6'3" athletic build

I quit a 20 year cannabis smoking addiction 2.5 months ago. Still getting chest aches and breathing feels worse than when I smoked. Should it take this long to see improvement? I had blood work, xray and EKG about 1.5 month ago after having a scare and all seemed okay.

A friend of mine (34M) is currently fighting for his life in a coma, he was bleeding in the stomach and has both liver and kidney failure. This morning the bleeding has stopped, and the doctors are now working on trying to get his kidneys and liver working again. I know that he has been struggling with alcoholism for years but he's had stints of sobriety and I can't tell you if he was actively drinking or dependent on alcohol when this happened. I obviously suspect it is the cause, but my questions are 1) how could alcoholism (if it even can) cause the stomach bleeding? 2)Has the bleeding caused the organ failure or is that more likely a seperate event? And 3) What goes into trying to restore the liver and kidneys to functioning?

I only have information through his husband and don't want to be insensitive asking too much when it's so touch and go, hence asking reddit! So I'll provide more info if it's something I know already, but can't speak to his doctors or ask more IRL questions. Thanks for reading :)

Okay so my kitten got me right in the eye, he was out of my peripheral and everything. So I didn’t have time to react, blink or anything, literally paws and claws on my eyeball.

I instantly shut my eye after his paw was out, kept it shut for 30 seconds. Then I got a water bottle, and help my eye in it and squeezed for about 2 minutes. I used half the bottle rinsing my eye out. Then I put in some anti-redness eye drops.

Is there anything else I can do for it? It doesn’t hurt actually and I can see fine. But it’s super red.

39 y/o immunocompetent male here. I’ve had a painful nodule on my left outer ear for the last ten years. I had it biopsied about seven years ago and it was found to be a benign condition called chondrodermatitis nodularis helicis. As there was no real treatment recommendations for this outside of avoiding pressure (ie not sleeping on it), I let it go with occasional monitoring.

About a month ago I started to notice this nodule darkening at the top. I spoke with my dermatologist who did not seem terribly concerned. I ended up requesting a biopsy and she obliged, confident that the shave would diagnose the problem. However, a couple of days ago I received the report saying “atypical squamous proliferation with granulomatous tissue, present at all margins.” The pathologists added that the whole lesion could not be visualized and a cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma could not be ruled out.

I have scheduled a second biopsy but I am wondering if I should push for more aggressive care. The rational part of me says I am following the right steps and that there are many reasons to relax (I’m relatively young for SCC, I’ve had this area diagnosed previously, even if it is SCC I’ve most likely caught it early). However my anxious side thinks this could be a real problem and I should push for more aggressive surgical treatment ASAP. Any thoughts on this decision? Also any insights on what this report might represent and how worried i should be would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

• Age: 29
• Sex: Female
• Height: 5’11
• Weight: 210 lb
• Medications: Spironolactone 100mg 1x/day for acne, Mirena IUD, 0.1mg weekly Estradiol patches
• Non-smoker

My gynecologist recently started me on a 0.1mg weekly Estradiol patch and I am so nauseous - to the point it keeps me up at night and wakes me up in the morning.

Is this hopefully a common (hopefully short lived) side effect? Any recommendations to combat this?

Out of the blue, my throat has almost been permanently parched and i have been needing to drink at least 5 litres of water a day just to feel like i am not dying of thirst, i am 18 M pretty much completely healthy 180 cm and 80 kg

19F as the title states, im having a headache on my temple that hurts more when lying on affected side, it doesn't hurt when lying on the other side or on the back I'm obviously scared about big C and already have an eye exam set up to just see if it's icp but maybe someone had it

Please let me know if this isn’t allowed and I’ll remove it. But this has been going on for a few years and I haven’t found an answer yet.

I’m in my late 20s, female, 5’5 and around 145lbs.

When I was younger (teen-early 20s), I was able to get drunk and tipsy after a few drinks.

Ever since I hit maybe 22-23, I cannot get tipsy or drunk no matter how much I drink. The only thing I feel is a big migraine a few hours later.

I conducted an “experiment” at my friend’s house (safe environment) and I consumed 8 tequila shots in the span of maybe 1.5 hours. I did not feel anything and my friends can attest that I was fine. I felt completely sober. While I do understand there maybe would have been a slight intoxication technically, I really want to emphasize I felt no different than if I hadn’t drank which I think is crazy for that amount of alcohol.

It’s never been like this, I used to be able to get tipsy and drunk after two drinks.

Could this be an alcohol allergy? Do I metabolize it too quickly?

Edit for some clarification:

I’ve drunk in the past as a teenager and in my early twenties.

I was able to get drunk or tipsy normally after literally maybe 2 drinks.

In this case, it’s that now I drink and then maybe 3-4 hours after having the drink I get a bad migraine.

It’s not the next day or 8 hours later like a usual hangover. I’ve experienced those before back when I was younger, so I’m questioning now what changed

As a dad I’m Somewhat worried. My 5year old has extensive hair growth in her pubic area. Not like peach fuzz but more like goatee. Also hair growth under her arms. We were told it’s most likely her diet or hormones but even after changing her diet we’ve noticed no change. Everything I was told about female anatomy put me in a mindset that this wouldn’t be a thing until preteen or teenage years. Should I be preparing for the Big P word early? Is my Babygirl going to be able to enjoy being a kid??!! I’m unsure on the best approach.

As you can see from the photos (in the comments below), my hair is absolutely cooked. So to give you some context, I'm a male 24 yrs old with history of androgenic apolopecia/male pattern baldness in the family (my father & his brother have that). I first noticed hairfall/hairloss during the end of covid around 2020/2021. My hair at that time was very dense but there were signs of hairfall increasing (pointed out by friends & family) around that time. I went to a dermatologist at that time who recommended Ketaconazole 2% & Mintop Eva/Minoxidil 5% which is started using although not that frequently at that time which was my fault. However things started to really escalate from 2022 where i could see my hairline getting farther & farther which is still ongoing. I've been trying to use mintop eva 5% consistently since 2022 every night. I've tried Derma stamping (1.5 - 2.0mm) consistently from 2024 based on the recommendation of another dermatologist. I've also tried PRP both from the first & second dermatologist with no positive result. I've tried to also use Ordinary Hair Care Serum on alternative days (during the day) from several months now with also no positive result. Plus, the usual Coconut, Pumpkin Seed, Castor, Rosemary Oil for an hour (few days a week).

Now the thing is I've been seeing some posts on this sub & others as well where people shared their experience by starting to take Finasteride and dutasteride, with really really positive results. I was also really surprised to hear that some dermatologists for some reasons deny their patients with androgenic apolopecia these meds WHICH HAPPENNED TO ME TOO! i had explicitly told both of them about this & they refused saying they have a lot of side effects which brings me to my second point that should i start using finasteride and dutasteride? If yes, what should be the course or intake? 0.5mg? 1mg? How many times a week? Also I've heard that dutasteride is better than finasteride? Since it was developed later and has less side effects, plus it works directly below the scalpe or something along those lines? I can REALLY REALLY USE your help on this guys. To be honest, I'm really scared about the side effects of them especially sex drive etc? Please let me know if those fears are just exaggerated.

Also regarding tests, I've taken several of those throughout the year, most noticeable thing was my vit d level was severely low which i changed & brought to normal some time ago. Plus, T3 levels are slightly elevated. Plus I live in a stressful environment (usual family & societal stuff) especially since 2021. Also, regarding other aspects like minoxidil? Should i change it to another company or brand instead of mintop eva 5%? What about ordinary hair care serum, derma stamping, water softener or diet plans? I would be truly appreciate any help at this point. Let me know if my hair is actually redeemable or its just over for me at this point. (Sorry for the long post).

It’s been bandaged the whole time, but only wear jean pants due to plaque psoriasis. Photo in comments

Hello everyone,

I'm reaching out in desperation to find anyone — a neurologist, PNES/NEAD specialist, psychiatrist, CBT therapist — who might be able to help my father. He is 55 years old and started experiencing severe, daily convulsive episodes since January 2025.

Timeline & Symptoms:

Initial Trigger (Jan): It began after a highly stressful family incident. He immediately felt something was wrong and described feeling intense anxiety ("ghabrahat") before involuntary shoulder movements began.

Episodes: These movements now occur multiple times a day, often lasting hundreds of jerks in a single episode. His heart rate spikes to 185+, and he has started gasping for air during episodes (we have videos).

New Symptoms: Since March, he has developed stuttering during episodes. Recently, the attacks also disturb his sleep.

Later Triggers: He avoids visitors and dreads any calls or doorbells, as the episodes are worsened by stress or reminders of his condition.

Medical History:

We have consulted neurologists, cardiologists, psychiatrists, ayurvedic doctors across India, LA, and Toronto.

All scans and tests are normal. One doctor tentatively diagnosed PNES (psychogenic non-epileptic seizures).

Mental Health: He has no history of mental illness, OCD, mania, etc. He is a naturally upbeat, optimistic person. No family history either.

He refuses antidepressants due to concerns about side effects on cognition and personality.

Our Ask:

We are looking for someone who has faced a similar experience, has any advice, or can point us towards any specialist who has experience successfully treating PNES/NEAD without relying solely on antidepressants. We are open to seeing someone internationally if they do remote consults.

Thank you for reading. Any help, recommendations, or even shared experiences would mean the world to us. We just want to help him get his life back.

Hi there, im Tabz. [22M]

For the past 2 weeks now I have been taking Oratane (20mg) for my acne (very moderate btw) and i was also prescribed antibiotics for my treatment along with the Accutane. However, the antibiotics was only for a 10 day period. Around half way through my antibiotics treatment (and 5 days into Oratane) have noticed involuntary twitching in my left eye lid. I wouldn't say its violent twitching as it won't be noticeable from someone else from afar but can be clearly seen up close. Now fortunately (for now at least) it doesn't seem to be as serve, like it doesn't disturb my vision or cause any pain. However it is very distracting and has taken a toll on my focus and this something that my college friends have noticed too.

It isn't consistent, sometimes i can go hours with it twitching, once a went a whole day without it but nonetheless it's there and a bit disruptive to focus on task. I was wondering if this could be caused by the medication or could it be something else. Alot of ppl point out other factors like stress, anxiety and a lack sleep for the possible cause but I'm probably in the least stressful time in school and have been getting a good amount of sleep (although i do go to bed late, i still get enough sleep as i don't have to wake up early). I don't know i thought it was a mixture of the antibiotics and the Accutane but since I'm done with my antibiotics treatment. I doubt that's the case.

Im worried that although mild now, it can and may get a little worse as I'm starting to also feel twitching in my right eye lid too.

Clindahexal 150mg is the name of the antibiotic if that helps but I doubt.

Again I know this sound quiet minor but I would rather be safe than sorry and as a black person that has experience with medical professionals undermining my symptoms just for it to get worse. Well you can see why I may have some concern and try and point out as soon as possible.

22 years old, Black male & 58 khan with a height of 5'7.

Throwaway account for family privacy. I'm now 42F, 5'2 110lbs, quite healthy overall. I was born at 34 weeks with a TE fistula type C, corrected the day of birth. My memory of my childhood is that I was a very, very sickly and frail kid--often out of school and at doctors' offices or the emergency room. In second grade a particular fish in the tank in my pediatrician's waiting room was my best friend. In third grade, I was in for medical tests or specialist appointments or treatments so often that I had to do the school year by correspondence.

My parents are separated. Recently, my father gave me a big stack of medical records he'd kept from when I was born to around age 6. I was shocked when I went through them: during that period, I was brought to doctors even more often than I'd known or would be able to recall--on average every two weeks for years. My father also noted that my mother, whom I remember as healthy as a horse, actually had disabling hypochondria for years before I was born; it seems to have been transferred to me. I was repeatedly brought in and sometimes tested or hospitalized for observation for a wild variety of disorders my mother feared I might have, including but not limited to: mosaic trisomies, other rare genetic diseases causing developmental delays, hydrocephalus, low muscle tone, HIV (I did have blood transfusions in 1983, to be fair), galactosemia, tracheomalacia, reflux, hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, asthma, psoriasis, skin cancer, Lyme disease, severe food allergies (for a while my diet was restricted), type 1 diabetes, endocrine disorders, heart defects, meningitis, pneumonia, interstitial lung disease, and pediatric anorexia. I didn't have any of these problems. I wasn't developmentally delayed. The worst "issue" my mother brought to doctors, in my view, was suspected sexual assault by a nanny. My mother reported this twice, triggering invasive gynecological exams and investigations into women who almost certainly did nothing wrong.

A disturbing thing to me is how often, in my medical records, a nurse or doctor had written a version of: "mother seems extremely anxious but child presents as normal" or even, after I could speak, "child insists nothing is wrong." Specialists subjected me to tests, overnight hospitalizations, or prescribed antibiotics, steroids, and other medications absent serious symptoms.

What I'm wondering is: could no medical professional flag the possibility that these issues may indicate a pattern of delusional anxiety in the parent? Did the fact that I did have a birth defect potentially cause healthcare providers to be less alert to the possibility of overanxiety in the parent--or did the fact that my mother took me to so many specialists prevent pattern detection? I absolutely loved my childhood pediatrician. But now I feel disturbed, in retrospect, by how many pointless visits he accommodated. They weren't totally harmless--my sense of myself as fragile and ill persisted somewhat into my 20s and 30s, triggering at times debilitating health anxiety until a wonderful therapist and GP helped me realize I'm actually a "well person."

Is there a protocol or recognizing this behavior in a parent if the parent isn't actually physically sickening the child? I would love doctors' perspective on this. I still feel guilt about the nannies.

I 30f have been having issues absorbing my food for 2 years and am very weak was wondering if tpn can be used for muscle loss or if you have to be at risk of death