Munchausens Syndrome

i believe my sister has munchausens syndrome. she has never been one for telling the truth, but recently she has been having "blackouts/seizures", drs have tried every test they found relative and found nothing to explain her symptoms. as well as this, none of the hospital equipment picked up anything to support her claims. sadly having put up with her dishonesty for years, i find it hard to ever believe her so i did not believe she was ill in anyway from the start. when she speaks about her "illness" she seems like she is telling some juicy gossip more than being a concerned patient/sister. for my dad, to see her ill like this is heartbreaking. but even drs have now suggested munchausens (at which point my sister discharged herself).
i don't know what to do

Have you seen her have one of these episodes, if so do you think it was for real?
As sad as it is for you & your dad, she's an adult so unless she's a danger to herself or others, probably not much you can do.
You think she'd ever consider therapy?
Try & not let this consume you. Seek help for yourself if need be.
Take care.

Hiya gonegirl,

I was curious as to what this syndrome was so I googled it and found the following.

Although a person with Munchausen syndrome actively seeks treatment for the various disorders he or she invents, the person often is unwilling to admit to and seek treatment for the syndrome itself. This makes treating people with Munchausen syndrome very challenging, and the outlook for recovery poor.
When treatment is sought, the first goal is to modify the person's behavior and reduce his or her misuse or overuse of medical resources. Once this goal is met, treatment aims to work out any underlying psychological issues that may be causing the person's behavior.
As with other factitious disorders, the primary treatment for Munchausen syndrome is psychotherapy or talk therapy (a type of counseling). Treatment usually focuses on changing the thinking and behavior of the individual (cognitive-behavioral therapy). Family therapy may also be helpful in teaching family members not to reward or reinforce the behavior of the person with the disorder.
SOURCE:

WebMD Medical Reference

Hope this helps.

Wow. That does really sound like Munchausen, which is just about impossible to treat if the person won't admit they have it. And it's tough because you don't want to reward that behavior by giving her the attention she wants, but at the same time if you ignore it, it will escalate. People with Munchausen can really hurt themselves.

Another thing to consider is hypochondria, where people actually HAVE the symptoms of an illness but it's psychological. They're not faking, they truly believe they're ill. The way you describe her talking about it, it sounds like Munchausen, but it could be something else. It would take a psychiatrist to say.