Reddit Stories - My young RELATIVE swapped out my crucial TREATMENT with COUNTERFEIT capsules in secret

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

#redditstories #askreddit #aita #familydrama #healthcare #deception #trustissues #consequencesSummary: My young relative swapped out my crucial treatment with counterfeit capsules in secret, leading to a serious health scare. Now I'm questioning our relationship and struggling to rebuild trust.Tags: redditstories, askreddit, reddit, aita, tifu, familydrama, healthcare, deception, trustissues, consequences, relationshipissues, healthscare, counterfeitmedication, secretswap, trustrebuilding, familybetrayal, medicaldilemma, honesty, betrayal, familybondingBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/reddit-stories--6237355/support.

I hope you enjoy this story. My young relative swapped out my crucial treatment with counterfeit capsules in secret to verify the legitimacy of my ailment, resulting in a near-death experience for me. In response, I sought retribution by sabotaging his acceptance into university, exposing him at a family dinner which ended my marriage. I am a 45-year-old male, and I have been married to my wife, 42F, for five years. She has a son, 17M, from a previous marriage, who is my stepson. We all live together until very recently.

I have a serious autoimmune disease, Addison's disease, an adrenal condition, that requires daily life-saving medication. Without my medication, I can go into adrenal crisis, basically, my body can shut down. I wear a medical alert bracelet and everyone close to me knows how vital my meds are. My stepson has never fully accepted or respected my illness. He's always been a skeptic about it, acting like I was exaggerating my condition. For example, if I was exhausted or needed to rest, he'd roll his eyes or make snide comments like guess the special medicine isn't working, huh? He's a teenager and I tried to shrug it off, but it still bothered me. My wife would scold him and tell him to be respectful, but I could tell he thought I was basically faking or being dramatic.

I once overheard him telling a friend on the phone that he thought I was a hypochondriac or that I took placebo pills for attention. I chalked that up to typical teenage note-all behavior and figured in time he'd grow out of it. I was wrong. Over the last few months, I started experiencing strange flare-ups and symptoms that hadn't been an issue for years. I was dealing with constant fatigue, dizziness, and muscle pain again. At my last checkup, my doctor was puzzled because, my blood work showed signs that my hormone levels were off, almost like I hadn't been taking my medication, except I was taking it diligently. We even discussed whether the pharmacy might have

given me a bad batch of pills. My doctor temporarily increased my dosage, thinking maybe my disease was progressing. Despite that, I kept feeling worse. I didn't understand what was happening to me. About six weeks ago, I was home alone on a Saturday afternoon while my wife was out shopping and my stepson was at a friend's house. I remember feeling extremely weak and lightheaded. I started having severe abdominal pain and became so nauseated I could barely stand. I realized I might be going into an adrenal crisis. I managed to call my older brother, 48M, who lives about 10 minutes away.

According to him, I was slurring my words and told him, I don't feel right. I think I need help, before I dropped the phone. He immediately rushed over and broke in after seeing me collapsed on the living room floor through the window, unconscious. My brother called an ambulance. I was rushed to the hospital. I woke up in a hospital bed hours later, disoriented, with my wife and brother sitting by my side. I learned I had indeed suffered an adrenal crisis, basically, my body shut down because it didn't have the cortisol it needed. I had come dangerously close to dying. The doctors pumped me full of four steroids and other meds to stabilize me.

They were confused because I had been managing my condition well for years. Naturally, they started asking what could have gone wrong. When I was well enough to talk, a doctor asked me if I'd been taking my medication process. I said, of course I had. My wife backed me up, she sees me take my pills every day. The doctors then tested the pills themselves, because something wasn't adding up. I'll never forget when a hospital pharmacist came into my room with a concerned look and told us, the pills you brought in there not your medication at all. There's no active ingredient in them. I remember shaking and saying, what do you mean? Those are my pills. I take my pills. I take you,

take them every day. He explained that the tablets looked identical to my real medication, but they were essentially fake, probably some kind of sugar pill or a similarly innocuous tablet, not the cortisol replacement drug I need. My wife and I were floored. We immediately thought the pharmacy must have made a terrible error when filling my prescription. If they gave me placebo pills by mistake, that's a life-threatening screw-up. We told the doctors which pharmacy I use, hospital contacted them to investigate. It quickly became clear the pharmacy hadn't messed up at all. They confirmed the lot number on the bottle matched the correct medication they dispensed. So at some point after I got the medicine, someone swapped the real pills for fake ones.

I saw my wife's face as this realization sank in. We were both thinking of the same person, my stepson. He had access to my medication at home and given his attitude about my illness. the horrifying puzzle pieces started falling into place. I didn't want to believe he would actually tamper with my meds, but who else could it have been? There was no sign of any break-in at our house, and the pills had clearly been switched gradually over a period of time, explaining why I'd been getting sicker for weeks. My wife burst into tears and left my room to call my stepson and her ex-husband, my stepson's father.

Meanwhile, the hospital staff had already alerted the police. Tampering with someone's medication, especially something that critical, is a serious crime. Before I fully understood what was happening, a police officer arrived to take a statement from me. I told them everything. I was still in shock. I kept saying, I can't believe he might have done this. The police went to our house that evening to talk to my stepson while I was still hospitalized. My brother later filled me in on what happened.

Initially, my stepson denied everything. He claimed he had no idea how my pills got swapped. But when the officers made it clear how serious this was, explaining that they could test the pills and check for fingerprints, he cracked. He confessed that he had been secretly replacing my medications with over-the-counter look-like pills for months. When I heard this, I broke down sobbing. This kid, whom I've helped raise and care for, nearly killed me just to. to test if my illness was real. According to the police, and what my wife later confirmed, my stepson's twisted logic was that if I really needed my meds, I'd get sick without them,

and if I was fine, then I must be faking it. So he wanted to see what would happen. Well, what happened is that I almost died on my living room floor. He watched me grow weaker and sicker for weeks and said nothing. Even when I was in the ICU, he stayed silent until the cops pushed him. He literally stood by and risked my life just to satisfy a morbid curiosity about whether my condition was legitimate. To me, that goes beyond teenage stupidity, it's truly malicious. He showed the police where he had hidden my real pills and the package of fakes in his room. He had been swapping a few of my pills at a time so I wouldn't notice an immediate change. It's horrifying how much effort he put into this experiment. I'm home from the hospital now. I'm home from the hospital now.

recovering physically. But emotionally, I am a mess. I cannot even look at my stepson. He's been staying at his biological father's house since the incident, needless to say. The police filed a report and detained him for questioning, but since he's a minor the legal process is complicated. I absolutely intend to pursue this legally, at the very least there will be a record of what he did. My wife. She's not handling it well either. She's torn between her son and me. She apologized to me and is horrified by what her son did.

But that's still her child, and she's very upset and conflicted. As of now, I've told her I refused to live under the same roof as him ever again. She understands. I'm beyond furious and hurt. I nearly lost my life because of his little test. I don't know how we're going to recover from this. I'll update this post if there are any developments. Update 1.

Thank you to everyone for the support of my original post. It's been about two months since the incident, and my life has completely changed. Many of you asked what happened next. I sure did not let things slide. After I recovered from the immediate health scare, I was determined to make sure my steps unfaced real consequences for nearly killing me. The police had his confession, and I pressed charges in juvenile court for felony poisoning slash tampering. Since he was 17, the case went through the juvenile system. In the end,

he was adjudicated delinquent, basically found guilty of a juvenile offense. The punishment, however, was relatively mild in my eyes. He got probation, mandatory counseling, and some community service. Essentially a slap on the wrist for what I consider attempted murder. I was livid at the leniency, but my wife, now ex-wife, but we'll get to that, was relieved he didn't end up in juvenile detention. She kept saying, he's just a stupid kid who made a terrible mistake. I wasn't satisfied at all. I realized that if the legal system wasn't going to truly hold him accountable beyond a record, I would take matters into my own hands. I took matters. I took channeled all my anger and betrayal into a plan, call it revenge, call it justice, whatever.

I just knew I had to do something more. Here's what I did in the two months after the incident to get back at my stepson. One, laptop burglary, I wanted access to my stepson's personal files, and frankly, I wanted to rattle him a bit. One weekend, I waited until my wife and stepson were out. I borrowed his laptop from his room and hid it. I then lightly ransacked his room and broke a small window latched to make it look like a break-in had occurred. When they came home, I acted shocked that our place had been burglarized. The only thing that appeared missing. His prized laptop.

Nothing else was touched, since I wasn't about to actually rob myself. My stepson was furious and freaked out. We filed a police report for the break-in, yes, I faked a crime report, not my proudest moment, but I kept it vague and didn't try to claim insurance or anything. The police assumed it was a quick opportunistic thief who ran off with a laptop. In reality, I had his laptop tucked away safely. He never suspected I was behind it. Two, blowing his college admission, my stepson was a high school senior who had been accepted

to a good college. I obtained a copy of the police report from his medication tampering, as the victim, I had a right to it, and copies of my hospital record showing what his actions did to me. I mailed an anonymous packet to the admissions office of his college. I included a letter explaining that this incoming student had committed a serious act that nearly killed someone, which might be of concern to the university. It didn't take long, about two weeks later, my stepson got a letter informing him his admission offer was rescinded.

They gave a vague explanation about receiving information regarding an incident. He was absolutely devastated. Senior year was ending, and suddenly he had no college in the fall. He and my wife scrambled to appeal, but the college wouldn't budge. When I casually asked my wife if they said why, she replied, it must have been that police thing. Someone must have sent them something. I just raised my eyebrows and said, wow, that's unfortunate. I think she had a suspicion I was involved, but she didn't confront me.

me at the time. Three, civil lawsuit for damages. My medical bills from the ICU and follow-up were huge, even with insurance, I owed a lot. Since my stepson is a minor, I couldn't sue him directly for those damages, but I could sue his parents. I decided not to go after my own wife, but I went after his biological father. His dad is well off, and I suspect some of my stepson's attitude came from him, he always thought I was milking my condition. I filed a civil lawsuit against the father to recover the medical costs and related damages caused by his son. To say my wife was upset is an understatement. She begged me not to involve her ex, saying he had nothing to do with it and that this would destroy any co-parenting goodwill.

I told her I didn't care, her son nearly killed me, and someone was going to pay for the consequences. The lawsuit is ongoing, these things take time, but my lawyer is confident since we have the police report in his confession. When the father received the legal notice, he apparently went ballistic on both my wife and my stepson. I heard, back when my wife and I still spoke, that the father called his son the dumbest kid on earth and was furious that he might have to foot a giant bill. Honestly? Good. I have zero sympathy. 4. Public Humiliation Online. Remember that laptop. I went through it and found plenty to fuel my anger. My stepson had a private folder of videos, edgy clips of him and a friend mocking people with chronic illnesses.

In one video, he actually pretended to be me, mimicking me taking pills and fainting, joking about stepdaddy's fake illness. I saw red. I compiled a couple of the worst clips and anonymously posted them on a local Facebook community. page and a subreddit for exposing jerks. I captioned it with something like, this is what 17M, high school senior from Our Town, thinks of people with chronic illnesses, the same kid who was recently in court for almost killing his stepdad by tampering with his medication. It spread around quickly. His videos were disgusting to a lot of people. Even parents of his friends saw it. His reputation took a nosedive. Teachers and family friends heard. about it. He basically became a pariah at school for those last weeks. I think this hit him harder

than any court sentence, he was embarrassed and shamed, and he had only himself to blame. Five. The big family reveal, the final blow came at my in-law's 50th anniversary dinner, which was about two months after the incident. My wife's extended family was gathered at a nice restaurant to celebrate. Despite the chaos at home, I was still invited, At that point, my wife and I were in a tense maybe we can get past this limbo. My stepson was there too, looking miserable and avoiding me. Most of the extended family didn't know the full story of what happened, only that I had been very ill and that there was some issue with my stepson.

My wife had been vague with them, probably to protect her son's image. Well, I ended that. During a moment when people were giving toasts, I stood up and decided to lay out the truth. I announced that I had nearly died recently because my steps unintentionally tampered with my medication to test if I really had an illness. My mother-in-law's face went pale. Some relatives looked confused or shocked, not having heard this before. I made it clear, I was hospitalized in critical condition because of what he did.

And I said I felt everyone deserved to know the truth about it. At that point, all hell broke loose. My father-in-law jumped up and started yelling at my stepson, demanding to know if it was true. My stepson just sat there red-faced, speechless. My wife started screaming at me, saying, how could you do this here? She was furious I'd aired this, I responded, why shouldn't they know? Their grandson nearly killed me. The dinner turned into a shouting match.

Some relatives tried to calm my father-in-law, others were glaring at my stepson, and the elderly grandparents were quickly escorted out because my news had really upset them. The event ended right then and there. My stepson ran out of the restaurant in humiliation, and my wife ran after him. I stayed behind a moment to apologize to the in-laws for the scene, and I said something like, I'm sorry to ruin your celebration, but imagine how ruined it would be if I had died and no one knew why. Then I walked out and drove myself home. That night, my wife did not come home.

She stayed at her parents' house with her son. She sent me a barrage of angry texts, accusing me of trying to destroy her son and saying I'd crossed a line bringing it up in front of the whole family. She told me I humiliated them and that she couldn't even look at me anymore. We barely spoke after that except to fight. She acknowledged what our son did was horribly wrong, but she was livid about how I retaliated. She said I went from being the victim to being vindictive and cruel.

I told her, your son nearly ended my life. I have no pity for him right now, she said she didn't recognize me anymore. In truth, I barely recognized myself at that point. I'd never been so consumed by anger. Ultimately, she decided to file for divorce. The combination of what I did to our son's future and me publicly outing the situation was too much for her to forgive. In her eyes, I had destroyed her son out of spite. In my eyes, her son almost killed me, so we were nowhere near even. We separated immediately after the blow-up.

She and my stepson moved in with her parents. I haven't spoken to my stepson at all since, and my wife and I have only communicated through lawyers and brief texts about logistics. I have a lot of conflicting emotions. I feel Abbott vindicated. that the kid didn't just walk away from this and scathed. But I also feel deeply sad. I loved my wife, and aside from this nightmare, I was happy being married to her. Now that marriage is over.

I've likely alienated her whole family too. It's a lot of collateral damage. Was my revenge worth it? In the heat of anger, I thought absolutely yes. Now, in the cold aftermath. I'm not sure. What I do know is that I couldn't just move on like nothing happened. Maybe I went nuclear, but he brought a nuclear warhead to our home when he tampered with my meds,

and I responded in kind. So that's where things stand. I have no spouse now, no stepchild in my life, and I'm essentially on my own again, but I'm alive, and he faced consequences. My soon-to-be ex-wife is not exactly on good terms with me, to put it mildly, but at this point my trust in her is shattered too. She ultimately sided with her son, or at least couldn't accept what I did in response. I think we're both hurt and angry and there's no fixing it. We've started the divorce process. I'll update again when that's finalized. Update 2. Hello again. It's been

about seven months since my last update. My divorce is now finalized. It was finalized a month ago, and I'm officially single and living on my own. The divorce itself went as smoothly as a divorce can, I suppose. We had no kids together and we reached a settlement on assets without too much drama. We sold the house, and I let her keep most of the furniture because I didn't really care to fight over those things. My ex initially thought I might owe her alimony since I earn more, but my lawyer quickly shut that down given the circumstances, her son nearly killed me, and I'm suing her ex for my medical bills. She didn't push the alimony issue after that.

Once we signed everything, we more or less went no contact. We exchanged a short wish-you-well text after the papers were signed, and that was that. Five years of marriage, over. Emotionally, I'm, hanging in there. The past year was the hardest of my life. Physically, I recovered from the adrenal crisis after a couple months. But mentally, it's been tough. I still have anxiety around my health and medications.

I double and triple check my pills every time I take them. I even bought a small safe with a lock to store my meds now, even though I live alone, because the trauma of someone tampering with them really messed me up. I have nightmares occasionally, I'll wake up in a panic, thinking I'm back on that floor unable to move, or I'll dream that someone I trust is poisoning me. My therapist says it's a form of PTSD from the incident, which makes sense. All I know is that it's going to take a long time before I truly feel safe and trusting again. On the legal front, the civil lawsuit against my ex-stepson's father is still in progress, but it's leaning in my favor. A few months ago

his lawyer actually approached us with a settlement offer, basically offering to pay a large portion of my medical costs if I dropped the suit. I'm inclined to accept just to be done with it, but my lawyer is negotiating for a bit more since we have a strong case. I expect we'll settle soon. It's not really about getting a windfall, it's about not being financially drained for something that wasn't my fault. And frankly, I'm tired of legal battles. I just want that chapter closed. As for my ex-stepson, I've had zero contact with him. From what I hear through the grapevine, he didn't end up going off to any four-year college after his admission was rescinded. Instead, he enrolled in a local community college. I think the combination of losing his college spot

and the public shame really shook him up. A mutual acquaintance mentioned he's keeping a very low profile these days. Apparently he even continued with therapy beyond what the court mandated. Maybe he's actually trying to change, who knows. He turned 18 recently. I can't say I wish him well, but I don't actively wish him harm either at this point. I just don't want to think about him. He's out of my life, and I prefer it stay that way. The doctors say I was incredibly lucky. If my brother hadn't found me when he did, I likely wouldn't be here. That's a sobering thought that I grapple with a lot. It makes me grateful to be alive, even on the hard days. Do I have lingering anger? Yes. Sadness? Absolutely. I mourn the life I had before all this, my marriage, the sense of security and my own

home. But I'm working through it step by step. The nightmares are becoming less frequent. Maybe someday I'll date again, the thought of explaining this whole saga to someone new is daunting, to be honest. Maybe I'll just stay single and focus on myself for a good long while. Right now, I'm just taking care of me. I've got a good therapist, supportive loved ones, and a second chance at life that I'm not going to waste. I want to say thanks again to everyone who followed along and offered words of encouragement. It truly meant a lot during those lonely nights when I was replaying everything in my head. This will probably be my final update, because I'm hoping nothing else dramatic happens.

I just want calm. Update 3. I know I said my last update would likely be the final one, but something significant happened recently. It's been about six months since my divorce was finalized in my previous update. In that time, I've been quietly rebuilding my... life. Things have been, thankfully, uneventful. Until now. Out of the blue, my ex-step son reached out to me. It's been roughly a year since I last saw or spoke to him. He's 18 now,

going on 19. I was honestly stunned to get a text from him. In the message, he said he wanted to talk and apologize to me in person. He acknowledged I had every right to ignore him but said he hoped I'd hear him out. I wrestled with the decision. After discussing it in therapy and with my brother, I decided to meet him. I didn't have high expectations, but I felt like I might regret it if I never gave him the chance to say his peace. At the very least, I figured it might provide me some closure. We met during the day at a public park. I saw him sitting on a bench, and definitely nervous. When I approached, he stood up and kind of run his hands and said, Thank you for meeting me.

What followed was one of the most surreal conversations of my life. My ex-stepson actually broke down crying while apologizing to me. I've seen this kid angry, snarky, defiant, but never vulnerable. He started by saying he knows he is the last person I would want to see, but he needed to tell me how sorry he is. He admitted that what he did was unimaginably horrible. He said there was no excuse, but he wanted to explain, not to justify, but so I'd understand he's not that monster anymore.

He told me that at the time, he was in a really bad place mentally, full of anger and skepticism, influenced by some online conspiracy-type forums, like on Reddit, and, sadly, egged on by his biological dad's attitude. Apparently his dad would make comments like your stepdad's not that sick, he's just lazy, which fed into my stepson's perception that I was faking. Hearing this made me grimace, but it wasn't exactly surprising. He said he resented that his mom was always worried about me and catering to me when I didn't look sick to him, and in his immature 17-year-old brain he decided to put my illness to the test in the worst way possible. He admitted he was insanely stupid and that he hates himself for it. He then described how the past year went for him, losing college, being shunned by many friends, having to go to therapy, etc.

He said, it really forced me to confront how awful I was. He told me he's been continuing therapy on his own, even after the mandatory counseling ended, and that he's learned a lot about empathy and taking responsibility. He also said he's been volunteering at a local hospital for the past few months, transporting patients and assisting staff. He said seeing sick and elderly patients every day, helping people who are vulnerable, really opened his eyes. I realized how badly I screwed up and how easily someone can die if you mess around like I did, he said, tearing up. I just listened. I didn't interject much.

Honestly, it was very hard to process my emotions in that moment. This was the first time I'd seen real, raw remorse from him. He wasn't making excuses. He seemed genuinely ashamed and regretful. Finally, he directly apologized, I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from, but I need to tell you how sorry I am. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I ruined our family. I'm sorry I took your trust and shattered it.

I was an idiot and I almost cost you your life. I don't expect you to forgive me, I just. I needed to say this to your face. By this point he had tears streaming down his face. I was silent for a bit, then I realized I was crying too. I hadn't actually expected that. I managed to tell him, calmly, that I appreciated the apology. I also told him, very honestly, the damage he did, that I have nightmares,

that I lost a marriage and sense of safety because of his actions. I told him the truth, that I'm still not sure I can ever forgive him. He nodded, he said he doesn't expect forgiveness, that he just wanted me to know he is sorry and that he's working to be a better person so that what he did never happens again with anyone. He asked me if I had anything I wanted to ask or say to him. I only asked one question that's lingered with me, what on earth were you thinking as you watched me get sicker? Why didn't you stop? He looked down and said quietly, I kept telling myself it wasn't my fault, like maybe your illness was just getting worse on its own. I was lying to myself. And by the time you collapsed, I was too cowardly to say anything. I was scared I'd already killed you and scared to face it. I'm so sorry. That was hard to hear, but at least it was an honest answer.

In the end, he again said he completely understands that I may never want to speak to him after this. He handed me a folded piece of paper, a handwritten letter. He said he wrote everything he wanted to say in case I'm. refused to meet, and that I can read it or not, up to me. I did read it later. It basically reiterated everything he said, along with another apology and a note that he'll respect my boundaries but would welcome any future contact if and only if I ever wanted. We ended the conversation there. I wished him well, he thanked me for agreeing to meet, and we went our separate ways. Since that meeting, I've had a lot to think about. It's emotional, but I do feel a bit

lighter, strangely. Hearing him say sorry in person, seeing his genuine remorse, it doesn't erase what he did or heal me overnight, but it's a step. I think it gave both of us some closure on that horrific chapter. Will I ever forgive him fully? I don't know. Not now, that's for sure. But maybe someday, if his actions continue to show he's changed. The door to that is not bolted shut, but it's only open a crack. For now, I'm continuing to focus on myself. My life is slowly getting back to a new normal, and this meeting was just one more part of the process. I wanted to share this last update because so many of you were invested and because it's a hopeful note and an otherwise dark story, the person who wronged me is trying to be better, and we've reached a kind of understanding,

even if forgiveness is still a long way off.