My mom has always been the type of person who never has an ordinary cold, but is at death's door, is hypersensitive to every ache and pain, and has acknowledged psychosomatic behavior in the past.... And seemed genuinely happy to just give up on everything once she was diagnosed with hep C, and let the rest of the world take care of her. So, now I am her caretaker and I'm never really sure how sick she really is. Every day she wakes with a list of minor aches/pains/dry skin/etc that she tells me about in detail. However, it's nearly the same thing every day, and I tell her, yes, of course you have this ache/your tummy's upset/whatever - you have hepatitis c! (and I haven't been able to get her to visit a doctor in about 2 years!!) She's physically quite able when she decides to be, can walk up and down the hill to the mailbox, make her own bed, load and unload the dishwasher, but if it's something she doesn't want to do, she is just too sick. With all the complaining about little things, I don't know how well or ill she REALLY is, and I don't tend to react with much sensitivity to her complaints anymore. Also, she washes her hands so much, she's starting to get sore spots (which she asks me if it's ringworm. sigh.) And, finally (and this probably deserves another post) she never, ever stops talking or respects my own personal/mental space.
Everyone is different, but I would start with her doctor. What I learned from him and researching my mom's ailments was that certain mental health conditions can cause physical symptoms. Even though they seem contrived, fake or exaggerated, they often will not just go away without treatment and often Depression and Anxiety can cause real medical problems like recurring infections, back ache, headaches, feeling dizzy, nausea, exhaustion, sleeping disruption, itching,ear aches, etc. I would ask about medication and a psychiatric evaluation.
I never thought my loved one would agree, but she's now agreeing after years of denial. She's also trying a new medication. Her primary care doctor says meds with the psychiatrist visits are the best route for healing.
Over time, I had stopped responding to the constant complaints. After a while, I would just say, you'll need to see your doctor about that. I would not discuss her complaints.
What really made the impact is when her primary told her pointblank that she needed help. She had so many alarmist doctor and ER visits and nothing was wrong with her. She was completely exhausted and in mental pain. She told him she wanted to go. So, hang in there. There is always hope.