Growing up my mother often told stories of me to standing in my crib, peeling the paint off the walls and eating it. She also said as a toddler I would go outside, put my hand into the gopher holes (my grandmother’s yard was full of them) and grab a handful of dirt to eat.
My own memories of craving the unusual go back to elementary school. I seemed to always have an ice cube in my mouth. Over the years the “ice thing” has grown increasingly worse. I crave ice like crazy – all the time.
My second husband hated the sound of my ice crunching so much that I was banished to the garage to eat it – as if going outside for a cigarette or something. I am so used to it and so close to it that I can’t tell but the sound of it must be incredibly loud and annoying. People mention the sound even when I don’t even realize I’m eating ice.
Several years ago I was told that the craving was a symptom of anemia. I’ve been so diagnosed several times throughout my lifetime and consequently prescribed iron to address it. But, for whatever reason, I’d rather eat ice than take iron.
This disorder is called Pica. Pica is defined as a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch, ice cubes).
OK, confession time -- my cravings go a bit further than ice. I actually crave the smell of rubber – as in rubber tires. I can stay in the tire section of a store forever, just sniffing away. Tennis shoes often have the same scent and I love it. (Go ahead and laugh.)
Today I was thinking about my cravings and decided to do some research. According to all I’ve read, both the ice and rubber issues are tied to my iron deficiency. I find it fascinating that the human body responds to deficiencies in this way.
Today I learned that Pagophagia is the name for craving ice specifically. So now when people are annoyed by the sound of my ice crunching I can tell them I can’t help it. I suffer from pagophagia.
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