Pica

[AmyG6500]

I thought I didn’t have this symptom until I read that it can apply to ice.

I’m interested to know who else finds this? Just curiosity really.

I don’t eat non-food items but I often crave icy drinks or ice. I actually keep a freezer full of ice lollies for this. Something ice cold to drink somewhat satisfies the craving too.

I presume it’s not doing me any harm to have the ice? I realise it won’t help the deficiency.

I’m getting this a lot at the moment, despite fortnightly injections.

[fbirder]

I'm not that familiar with pica, but I thought it had more to do with the actual act of eating - the chewing etc. - rather than consumption. WHen people have ice pica they tend to be attracted to the crunching of ice cubes.

It sounds to me as if you just like cold things - as do a lot of us.

[AmyG6500 in reply to fbirder]

Could be!

It does increase with my other symptoms though.

[wedgewood]

I didn’t realise that my love of ice -lollies had anything to do with my PA!! I’m rather hooked . ( has to be Waitrose coconut water lollies -coconut and lime and mandarin and Yuzu. On offer at the moment 6 for £1.50 !) Highly recommended .

[Hidden]

I had a distant cousin who suffered this and now realise his need for cold spring water was related to his undiagnosed coeliac. At that time he was diagnosed as diabetic although there was no cure for either.

[AmyG6500 in reply to Hidden]

That’s interesting, I’m just being tested for coeliac.

[Cra2yhorse]

Pica with ice is normally iron deficiency

[AmyG6500 in reply to Cra2yhorse]

That’s interesting! I have been treated for anemia since my teens. I’m not actually deficient in iron at the moment because I take it daily. I wonder if I should up the dose a bit.

[Cherylclaire Forum Support]

Or it could come under the heading "obsessive behaviour" I suppose, which I have seen on quite a few B12 lists....

I remember not going anywhere without a strip of a certain herbal cough pastille in my pocket. Still like them, but not in such a desperate way now! Also got a bit of a thing for ginger- the stronger the flavour, the better.

Since my body seems to reject a lot of what I give it to sustain me, perhaps it is the body trying to tell us what it actually needs in some way, even if we are misinterpreting it's message ?

This is just a theory of course. But could explain why coeliac and iron deficiency both came up as answers.