Pica -- The Eating Disorder That Causes Strange Cravings
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Living With Pica : The Secret Shame of The Little-Talked About Eating Disorder Called Pica
As a little girl taking baths, the smell of soap (especially the brands Irish Spring and Coast) would literally make my mouth water. I knew it was extremely strange to want to eat a bar of soap, so I tried to blow it off. Eventually, the craving became so strong, I bit into the soap. Boy, did it burn my mouth! But I couldn't resist. I eventually started tasting soap habitually -- and i felt like a complete weirdo!
As an adult, I realized that this was unhealthy behavior. I feared that my ingestion of a product that wasn't meant to be consumed could possibly cause health problems, if it hadn't already.
I started to so some research!
It turns out I was suffering from a condition called pica. There was really a name for it! In humans, pica causes cravings for products including soap. Other products people with pica crave include dirt, chalk, charcoal, and mothballs. The list goes on.
Women who are pregnant sometimes experience pica cravings. Sometimes, people who are mentally retarded eat non-food substances throughout their lives. I have even heard that individuals who are bipolar sometimes suffer from pica.
It turns out that my pica cravings were a result of my severe iron deficiency anemia. The number one cause of pica is iron deficiency anemia. Don't ask me how or why. The doctors even have a hard time figuring out if pica causes the anemia or the anemia causes the pica.
I do know that after I started taking iron supplements regularly, the pica cravings DISAPPEARED!
If only i had known about pica all those years I was believing I was a "wierdo."
Hopefully, this hub will help those who are in the shoes I was in not too long ago. Get to the root of the problem and maybe pica will no longer be a part of your life.
- Eating Everything but Food is called Pica.
Everything you need to know about Pica. - The Basics About Pica
Health A to Z offers information about pica. - Pica and Pregnancy
The American Pregnancy Association discusses pica and pregnancy.
Books About Overcoming Anemia -- A Cause of Pica
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Anemia in Women: Self-Help and Treatment
Price: $7.50
List Price: $12.95 |
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Iron Deficiency and Overload: From Basic Biology to Clinical Medicine (Nutrition and Health)
Price: $147.87
List Price: $159.00 |
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Can Food-Based Strategies Help Reduce Vitamin A and Iron Deficiencies?: A Review of Recent Evidence (Food Policy Review, 5)
Price: $10.00
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Iron Deficiency Anemia - A Medical Dictionary, Bibliography, and Annotated Research Guide to Internet References
Price: $25.95
List Price: $28.95 |
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Comments
Very nice Hub! I had Pica when I was a toddler. I really do not have any weird craving now, nor do I remember having them as a Child. Your the only other person that I have seen besides myself that has had to deal with this.
wow! i thought i was the only one in the world that did this. it is good to see individuals talking about this and even better to see a little bit of research being done. i have had soap craving since I was a teenager and they still continue. i am now in my early thirties and i've been trying to figure out this for a long time and wondering if what i was doing was a serious hazard to my health. i just stumbled upon your website today and would like to let you know that i am very greatful that you have put up this posting regarding your fight with pica. i suffer from low iron and my dr. has advised me to increase my intake of iron for years now. i will work on this immediately to avoid these weird soap cravings!! thanks a bunch la toya :)
my problem has been with eating ice. it has caused me to lose my teeth. i have been iron anemic since birth and am now 54. i take iron in iv bags but they only last about six months. the pills dont work
soap eaters may be craving saponins(soaplike molecules)found in some plants.I read somewhere that ice craving may indicate zinc deficiency also.
i was so glad when i researched and found that there was actually a name for cravings of soap. it's like i'm addicted to eating them. now that i know that i may be iron deficient, i can be finally free of soap addiction!
Hi,
I had the same problem with eating soap...I did it for more than 6 years...I got mouth ulcers, thyroid cancer and like you I had always been severely anemic . I eventually stopped when I found out I was pregnant....it was hard but I felt I didn't want to hurt my baby...and now 7 yrs later I haven't eaten any soap....I never thought I would be able to stop.
Thanks for sharing your story....b4 I read your story I thought I was the ony one in this world who eat soap.
ur so stupid if it burns ur mouth why would u keep eating it ? and wtf makes ur mouth water why would it? just soap
hi stranger
hi stranger
k onda wey!
salut david
salut david
(I would like to diagnois Bob with a full blown case of ignorance)
Thanks ladies for sharing your personal stories. I really appreciate it.
My three year old daughter loves eating chalk, crayon, brick, earser, and her most favourite rubber bands...
She has been doning this since she was a little over two. I know a lot of parents say this... "but my daughter is really very bright, affectionate and creative."
My wife and I thought it was just a phase that adolecent children go through so we never really worried much about is. That is, until my little one's Jk teacher took me a side a few days ago and told me that my duaghter's habit of eating school supplies, etc., is becoming a problem and my daughter will no longer respond to her teachers discipline or threats with regard to same. My duaghters teacher also told me that she has phycological background and that she beleives she maybe expereing some sort of stress.
You can imagine as a parent hearing this.
After reading your experiences, I will talk to a doctor and get her tested for iron def. Maybe we can see if this is a cause. If not, I would have to belive it is just a phase.
I mean it could be phycological like nail bitting, fingers in the mouth, but I have to believe at this stage in her life it will be something she will be doing for the rest of her life.
Much love ladies and thanks again.
Ron from Niagara Falls, ON
im so glad so many other people are experiencing this! i have pica too, which i recently discovered. all my life i have craved things like sand, chalk, sucking on rocks, dirt, laundry detergent, and the smell of my shower walls makes my mouth water! its been hard to resist the chalk cravings because i am a gymnast and am constantly around loads of chalk, so sometimes i have to give in. im going to start taking iron pills i think, thanks for the advice!
im so glad so many other people are experiencing this! i have pica too, which i recently discovered. all my life i have craved things like sand, chalk, sucking on rocks, dirt, laundry detergent, and the smell of my shower walls makes my mouth water! its been hard to resist the chalk cravings because i am a gymnast and am constantly around loads of chalk, so sometimes i have to give in. im going to start taking iron pills i think, thanks for the advice!
Im 36 yrs old,a filipina with the same PICA problem.Im a lil bit overweight,120kg for sure and started to eat soap at the age of 19,when i was pregnant with my first child,until now I still have the craving of eating bath soap.everytime i finished eating my meal,it serves as my dessert...biting soap 3x a day.I was really bothered now,because of this craving and it really makes my mouth water when i see or smell soaps..As of now,I became curious if it is really bad for my health because everytime i ate soap,my stomach aches and i feel like acid is hitting my stomach...But still I really had a difficulty in stopping myself of this addiction.Im really addicted to eating soaps and I reaaly had difficulty in controlling myself.
I thought I was the only 1 who is weirdo,and thanks to this site ,I can now have ideas and advises from friends out there who have the same experience like me...
Thanks for posting this...I was reluctant to admit that this could be possible, but I'm so frustrated! I had the urges to eat soap as a child and about 8 months ago, it came back with a vengence...
I thought I had to be the only one out there and how could there possibly be anyone else who likes to eat soap...like you it makes my mouth water...nice to know i'm not the only one.
So I'm desperately trying to kick the habit before it seriously harms me, but I think I will need to see my doctor and get a blood test and see if I'm in fact anemic too...though I'm reluctant to admit to eating soap.
Thanks so much for being so candid and sharing your story!
thank you for posting this, as the others i thought im the only one who has this weird problem..I love to eat paper and cotton..its really bad i know and i always try to stop eating my notebooks..thank god i stopped eating towels but when i imagine to eat loads of towel it makes my mouth water..cheers!
I am so glad now that I know that I am not going out of my mind for eating bath soaps. I have a serious crave for eating bathsoaps and I also have a fear that it is going to give me cancer in my throat or lungs I thought I really needed help when I started to do a research on the internet and read the Pica article posted by Latoya. I have a serious addiction. After brushing my teeth, I cant stop spitting until I bite into the bath soap. After eating any meal I just have a crave for the taste of soap. Before I go to my bed at nights I have to go and bite a piece of soap. I must get some iron tablets immediately to start my treatment to fight against pica. Thanks for that one Latoya.
i also experience pica charcoal eating thanks for posting cause i thought i was the only one my mum says she thinks i need iron suppliements
HI, I EAT IRISH SOAP, I KNOW THAT I AM ANEMIC, TRY THE IRON PILLS BUT IT HASN'T WORK FOR ME.........STILL WITH THE SAME DISORDER, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO TO STOP IT????THIS IS BEEN HAPPENING SINCE SIX YEARS AGO........
Hi guys,
When I family found teeth marks on soap when I was around 2-3 yrs
Hi guys,
When family found teeth marks on soap when I was around 2-3 yrs
Hi guys,
When I was family found teeth marks on soap when I was around 2-3 yrs
Didn't get to finish the previous post, but anywho, apparently I nawed (knawed?) on soap when I was 2 or 3 yrs old. Got over it and forgot about it except when the "old family memories" were told. Then when I was 13+ I got fanciful about it, as it was weird to hear I ate soap as a little kid. For about 7 years I'd partake in soap eating. I wasn't stupid...I knew it was bad even though there wasn't any warning lables saying "ingesting soap will cause..." But it was so addictive.
I tried stopping by gradually decreasing the ingestion of soap as well as by going cold turkey. I quit SEVERAL times. I would pick a special day and say, okay this is the day...and it would work for awhile and I would revert. Yet I always thought, "if smokers can quit smoking, if alcoholics can stop drinking, I can quit this". (Looking back, I noticed that whenever I would revert to eating soap again, it was usually triggered by some kind of stress stimuli. That is not to say that stress caused me to eat soap, its just similar to the smokers and drinkers situation...stress will send you to your vice.)
I found that you have to grow your willpower, as you would grow your muscles. About a year ago I decided I was stronger than my vice, and thought it was time. I have been soapsober for who knows how long...perhaps almost a year. I do believe I will not eat soap again.
For those of you still eating soap, best of luck in stopping. Try switching to the non-fragrant soap. Another VERY good idea is to switch to a (liquid) body wash and use one of those poofy body scrubbers with it. Get one that smells mild. Also, keep in mind that your body is worth it to quit.
Oh, also, even though I am soapsober it doesn't mean I am craving free. The smell triggers a little something-something...kind of like with ex-smokers and recovering alcoholics, but it is VERY possible to overcome this. I noticed several people said they thought they were totally alone in this...I hope that someone will do research into Pica disorders. I don't know exactly what harm it does, but I do know it will affect the mouth (the tongue will burn and be very sensitive for awhile if too much is ingested. Eating anything else after ingesting too much soap will alter the food taste in a bad way, and even mild spice will feel extremely intensified. The throat smarts, and I imagine the teeth and gums are slowly being worn by the soap.) It will also affect the digestive tract (if too much is ingested you'll feel a bit queasy, and when defacating it will be as if you had taken a laxative, plus unknown negative effects to the organs.) Keep this in mind, and good luck
Have any male been in the soap eating saga, or it is just females?
I can really understand the craving soap thing. My craving thing is dirt. The smell of dirt makes me go mad. It takes all the power I have to stop myself from eating dirt. The smell of dirt in the spring makes me CRAZY. I cant go outside after the rain because all I can smell is the fresh dirt. I cant peal potatoes because of the smell of the flesh. My mouth waters and all I want to do is stuff as much dirt in my mouth that I can. I have had this since I got pregnant with my son 4 years ago. I know that I have extreamly low iron but i cant take iron supplements because they make me extreamly sick. So I just have to live with it.
OMG thank you for this site!
For years and years I have had cravings for gravely dirt or certain stones.. like limestone... yum... Like chips of old cement and things of that sort make my mouth water... the smell, the idea of the crunch between my teeth. I've always felt so weird. When I was younger I lived by the river and I took advantage of that.
I even got to the point where I go to Home Depot from time to time to the garden area to try to find a little sheetrock or limestone to break a little piece off of and nibble on.
Also, you know those fake stones that come with those pedicure foot brushes? The thing that you're supposed to use to scrub the heel of your foot? Those always look delicious too.
I'm going to the doctor as soon as possible to check whether I have some kind of iron defficiency. Thank you!
I'm anemic and I've been eating kaolin clay and cement chips for years. It tastes so good to me...I can't quit. I try and will succeed for a while, but the craving becomes so strong that I'll do anything for it. My spouse knows about my peculiarity and tried to keep my clay from me and I almost got violent I wanted it so badly. I know there's got to be horrible chemicals from the cement and it's nodoubt going to affect my health at some point, but I just cant stop.
I've just started taking iron supplements - I have been having the most crazy-intense cravings for laundry detergent (though I've been able to resist them so far). I've also been chewing ice like crazy. All of this is just to say, it's nice to see I'm not alone (and, potentially, not nuts).
I have been chewing and smelling rubber bands - my doctor says my iron count is 7 - not sure if this bad habit has anything to do with it
i have the soap eating disorder too...i only eat certain soap and everyday i feel so convinced that i have cancer. i'm finally geting the courage to go seek medical attention regardless of my fear to face the results. I have tender nipples and small bumps arond my nipple. I've been diagnosed with anemia but the iron supplements doesnt seem to work. I cry alot because i know that this addiction is harmful to my body but i cant help it. I hope i dont have breast cancer because i'm only 16, i dont think i'm mature enough to deal with this. Please pray for me, please pray that i'm not sick and can stop this addiction too. Many of you were lucky to escape, i dont feel like i am.
i have the soap eating disorder too...i only eat certain soap and everyday i feel so convinced that i have cancer. i'm finally geting the courage to go seek medical attention regardless of my fear to face the results. I have tender nipples and small bumps arond my nipple. I've been diagnosed with anemia but the iron supplements doesnt seem to work. I cry alot because i know that this addiction is harmful to my body but i cant help it. I hope i dont have breast cancer because i'm only 16, i dont think i'm mature enough to deal with this. Please pray for me, please pray that i'm not sick and can stop this addiction too. Many of you were lucky to escape, i dont feel like i am.
Daria says:
17 months ago
I'm researching this disorder for a health project in my school, what is the scientific name for this disorder?