Eating weird non-food items

[AllisonR]

Anyone have an urge for eating non-food items? I know some women who get an urge to eat dirt or worms or some other weird thing. Supposedely it stems from lack of a certain nutrient which is in the weird item.

Luckily, my brain does not say to eat dirt (though it often says "drink OJ"). However, lately I have had a strong desire to eat erasers! Yes, that rubbery pink thing at the end of a pencil! Well, it tastes like rubber, nothing special. :p What could be in an eraser that is missing from my diet?

[mama_b]

It's called pica, and it's caused by lack of minerals. I craved dirt during my pregnancy. My midwife told me about one of her patients who wanted to eat the paint that was chipping off her walls. And she actually ate it! She ate half the paint off one of her bedroom walls before she got up the courage to admit the problem to the midwife. :eek

[wanderinggypsy]

Yep. Mineral deficiency. Especially iron. Get a reallllly good salt from the health food store, one that has a ton of minerals in it. And use it. Also up your iron, if you are not supplementing, start. I know this first hand from my first pregnancy!

[AllisonR]

Wow, maybe that is it. I was taking iron, then quit because it made me somewhat constipated. But, um, how would I get iron out of an eraser?

[velveeta]

Allison, if you have access to Floradix, it is a *wonderful* iron supplement that does not cause constipation. I see you are in Denmark. It is a German product, so hopefully you could get it. It derives its iron from herbal sources, and it would be just the thing for you! Erasers will *really* make you constipated! :lol Maybe it is the smell of the eraser? For me, pencil erasers smell really metallic.

[prettypixels]

Actually pica is defined as the eating of NON nutritive sources of food... so basically you probably wouldn't get ANY nutrient from an eraser. Maybe some fiber :lol

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic1798.htm

This link is mostly talking about pica in kids but also lists pregnancy as a risk factor for pica. Basically what I've gotten from reading about it is that it DOES mean you have some deficiency... that does not necessarily correlate to what you are craving, though it would be logical to think it does! :)

[ktmelody]

I had pica when i was pregnant with my son. I wanted to eat menthol baby bath. I would sit in the shower and smell it for like 20 minutes at a time. i never ate it though.
I have heard conflicting information about whether it means you have a deficiency of some sort.
Mine cleared up as soon as i delivered. That stuff smelled so good to me...:lol

[DayDreamer]

With my DD I wanted to eat chlorine. Like the granuals you use in a swimming pool. Or drink bleach. I would love to go to an indoor pool where you could just smell the chlorine.

Obviously, I never ate it or drank the bleach. But gosh did it smell so good.

[paisley]

I've also heard that a craving for orange juice can indicate that you need more calcium.

[herbmama3-7]

I had pica in my first pg, luckily the only thing I craved was ice, and lots of it. I had an issue with iron deficiency and my mw had me really up my iron intake, this really helped. I would take two TBLS of molasses and then a glass of vit. C (emergen-C) daily, after a week or two my issues were gone, I really believe it is mineral deficientcy. Take care of it soon, as those pica cravings are almost an unstopable force, but you can work through it. :wink

[sandy'smama]

Cout me in! I have this great desire to eat WET CHALK!!! It was driving me nuts and I decided to chew on my calcium/magnesium tablets after holding them in my mouth with a bit of water instead of swallowing them whole :dizzy: . The funny thing is that my blood test showed me slightly iron deficient!!! I never thought that the two could be connected! I'm off to the fridge to unearth my Floradix now, it should still be fine. I stopped it as it gave me runs and I think with a toddler to chase constipation would be a prefered option :lol ... Another thing is the smell of wet earth, the just excavated kind but thankfully I do not have a desire to eat it!
Thanks for that I'll up my iron and see what happens.

[atpeace]

I had pica when i was pregnant with my son. I wanted to eat menthol baby bath. I would sit in the shower and smell it for like 20 minutes at a time. i never ate it though.
Mine cleared up as soon as i delivered. That stuff smelled so good to me...:lol

Oooo, I totally relate! For me it's tea tree oil though...I sniff that stuff 10 times a day, and I even dab a drop on my collar so I can smell it all the time without having to hang out in the laundry room with the bottle...

Does that qualify as pica? I don't actually want to eat it, just smell it...it smells soooooo good...this started a few weeks ago, and I'm worried it's a serious addiction :fever: Anyone know about compulsively smelling stuff but not wanting to eat it?

[mom2owen1]

Does that qualify as pica? I don't actually want to eat it, just smell it...it smells soooooo good...this started a few weeks ago, and I'm worried it's a serious addiction :fever: Anyone know about compulsively smelling stuff but not wanting to eat it?

with both my pregnancies i have HAD to smell vicks vaporub all the time. no desire to eat it, just smell it. with ds1 i was concerned it was pica, but was assured by a few nurses and my ob that it was not since i didn't want to eat it.

the need disappeared upon delivery of #1. am assuming it will upon delivery of #2. but until then, i have an open jar with me all the time.

[MidnightCommando]

My Bf's sister developed pica during her last pregnancy (about 3 years ago) and had an uncanny desire to eat dirt. She is still eating it to this day. She has had complete bloodwork and testing done to find any deficiencies in her body or something that she is not processing but they have been unsuccessful. In the end they decided it was 'all in her head'. She has been to a phyiatrist and the result was, if it is not harming you or your family and it can be kept under control, then it's o.k.

It has sort of turned into a joke. Whenever someone goes on vacation we send her a little bag of dirt from the place.

I don't know if there is any evidence to support that it runs in families, but her grandmother had severe pica during pregnancy. She would eat laundry soap and a myriad of other unedibles.

[grapejuicemama]

Oooo, I totally relate! For me it's tea tree oil though...I sniff that stuff 10 times a day, and I even dab a drop on my collar so I can smell it all the time without having to hang out in the laundry room with the bottle...

Does that qualify as pica? I don't actually want to eat it, just smell it...it smells soooooo good...this started a few weeks ago, and I'm worried it's a serious addiction :fever: Anyone know about compulsively smelling stuff but not wanting to eat it?

OH MY GOODNESS! I'm not alone!

I went through this with my last pregnancy and finally decided I had a problem and stopped buying anything with Tea Tree Oil. It got to the point where I was sneaking in to the bathroom to inhale my shampoo.

After baby, I started really liking the smell of certain toxic office products. I know they're toxic and I didn't want to get high......but I wanted to compulsively smell them. So, I bought some tea tree oil essential oil and carried that with me everywhere and compulsively sniffed it instead. I had a sickness! My hubby said that I smelled like the stuff. I had to wean myself off of it before we began TTC. I don't think it's necessarily bad stuff, but I do believe there can be too much of a good thing, yanno?

Ok. My secret is out. I feel like a total fruit loop now.

[atpeace]

Hahaha...looks like there are lots of us "fruit loops" here, grapejuicemama! :wink

I tell myself that sniffing TTO is like aromatherapy...it can't be bad (but I will ask my midwife at my next appointment anyway...), so let's enjoy it. I also like strong, odd smells, like shoe polish, but have been staying away from those during pregnancy. Do you ever "reward" yourself with a sniff of TTO? Sometimes I make deals with myself like "If I finish washing these dishes, I'll go smell some TTO" or "First I'll take out the garbage, and then I'll reward myself with some TTO"...I think that's a sign of addiction, isn't it? ACK!

[Ahappymel]

You know...Tea Tree Oil is an antibacterial as you probably know...
My thought is (for what it is or isn't worth :lol )...maybe your desire to surround yourself with TTO is your intuitive way of creating a little extra "insurance" that your environment is free of harmful bacteria, especially while you are pregnant.

[atpeace]

Ahappymel - Excellent justification! I'm going to use that excuse :wink

[Ahappymel]

Feel free to use it! :thumb
You can quote me too :lol the Queen of Justification.

[Amylcd]

I had pica with my other pregnancies (not this one, yet). I craved ice and chalk (i was severly anemic)

[AllisonR]

Well, I started on my iron again a few days ago and my eraser habit is still here, but definetely diminished. :p
Why is craving ice considered strange? It is just frozen water. And that is great for you. What could be wrong with that. I have always been an ice chewer, and never considered it odd.