Is there something I should be afraid of?

Share your ice chewing stories.

Is there something I should be afraid of?

Postby Ice_Kat26 » Sun Dec 31, 2006 12:21 am

I eat ice daily. I need it. I can't stand being without it. If I don't have it I drink a lot of water and bite my nails. And weird enough, I get sick. [Headaches, stomaches, dizzy(light-headed), etc.]

Lately, I started having trouble with my bones and muscles. I'm only 14 so I wouldn't like to think anything serious of it. BUt we went to the doctors. I ended going ot the hospital and getting blood work done. It still hasn't came back yet. But I want to know if it could be something serious.

I've heard people talk about how it's bad for my teeth. Honestly, my teeth have gotten better. They used to be extremely sensitive, and I rarely have problems now. I also have braces. And never once have I had a problem with them from ice [or anything for that matter].

Also, Anemia. I've heard that chewing ice happens as a factor from having an iron deficiency. My grandmother has recently been diagnosed with Anemia, but she's 82. And I do tend to take after her a lot.

I wouldn't like to jump to conclusions, but could anyone tell me why I might be doing this? Is it most likely Anemia? Is there something that I should be doing in case? And am I really going to have problems later on in life with my teeth?

Answers would be sweet. =]
-Ice Kitty*
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Postby l1ghtning » Fri Jan 12, 2007 8:05 pm

Hi Kat, Your clearly pretty worried about what the results might say. I say do not worry about them as worrying about it wont change anything and it’ll just make you feel worse.

Anyway If you want to find out what may or may not be wrong, read on.

It sounds as if you *might* have an iron deficiency or anemia. (Maybe you just really like Ice, and you have bone & muscle problems) But even if you do have one of those, you’re not alone. Infact about 20% of females of child-bearing age have Iron-deficiency anaemia and I suspect that a good ammount of the other 80% have less iron than they probably should. I suspect most, may all, members of this forum are iron-defficient or have Iron-deficiency anemia. If you have anemia it most likely will mean you just need to have iron suppliment tablets.

The difference between the deficiency and anemia is that the deficiency means that you don’t have enough Iron in your blood to make as much haemoglobin (which if you didn’t know, is what carries oxygen around in your blood) as the body would like. Anemia occurs when the deficiency gets so bad that the body cannot make any more haemoglobin and of course this is a lot more serious.


There are three reasons I can think of that may cause you to feel sick when you don’t have ice:

The first possible reason is, like you say, that you drink a lot of water - perhaps too much. If you drink far too much water you can get very ill and if you do it to the extreme (we’re talking tens of litres of water per day) you can actually die from it. 2 to 3 litres of water a day (that includes Ice :) ) is considered the recommened intake of water for an adult. It may be more if you exercise a lot or live in a hot climate.

The second (and I think, most likely) reason is that you might be having withdrawal symptoms from the ice. If this is the reason - and your actually eating ice because of a iron deficiency (or anemia) which you (might) have - then your doctors will probably recommend iron suppliments and you may find that the ice cravings go away and that you wont feel sick from not having ice anymore.

The third reason is that whats making you sick is just whatever medical problem you might have, and that it just so happened to be coincidence that you felt sick at times when you werent having ice. I surpose this reason is wrong if you regularly feel sick without ice but *always* feel ok (appart from the muscle and bone problems if they’re seperate) when you have ice.


I’m not sure about the muscle/bone problems your having because you didn’t say much about them. They might – or might not - be related to the iron-deficiency you may have.

Yes there are other things that *could* be wrong. There are probably millions of weird diseases and ailments out there but most of them are very rare. But most likely your problem would be one of the two things I mentioned above. Also don’t try and use the internet to diagnose yourself. I’ve done it a few times by looking through Wikipedia and I end up freaking out that I’m going to die from some disease that probably only 5 people on the planet have. Basically its just not worth freaking out about things like that and you should leave it to your doctor as they’re the only ones who can perform proper tests and they know how to read them properly.

I’m neither a doctor nor dentist, but I doubt that eating ice has made your teeth sensitivity issue go away. It probably just happened naturally and would’ve happened if you ate ice or not.

Eating ice can damage your teeth. I’m sure a lot of people here have had bad experiences with cracked and chipped teeth, however others such as myself have eaten ice for years without problems.

I suspect that eating hard, clear ice, or chomping hard on ice can damage your teeth pretty fast. However carefully and lightly chewing the softer ‘bubbly’ or ‘frosty’ ice, or eating ice that’s been chipped or flaked, or letting it melt in your mouth – without chewing – probably wont cause you many problems. Also eating ice can wear away at your tooth enamel which can make it eaiser to get cavities but as I just mentioned there are ways to reduce or completely stop that.

You mentioned your grandmother and how you take after her a lot. Iron-defficeincy anemia (which, if you do have anemia, is the kind you’d have) is *not* hereditary so whether or not it occurs in your family would not make you more likely to have it (however, if you family has bad diet habits, and that diet includes little iron, then that may make your situation worse). There is another kinds of anemia which can be hereditary but Iron-deficiency anemia isnt one of them.

I cant think of anything you should be doing until your test results come back. I’m sure some people here would suggest taking iron suppliments now ‘just in case’ you have anemia but you should see your doctor before you start taking them as if they’re not needed – or you take too many – can be dangerous.
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Postby Ice_Kat26 » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:07 pm

Hah. It turns out that I'm extremely anemic. hah. What are the odds of that, eh?

It is iron deficient anemia, which is why I chew ice [says the doctors]. And I'm taking prescribed iron I'm a spammer who can't get a job. Also, our product sucsk - don't buy from us. 3 times a day.

Oo fun.

But that's why I was getting the pains and crap.

Problem solved. hah.
-Ice Kitty*
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Postby BPice » Fri Mar 30, 2007 1:51 pm

Let us know if you still eat ice after your iron supplements kick in! Curious to see. I've never had anemia, but haven't been checked in years. Maybe that's my issue too? Somehow doubt it and curious to see if you still have cravings for the ice.
Ice cruncher
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Postby Ice_Kat26 » Fri Apr 06, 2007 1:41 pm

Actually, my ice cravings have stopped.

Of course, I still like to crunch on it if it's in my glass of water, or something. That's probably something that'll never go away. haha.

I guess that was the whole thing behind my ice chewing. haha.
Now, I'm getting better, and should be off the medicine in a couple more months.

=]
-Ice Kitty*
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