Sincere Concern

[SweetT72]

Ive been chewing ice since i had teeth....my sisters have been as well since we were little... I have been tested for low iron and I dont have that and Ive been tested for thyroid problems and also dont have that. Theres no reason I chew on ice its just something i crave all the time...It drives people crazy with the noise and we cant make enough ice to keep up... I dont know why I do it or what to do about it

Alison,
It sounds like a habit for you. A nervous thing...

[SweetT72]

I recently spent time in the ICU of our local hospital becasue I had 2 pints of blood in my entire body. I was badly pagophagic, and I have since learned this is symptomatic of iron deficiency anemia. After being pumped full of 5 pints of blood in one night, then placed on ferrous fumarate, all ice cravings have stopped.

The lack of iron caused my body to be unable to produce blood cells properly. I now have to monitor my heart rate, as it's a symptom of blood loss, to make sure I do not continue to loose blood.

And I just thought my ice habit was refreshing and theraputic.

Be careful guys, I know the joys of crunching ice too, but make sure you are all healthy. They didn't think I would survive the night.

i'm glad you made it through. are you saying the ice was doing more damage they helping. So do you still eat ice. Or you just make sure you take your iron pillls.

Because my doctor told me I'm very much anemic. she wants me to take 2 iron I'm a spammer who can't get a job. Also, our product sucsk - don't buy from us. a day. the I'm a spammer who can't get a job. Also, our product sucsk - don't buy from us. makes me sicker. So right now I take geritol and I tried to eat spinach at least twice a week. But as I just posted on another forum/ice is causing me to experience indigestion. so i'm going to stop eating ice.

[Lindzar]

I think you should look into Anemia.


Wikipedia says-

Signs and symptoms
Anemia goes undetected in many people, and symptoms can be small and vague. Most commonly, people with anemia report a feeling of weakness or fatigue in general or during exercise, general malaise and sometimes poor concentration. People with more severe anemia often report dyspnea (shortness of breath) on exertion. Very severe anemia prompts the body to compensate by increasing cardiac output, leading to palpitations and sweatiness, and to heart failure.

Pallor (pale skin, mucosal linings and nail beds) is often a useful diagnostic sign in moderate or severe anemia, but it is not always apparent. Other useful signs are cheilosis and koilonychia.

Pica, the consumption of non-food based items such as dirt, paper, wax, grass, ice, and hair, may be a symptom of iron deficiency, although it occurs often in those who have normal levels of hemoglobin.

Chronic anemia may result in behavioral disturbances in children as a direct result of impaired neurological development in infants, and reduced scholastic performance in children of school age.

[Dharma]

I don't see why this is considered a medical condition. Ice is edible. It's just frozen water so I don't see why eating ice is any different than eat a banana (or any other natural food). Someone told me I had pica because I chew ice. PICA means eating things that are not considered food, like chalk.

Is it because people are annoyed at the sound it makes that they see eating ice as something different than eating peanuts?

[LegendaryPunk]

I'm 24 and love eating ice. Been that way for years.

However, I've never had a craving for ice - I usually only enjoy it when I'm being served water at a restaurant. I've never had the urge to carry a cup of ice around with me for something to chew on (although it does sound slightly appealing )

I went to donate blood a couple weeks ago and my hemoglobin levels were 17.3 - which the nurse said was excellent. I'm also in reasonably good physical shape and have no know health issues.

I don't really know why I like chewing ice. My favorite thing to do is to try to "compact" the ice between my teeth. It's difficult to explain - it's not something I do frantically, gnashing my teeth together like a maniac. I just chew on the ice and every now and then I get a piece that I can condense. And that makes me happy for some weird reason.

Anyway, the point of my post is that chewing ice doesn't have to be because something is wrong with the physiology of your body.

[JenSoapySuds]

Hi new here

Happy to be around chewy ice people. I like so many here feel I have found my flock lol
I'm 43 DX with Parkinson's disease 8-11-11 and been chewing ice since 2001 ( my last pregnancy)

I recently bled for 13 days straight and to get meds to help stop this. All tests came back
normal except hemoglobin and ferritin levels. My hemoglobin is 8.6 and ferritin levels are a 2.
My primary basically called me and said I'm walking around with no iron in my blood essentially.
I'm now taking Ferrex 150 2wice a day. Still I crave ice sometimes over food.

I have been buying sonic ice and carting that home in thermo insulated bags. I don't like the
Taste of tap water ice even in pellet form however. But will chew it if flavored with a bit of sprite or Perrier water with lime
flavoring. That kinda masks the tap water taste some.

I recently had to find a new dentist and right away he asked, "are you an ice chewer?" It was obvious!! I was outed public ally by the dentist no hiding my bad habit. "Bad habit" is what he called it and said it was wrecking my teeth.

I'm thinking now of buying the 150 small cube ice trays and freezing Perrier sparkling water with lime.
Because I want the purest ice I can get. I don't understand for the life of me WHY sonic can't use a water purify
system filter on their water coming into the 3,000 dollar pellet ice cube maker they invest in for their stores.
The quality of all the drinks they make would drastically improve!