Pica is the generic
term for a craving for unusual non-nutritive substances such as paper, clay,
metal, chalk, soil, sand etc. It can
affect pregnant women and people with autism or mental disorders.
Pagophagia is the specific
term used for a compulsive craving for ice.
It is associated with severe anaemia. I suffered from a very serious, yet temporary,
case of anaemia - and consequently Pagophagia - about a year ago. The
sudden onset of an addiction to popsicles (Fruitys in particular) coincided
with severe anaemia – although I was unaware I had either condition at the
time. I just felt a bit under the
weather and thought I’d gone a bit mad.
In all honesty, this addiction to popsicles was one of the strangest things that had ever happened to me, creeping up on me like a nasty wayward vine and latching on tight. I didn’t even like popsicles but I went rather quickly from having one or two a day, to consuming up to 15 a day. Sometimes more. I was eating popsicles for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. First thing in the morning and last thing at night, and any time in between. My desire for popsicles was uncontrollable and escalated exponentially, as my craving grew. Weird indeed.
It was the height of a hot summer and, strange as it was, I
just put it down to a new and rather odd phase in my life – quenching my summer
thirst with popsicles. I simply couldn’t
stop myself guzzling the things in huge quantities. If
supply ran out, I would race out and buy more, any time of day or night. If I couldn’t do that, I would suck ice
cubes. I just had this insane need for
something cold.
Alongside this irrational and irrepressible desire to eat popsicles, I was diagnosed with severe anaemia, which was treated with iron tablets and, ultimately, an iron infusion. [See separate post about Iron Deficiency/Anaemia.]
Immediately after the infusion, the craving was gone in an instant. Just like that. The last thing in the world I wanted was a popsicle. This sudden voluntary “cold turkey” was as weird and sudden as the craving itself had been. To this day, I have had no further desire whatsoever for a popsicle. I tried one a few weeks later, out of interest, and loathed it. I couldn’t even finish it and wondered how on earth I could have eaten so many with such desperation.
This sudden change in popsicle habit led me to research what might have caused my bizarre craving. As it turns out, I was suffering from Pagophagia – ice craving. Commonly associated with severe anaemia, it is an instinctive behaviour that keeps blood flowing to the brain and heart, the two vital organs. Sucking on something so cold concentrates the little amount of oxygen that is flowing around an anaemic body to go straight to these organs keep them going. This explains why my arms and legs were barely working, they had to miss out on oxygen as it was diverted to brain and heart. It all made perfect sense.
So, alarmingly, I learnt that, in reality, it was this popsicle craving that kept me going. A mechanism kicked in, some primal message telling me to eat cold ice, and this saved me. It kept me alive, at a time when I didn’t know what was going on with me or how critical my condition was.
The ice craving made me consume cold ice, which in turn helped
my vital organs function and made me feel [relatively] okay. This in turn disguised that something was
wrong (although I knew something wasn’t right), which helped me through the day
and enabled me to function, even though I probably shouldn’t have been capable
of doing anything at all.
I really thought I was bordering on madness when this ice
obsession was at full throttle. I would
chain-eat popsicles and wonder what on earth I was doing, but I was completely
unable to stop myself or explain this ridiculous compulsion.
Now all is clear.
IMPORTANT: If you find yourself with an uncontrollable urge to eat copious amounts of ice or popsicles – get checked out for anaemia!
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| Tequila Sunrise - with ice! (Painted after a tropical holiday!) |
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