Pica was an unusual problem. A few of the patients I took care of during my thirty-year nursing career experienced it. Essentially, Pica is consumption of non-food items. Ice, clay, dirt, chalk are among common substances I have known patients to eat. Constant ice-eating can lead to anemia. I even knew of one patient who snitched a bag of clay from another patient who had dug it from a clay bank near her home. Afterward, the clay bank lady began peddling her bags of clay to other patients. The cause of Pica is poorly understood. It may arise from dietary deficiencies or cultural influences. There is no effective treatment, though patients are usually prescribed multivitamins. I did once have a patient who came in complaining of severe belly pain. During surgery, she was found to have eaten enough clay that it had hardened like a brick. She was totally obstructed and ended up with a temporary colostomy.
Nutsrok
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Nutsrok 
A lot of children with autism have pica and I am very thankful Chloe did not have that
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I am glad, too!
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That really is amazing…
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People can eat some strange stuff.
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I had no idea…..
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Like sushi!
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I do like Sushi…..
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When you wrote PICA, I was looking at the font used for your post.
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I know that could happen. I hope nobody eats typewriters.
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They would be hard to chew.
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Sure would.
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I’m amazed.
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I am kind of surprised you never encountered it.
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Eating clay??? Wow!
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I ate dirt when I was a little kid. I thought it tasted like peanuts.
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I have heard of this but know nothingabout it
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It’s a real thing.
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Whoa! Gives constipation a whole new meaning!… 😱
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She nearly killed herself off.
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It had to be a close thing!
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It is insane what people do to themselves.
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I can be a big problem. It’s a craving. Those who do it are likely to hide it.
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Really? A craving? I dont understand why someone starts with something like that, but I also never smoked or took any drugs. I was never drunk. I even avoided alcohol completely until I was about 40. And now only to special occasions. So, maybe I truly cannot understand it.
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I think we don’t understand cravings if we never had them. I had a nurse friend who got in trouble for drugs. Drugs are packaged in standard doses such as 10 mg. If they are ordered smaller doses, such as 5 mg, the rest of the dose is supposed to be wasted and witnessed by another nurse. The addicted nurse can take the rest of the dose and ask a busy nurse to witness waste they didn’t actually see. It happens. Also drugs don’t act the same on everybody. I avoid narcotics except for in first 24 hours after surgery. They totally flatten my mood. I feel numb. Drugs make some people giddy. My friend said “One dose is too many and a thousand is never enough.” Incidentally my friend was clean and sober last time I saw him, but said he still craved drugs. He has to do random testing to keep license.
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I agree, someone who was never addicted to something may not be able to understand the craving. My father was an alcoholic and so is my youngest sister… I think that is was kept me from any addiction.
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It’s good when it works that way. My dad was a binge drinker early on. It was a miserable problem. Once he quit, he didn’t allow drinking on his place.
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Witnessing how alcohol distroyed so much, I knew I would never want to be the same. There is the other problem for me: Staying in control.
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I understand totally. Sometimes I wonder if people who go wild are childless orphans. I would not want to shame my family.
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Exactly what I think too!!
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