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Q. In 2001 I had a very strong urge to chew on ice. After reading in your column that this could be a sign of anemia, I told my doctor about it. The blood work showed anemia and I was advised to get a colonoscopy. This test showed cancer in the colon.
I had surgery and received six months of chemo. The operation removed 10 inches of my colon. Testing the lymph nodes showed the cancer had spread to three out of 15 tested.
I wouldn’t have mentioned the craving for ice cubes had I not read about it in your column. I thank you for that timely article. I have been cancer free for these past seven years.
A. Unexplained cravings for ice, laundry starch, cornstarch or other peculiar substances often signal a deficiency of iron or zinc and should be investigated. We are pleased your doctor took your anemia seriously and looked for the cause. The colonoscopy and subsequent treatment of the cancer may have saved your life.
RE: cravings for ice and anemia. Iron supplements help.
I tried a small amount of iron supplementation for another problem: songs that play over and over in a person's mind.
After reading about ice chewing (I did that all my teen years;WISH I had know this back then; would have saved my teeth from hairline fractures;) I thought maybe there was a connection between anemia and songs or "hook lines" that won't go away and play over and over in my mind.
I purchased a bottle of Iron at a drug store and took one per day for three days. (To make sure it was not psychological, I just took them and forgot about it.)
After three days the songs went away. I have had to do this three separate times over the past 3 years. IT WORKS.
I too crunch Ice everyday at work. I was diagnosed with Anemia. I have had and endoscopy and a Colonoscopy and neither revealed and bleeding. I have not been tasked to try Iron pills for 60 days straight and see if my energy is raised and my Iron levels.
I've been craving for ice for more than 1 year already. It started with ice cold water but after few months I'm no longer satisfied with ice cold water and I started eating/chewing ice. I can't stop it and I don't know why. When I discussed it with my doctor, she said that it is not bad because it is water. However, she said that is is a sign of anemia.
I had CBC and result stated that I have anemia and my hemoglobin is only 9, which my doctor said if it goes down to 8, I need blood transfusion. I also had Colonoscopy and luckily the result is negative. My doctor recommended Endoscopy because she want to know what causes my anemia, but I refused any further test because I'm scared. I want to stop eating ice because I noticed it's getting worse, (I can eat 5 lbs of ice a day) but I can't do it.
I feel that my mouth and throat are very dry. I eat ice from the moment I woke up till the moment I sleep. The whole day I'm eating ice, even at work. I don't know what to do to stop it. If anyone out there can give me any suggestion,I would greatly appreciate your help.
I love ice, I also have a major craving for Freezer Ice, yes the white snowy ice that forms when the air hits the inside of freezer and it makes that snowy white ice... My mouth is watering just writing about it, I love it so much. I have a freezer that I use to make the ice for me to eat only, I put no food in the freezer, since I unplugged it, I now crave ice more and more every day. Someone please tell me why. I'm only a little anemic according to my test, so they don't think that is why I crave ice so much.