Eating Ice as a sign of Anemia?

[curious_meh]

sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in. but i eat ice cubes everyday, and recently wondered why i do but no one else i know does. i looked if up on the net, and came across several sites saying that the constant eating of ice or other substances carrying no/extremely low nutritional value (picas) can be a sign of anemia. is it?

[linda43309]

am also a victim of this ice craving syndrome. it  gets so bad that i scratch the walls of refrigerators and freezers for the ice on them.how dangerous is that and pls what is my risk. help me.

[Iampathfinder]

i am anemic, and have been since i was a kid. i am now 30 almost 31. i have it so bad that i will have mad crazy cravings for steak and spinich, and its like until i get it, i cant function properly. like today, i new i was lacking a large amount of iron because i slept almost all day, i felt very sluggish. almost sick like. that is my bodys way of telling me i need iron and fast. so i went to the store and got some steaks and a bag of baby spinich and my plate is here with me now.  a doctor told me long ago how to tell how bad your anemia is, u pull down your bottom eyelid and look for redness in the eyelid. it is best to do this when u are not tired, and not in the middle of the night of course. if u see very little redness basiclly real pale, ur anemic. if u have good amounts of red vessals well, i admire u. keep up the good work. u can take a one a day that has a good amount of iron in it and just eat iron rich foods often. just dont overdue it, too much iron can hurt u. and yes, have a blood test done to find out for sure, and if so how anemic u are. i have been trying for years to bring it up. i may have to take some b12 with more iron and if that doesnt help then i may have to get a transfusion. my oxygen level is low, i am always tired, i have no motivation. no i am not depressed. lol! but yes i do have some signs of it because of my condition. plus it doesnt help that i have back issues and have to take meds for that. but please people tho u may hate those needles, look the other way and find out before its too late.  o btw, b4 i 4get, i used to hate spinich, but what i do is i put baby spinich in boiling water let it boil at a high temp for about 2 min and add just a teaspoon of the mexican dry tomato boullian. its in a brown bottle with a yellow lable with tomatos on it and a red lid. just try it, u will learn to like it. i eat the baby spinich because adult spinich  has a weird somethin about it. i cant put my finger on it. but eat it fresh. and steamed broccoli helps also.  good luck!!!

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How are you? To be sure that anemia is present, it may help to have a blood test first. There are not enough evidence saying that consumption of ice is related to anemia.  Iron supplement and change of diet rich in iron may help. Do keep us posted. Take care and best regards.

[ErinMarie123]

I was severely anemic in high school and would chomp through TRAYS of ice cubes a day.  Eating the ice is not what causes the anemia, but it's definitely a sign.

[swampcritter]

Craving ice is one of those symptoms Dr House would spot. Its related to various mineral deficiencies -- iron is certainly one of them.

[angelriv]

I always crave ice when I am anemic and in need of an iron infusion!  It gets so bad that I will get up in the middle of the night to chew on ice cubes! I've been this way since I was 18 and I am now 50!  Have some blood work done. Good luck.

[jagesh50]

Chalk piece,ash and other substance more common in chidren are pica eating patterns indicating iron,and cacium deficiency.Yours may be pagophagia, an abberation of consumption of ice.