Any of your preggy patients crave toxic things like PineSol?

[Jo Dirt]

I don't know if it has anything to do with being pregnant, but I'm craving the smell of PineSol and Comet. I'll go wipe the counters or clean the toilet or mop the floor just so I can smell it.

My husband is freaking out and says I am going to poison the baby.

My papers from the OB say to call them immediately if I start eating dirt, but it doesn't mention craving the aroma of cleaner.

I'm not asking for medical advice about what to do, I just wonder if anyone has had a patient with such a craving?

[alicewhitt]

I don't know if it has anything to do with being pregnant, but I'm craving the smell of PineSol and Comet. I'll go wipe the counters or clean the toilet or mop the floor just so I can smell it.

My husband is freaking out and says I am going to poison the baby.

My papers from the OB say to call them immediately if I start eating dirt, but it doesn't mention craving the aroma of cleaner.

I'm not asking for medical advice about what to do, I just wonder if anyone has had a patient with such a craving?

Two years ago I was doing an intake assessment on a patient and asked about any special diet and she said "Irish Spring or Dial", she had a bar on a paper towel on her bedside table that looked like she had picked the side of it with her fingernails. I told her that it sounded like a condition called 'Pica" and asked if she had told her doctor about it. She said "Oh yes, he knows about it." I was curious and asked, well what did he recommend? She replied that he said it was okay as long as she limited herself to one bar a day, if it was a small guest soap. I said that's a pretty big bar you have there. She said Irish Spring was the best and she couldn't find it in the small guest size. I offered to get her a smaller bar of Ivory from the hospital supply. She said if we didn't have Dial she wasn't interested.

Obviously, she was a woman who knew what she wanted.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

When I was first in nursing one of the nurses was pregnant and she had PICA. It was so bad we had to keep her away from any plants at the nurses station. Turns out she was anemic.

[lalalady]

This is a really funny/interesting thread.

With my son, I craved fried chicken skin. Went to Sizzlers a few times a week for the all-you-can-eat so I could indulge in chx skin only.

The weird one was my oldest daughter. I craved the aroma of bleach so bad my mouth would water when I used it...found excuses to use it everywhere. I had my food-handler's card and knew how to sterilize my dishes after washing them, just like they do in resteraunts.

That aroma craving for bleach led to a distinct real craving that could only be satisfied by baking soda. I brushed my teeth and washed my face with it (like a scrub), but once in a while (a few times a week), I would get a 4 ounce glass of ice water and stir in a half-teaspoon of baking soda and drink it sloowly so I could savor the no-no as long as I could. The smell of bleached made me drool for this fizzy cocktail.

Also, my sense of smell was heightened by this experience, permanently. I can find exactly which bag of candy is already open a tad in the grocery store from feet away. No sniffing around, just walking up and pointing.

What's strange is I hate all perfumes now except one. Prince Matchabelli's Fresh White Musk is all I can stand, luckilly it's cheap. I cannot stand the smell of any pricey perfume. I also love lavender and jasmine. I use lavender in many recipies now.

[moonchild20002000]

A lot of my pregnant ladies would eat starch!There were also some that ate clay.

I had cravings with my 1st pregnancy for an oyster casserole.I ate so many oysters,after I delivered I made the same casserole and wanted to barf! I have never again made it.

With my other pregnancies I craved watermelon,collards,cheddar cheese and ice. I was

anemic.

As a young nurse I loved the smell of Green soap. Does anyone remember that?

[katherinecaskaddon]

WOW! I'm amazed Comet and Pine Sol are my biggest cravings, im so weirded out at the fact i got a little weiry and looked it up and someone else is too. wow! i clean and scrub everything to smell it. haha! im wondering what it is.

I don't know if it has anything to do with being pregnant, but I'm craving the smell of PineSol and Comet. I'll go wipe the counters or clean the toilet or mop the floor just so I can smell it.

My husband is freaking out and says I am going to poison the baby.

My papers from the OB say to call them immediately if I start eating dirt, but it doesn't mention craving the aroma of cleaner.

I'm not asking for medical advice about what to do, I just wonder if anyone has had a patient with such a craving?