[BoopRN]

This is a kind of disorder actually called PICA where people eat odd things. Here is a brief discription.

Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch, ice cubes)

[walking2lose]

I wonder how she gets it down? I don't think I could eat a single cotton ball, let alone a bag of them!

Very sad indeed.

[beautifulone]

Originally Posted by BoopRN

This is a kind of disorder actually called PICA where people eat odd things. Here is a brief discription.

Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, etc.) or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients (e.g., flour, raw potato, starch, ice cubes)

I've heard of PICA before.. but with this girl, it sounded to me like she may have just been doing it to fill herself up without consuming any calories as opposed to appetite cravings. But I'm not sure

[Here we go again]

The thing is I don't know her very well. I see her every once in a while at work. I don't have her number or anything. I may not see her again for a few weeks. It's how I noticed she lost weight. I don't really know what to do for her. I just knew this wasn't normal.

[UrsusMaritimus]

Oh wow...that's one I've never heard of before. She's not "doing what she has to do" to lose weight. She's putting her health in jeopardy.

How scary!

[GradPhase]

I've heard of this!!!! It's SO sad!

I saw it on Tyra - there was a girl who was like 74 lbs or something, and she was eating nothing but cotton balls and dirt (because her body craved the minerals) and she was hospitalized so many times that her body got used to the feeding tube - and she actually found a way to use a feeding tube in reverse, with a syringe to suck everything back out of her stomach.



This girl really needs medical intervention.

[bananapancakes]

OMG!!!!! I've heard it all now. I'm just........speechless, blown away, disgusted, amazed and wondering how the heck she swallows it? Maybe she soaks it first?

This girl needs help a.s.a.p!

[kaplods]

I saw the Tyra show with the anorexic eating the cotton and pumping her own stomach with the reverse feeding tube and syringe. On the same show, there was another girl drinking baby powder (cornstarch) to fill herself up (she was slightly overweight, but not unattractive).

The thing is the girl drinking the baby powder wasn't losing any weight (she thought it was helping her maintain her weight, so she was afraid to give it up). But while talc would be a mineral and very dangerous to swallow, the cornstarch wasn't a lot better (and the cornstarch would have calories - I know that's a weird thought for me to have when watching the show, but it's the first thing I thought of when Tyra asked her why she was still doing it if it wasn't even helping her lose weight).

I don't know how to stop people from doing crazy stuff like this. "Education," actually is shown to sometimes make it worse (as it can "teach" or inspire those with such tendencies. Rather than being horrified, they think well if she could do it, so could I).

And with websites now purposely instructing people "how" to do these things, Yikes, I just can't think about it.

It's why I wish, so wish, that we could live in a culture in which weight did not equal goodness and beauty. Being thin at all costs, would lose it's meaning (I would hope).

[angelanicole23]

Nothing surprises me anymore! This is beyond crazy and people like this are so desperate to lose weight..they seriously need to seek medical attention..I can't imagine what it's doing to her insides..the thought of even putting a cotton ball in my mouth and trying to swallow it makes me urge!

[LandonsBaby]

Originally Posted by beautifulone

I've heard of PICA before.. but with this girl, it sounded to me like she may have just been doing it to fill herself up without consuming any calories as opposed to appetite cravings. But I'm not sure

I would agree. With PICA you are compelled to eat things that are not edible. Its a drive to put things in your body that normally you would not even think about ingesting. This woman is doing this to lose weight. Thats totally different. She definately has an eating disorder. If you know her well enough I would tell her point blank that you know she has an eating disorder and encourage her to seek treatment. She has put herself in a very dangerous postion.

[Findmyself]

Wow, that is madness.

[AmberShimmer]

Originally Posted by Snoozles

Wow, that is madness.

Madness? This is Spartaaa!

I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. Lol.

But on a more serious note, this IS really scary. I read about something like this randomly on the net. A girl used to do this on one of the blogs and someone commented on how dangerous it is since the cotton can expand causing some serious obstruction. Also, the cotton fibers can separate, lead the fibers to get stuck around some internal organ since it can't be digested. Scary stuff.

[BlondeAmbition08]

I know exactly what this is. Eating cotton is an old "trick" among anorexics. It's really dangerous, because the cotton fibers can tangle and basically tie up the intestines. In fact it's so dangerous that I've seen pro-anorexia sites that state that they do not support doing this and to not want to be associated with it.

The person who is doing this is either really naïve or needs to talk to a professional.

[FB]

OMG. I literally gagged when I read that. Still gagging.

Yeah, she needs some intervention.

[sh3l5]

can you just imagine the feeling of the cotton wool on your teeth....
ewwwww!....
i think we all know there is only one way to lose weight and maintain the loss....