Second Time Around: Crazy Olfactory Cravings
Categories: Pregnancy & Birth
I can't explain it, but instead of avoiding strong smells like I did in my previous pregnancy, I am LOVING odors. Especially toxic odors. Paint, gas, freshly lit cigarettes -- the list goes on. A visit to the hardware store makes me intoxicated as I take deep breaths, enjoying the waft of pressure treated lumber enveloping my nose buds. I can't get enough of the smell that captures my attention at that moment. I can't explain it. So I did what any girl these days would do: I Googled it.My search lead me to Mihow.com, where this blog post made me see I was not alone. It also alerted me to something called "pica cravings". According to AmericanPregnancy.org, "Pica is the practice of craving substances with little or no nutritional value."
Though no one has a concrete reasoning for these cravings, "according to the Journal of American Dietetic Association there may be a connection to an iron deficiency. Some speculate that pica cravings are the body's attempt to obtain vitamins or minerals that are missing through normal food consumption. Sometimes pica cravings may be related to an underlying physical or mental illness."
OK, I will admit that pregnancy hormones make me cuh-razy. My anxiety and irritability are through the roof. So mental health could be playing a role. Reading this, it was the iron deficiency that raised a red flag for me. I have had a hard time keeping proteins down, and my prenatal vitamins make me super queasy, so I'll admit that I've been very spotty in taking them. This possible correlation concerns me a bit. But, to be clear, I don't want to eat these smells. I merely want to enjoy the pleasure of their scents.
What about you? Are you experiencing something similar? What smells can you not get enough of.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jota 7-27-2007 @ 7:54PM
Nadine--
I went thru (and to some extent still am 4 mos. later) the EXACT same thing (see my post titled Pregnancy and post-partum cravings). Smells are the best--and fat free!!!!!!!!!!!
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sandymaple 7-27-2007 @ 4:54PM
Beautiful photo, Nadine!
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Kellie 7-27-2007 @ 5:43PM
I have the same thing except it is for cleaning products. I want to smell them ALL THE TIME. I don't want to eat them thank God. I can't get enough though.
I walked into a nail salon today to get the brows waxed and the smell of the toxic nail solutions had me in heaven. I wanted to inhale like their was no tomorrow.
I totally get what your saying.
P.S. gorgeous shot!
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Jane 7-27-2007 @ 8:24PM
I went through the same exact thing while I was pregnant. I LOVED smells like mud and building products (lots of construction going on where I live) and other odd little odors that I do not normally crave. I wasn't eating dirt, but the smells were just intoxicating.
And not that you mentioned any worries in this regard, but the smells were not correlated with anything of concern. I had a healthy baby boy, who is thriving, and didn't have iron deficiencies...
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Belinda 7-27-2007 @ 10:08PM
I really don't have anything for smells. But for you prenatal problem, take them at night before bed. That is what I did with my daughter, I couldn't keep ANYTHING down for five months with her and took them at night. With her I couldn't get enough meat, salty meats (like slim jims and salami, if you can call them meat), and orange juice.
With this one I want the same PLUS MILK, spicy foods (and I don't LIKE spicy foods, but I can't get enough) and sweets, but can't be pure chocolate, has to have nuts or something! LOL!
Pica isn't just "non ediable" foods too. They consider eating ICE to be pica too. My doctor flew off the handle bars at me when I was pregnant with my daughter because she asked me if I was drinking water (constant struggle, I don't LIKE water) and I said no but I have been eating ICE! She went nuts, I had to EXPLAIN that every night at bed time I would crush up ice and eat it, but it would also slowly melt giving me FREEZING cold water, the only way I will drink it. She STILL said it was BAD! I told her then don't talk to me about water then because it is the ONLY way I am drinking it!!
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mihow 7-31-2007 @ 9:52AM
Hey there. Just saw you pop up in my stats. Good to meet you.
Yes, I have had some really serious cravings for things like tar, paint, and (most recently) a tape measure that smells of really potent crayons. Pregnancy is strange. :]
I found that when they get to be too overbearing, that if I eat some parsley the craving subsides a bit. Odd? Surely. But it seems to do the trick.
This is my first pregnancy. It is, by far, the weirdest thing I have ever done to my body.
Good luck with everything!
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bianca 8-22-2007 @ 4:24PM
I am not pregnant but I crave and eat magnesium carbonate for the past two years. I also like and crave the smell of dirt,gasoline,wood,construction blocks,cement,hardware store and many other toxic things.Why is this? Can someone tell em?
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Christy 9-05-2007 @ 5:43AM
I am glad to see that I am not the only one. I am 40 weeks pregnant, and in the past couple of weeks I have love the smell of paint, cleaning products, cigarettes, gas, exhaust. It is so weird.
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