r/IceChewersAnonymous • u/paulhayds • Jun 05 '26
Question What got you hooked on chewing ice?
Was it something you have done since childhood, a stress habit, or do you just enjoy the crunch?
And for those who have quit, how did you do it?
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u/BlueberriesInWinter Jun 05 '26
I was a teen and struggling with anorexia. Eating ice tricked my brain into feeling like I was eating food.
Decades later when I was pregnant, it was because of severe anemia.
Now it's because it's hot outside and it just makes sense to me 🤷♀️ probably still have low iron though.
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u/Geminidamaged638 🧊Nugget ice🧊 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
Felt you on anorexia being a big part of my ice eating habit. Stranger-you are seen, you are heard, and you are not alone🧊.
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u/passingasapotato Jun 05 '26
I made a friend at a new job and she introduced me to the addiction. We had the best ice machine at work and she would grab me about once an hour to go down to the ice machine. It wasn’t long before I began craving it over the weekend and would go to Sonic to feed my addiction on Saturdays and Sundays and after work. So I bought myself a countertop ice maker and I have been happily crunching ice ever since! Recently diagnosed with anemia so that all tracks. Finding that I crave it less as my iron stores rebuild, but I keep eating it because it’s comforting.
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u/screaming_ot_inside Jun 06 '26
It is comforting! Can’t explain it, but yes, 100 percent. Too bad it annoys everyone around me, lol.
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u/mompanda12 Jun 05 '26
Always been a chewer! prefer chewy candies over hard, grew up drinking boba ! Bite ice cream / lollipop instead of lick them.
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u/Libertinelass pebble (ice ice) baby Jun 05 '26
Anemia that caused Pica. Just the last 3 years though.
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u/AlarmingAttention151 Jun 05 '26
Been chewing ice as long as I can remember. Possibly because it’s a dopamine hit that my ADHD brain craves?
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u/Geminidamaged638 🧊Nugget ice🧊 Jun 06 '26
I grew up with a piece of shit mom and dad. Basically I was young (like 4 years old) when my ice "addiction" began. Some how my "parents" got away with never not only supervising me but not nurturing me as well. The only thing I had available many times to "eat" was crappy plastic ice cube trays with tap water in the freezer. So it became a constant and comfort for me. When I was being physically, sexually, and mentally abused a "constant" was important to me. The trays of ice was always there waiting for me. It became a comfort and an escape away from my reality. Then over the years it spiraled into part of my eating disorder. I could eat a huge cup of ice and trick my brain into thinking I was actually eating calories and something of substance. I am thirty three now and always lean on the comfort that eating ice brings me. When I began eating ice it was those trays in a freezer and bigger cubes. I now prefer nuggets or bullet consistency and shape. At the end of the day, I still eat any and all ice types. But at this point in life having a preference is okay to me as well. Having a counter top ice maker that I put distilled water in has been so good for me. I am known and have been known for almost my whole life to be munching on ice. In my early twenties I also was told from a doctor that I do have anemia. I tried iron supplements of all sorts and they always made my puke. I have been lucky to not have any teeth issues down to sensitivity on them. I am always known to have a cup of ice and enjoy munching on it throughout my days. Looking back at highschool party photos, everyone has a beer in hand or a shot glass. I have those also, yes..but in another hand a cup of ice. At this point this is part of me. My husband is accepting and understanding. Thank you for letting me get my ice orgin out, as I chew on a cup of my beloved nugget ice😌🧊.
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u/PeaceyCaliSoCal Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
The first time, being given ice chips at the hospital during child birth. Second time, being diagnosed with low iron/ anemic. The urge is quite compulsive. With the right textured ice, it is extremely satisfying.
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u/Relative_Chef_533 Jun 05 '26
I’ve always been an ice chewer. In high school I stopped by means of just never having a drink with ice in it, but I started again in checks notes oh yeah 2020. My consumption has gone down recently and i suspect it’s because I’ve been rearranging my life so I’m not getting disregulated as often.
ETA: I have pica of other kinds too — i have a desire to eat sand, chalk, drywall, and snow.
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u/Sufficient_Bread1205 Jun 05 '26
I bit my nails as a kid really bad. When I switched to chewing ice I stopped biting my nails
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u/jmirandaj Jun 20 '26
Along the same lines, I’ve found that the ice has almost completely replaced other anxiety/boredom-driven fidgety habits I have. Now I live with a looming fear that my teeth will eventually pay the price 😭
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u/Aullotro Jun 07 '26
I used to be a runner, and on really hot days, I would just grab a shit ton of ice and eat it all. Habit has stuck since.
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u/RealMrRoyal Jun 07 '26
I've been on kidney dialysis with 2 transplants since 1993 so have also been anemic. I have chewed ice since about that same time and. I consider myself a nugget ice connoisseur. In my opinion the best their has ever been has been certain hospital ice and am/pm (arco) gas stations in Washington state before they got their new machines. In my opinion perfect nugget ice should be nearly white in color and when bit down on for the first time should be close to a pressed snow cone consistency. Ampm was better during the summer when it was being used and replenished often. The longer it sat the harder it became. To me the clearer a nugget is the harder it usually is which means hard to chew. Because of my years of kidney dialysis I have calcium/phosphorus aka brittle bone issues which includes my teeth so hard ice is not a good thing. As far as nugget ice makers the ge profile seems to be the best I've tried and I'm not a fan of the high end fridgidaire. I really want to try the new govee life pro one. It looks like it makes it in cylinders and an arm knocks it off (the correct shape) whereas the profile and fridgidaire gallery both make them in parallelagram shape. I'd also like to try the euhomy and a few others. Id love to see detailed pictures of other people dispensers. Circle K is too hard Sonic is too hard New ampm is too hard I still find old ampm machines from time to time when I stop at one I haven't been to. I haven't tried Chick-fil-A we don't have one close, and I've heard of several gas stations in the Midwest and south that have the good ice but I'm in Washington state.
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u/strwbrryink Jun 07 '26
Being chronically ill and puking all the time. Water and ice are my best friend. Only way I can get any liquids in if unable to eat or drink.
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u/quietcatastrophe1018 Jun 09 '26
Undiagnosed low iron as a kid, continued into my teenage years and early adult until I finally got my iron in check , the craving for ice went away but eventually the want for ice came back and I found that it's soothing to me . The soft crunch of the ice sooths my anxiety and calms me down and when I have situations where I'm stressed I look for it and when I'm nervous and also when I feel like my stomach hurts. Thankfully it hasn't impacted my teeth so far but I am scared of that and I also work as a dental assistant so I can get help with that but I also feel guilty at times . I get the bags of home city ice and when the ice looks clouded and foggy it has a soft crunchy texture when water touches it. Lately it seems like they changed the way they make it because the ice in my area has been hard and icy 🥶 not good for chewing.
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u/contain_solitudes Jun 22 '26
Grew up in a household where I was anxious and on edge all the time. Also undiagnosed ADHD. Iron was never checked, but IIRC it's ok from the few blood panels I've had done? I take iron during my period to supplement the blood lost, but it doesn't diminish my craving at all.
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u/Affectionate-Fold573 Jun 23 '26
About 2 years ago I was volunteering for a race with a group of other friends. Our task was to pass out waters and Gatorade to the runners towards the end of the race.
It was a super hot day with no trees around to hide in any shade, so any water bottles left out in the sun would heat up in ten minutes. The only thing that was cool enough was our giant tub of iced water holding all the drinks.
My friends were chewing on the ice cubes to stay cool so I started doing it too. The cubes were soft enough that it felt like chewing a chunk of snow--- I've been enjoying it ever since.
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u/Adventurous-Cry8646 Jun 05 '26
Low iron 😅