Strange urges to smell rubbing alcohol and perment markers Driving me crazy.. I don't but the thought is driving me nuts!

[CouponQueen23]

I am 33 weeks pregnant and I in the past used to like to smell weird things like when I was a teenager I would like to smell ammonia seemed every time I would go in to go to the bathroom I would open the cabinet where my mom kept it and open it to smell it. I used to like the of smell rubber cement, permanent markers, rubbing alcohol and gasoline.

Anyway the past couple of weeks i seem to have to fight the urge it is making me thing I am going crazy. This is not normal for me in the past I was a kid and did dumb things but I am an adult and make good choices I am just not sure why I am having these urges.
I used to smoke years ago and I quit cold turkey and stuck to my will power not to light up again, I feel like this everyday fighting the urge to go open the rubbing alcohol and take a sniff. The first time I noticed this problem I was spot treating a pimple on my chin and dipped a q tip in rubbing alcohol and since that day I feel like I am going crazy. I don't do it won't do it. I did notice the other day I was using a permanent marker writing on boxes and I caught a whiff and I thought what is wrong with me. I get the splashy feeling in my mouth and a knot in my throat. Is there something normal that causes this? i should have talked to the Dr I seen at my prenatal check up on Tuesday but I see a different Dr each time I didn't want him to label me a "FREAK"!

I do take good care of my self and my unborn baby so I feel really weird even starting this thread but there has to be a reason for this. I just feel like a wanna be junkie or something honestly to embarrassed to tell my DH my issue. He would understand because he knows me and we have been together forever... Well 18 years This has never happened to me my past 3 pregnancies so not sure what to think.

[joshmamabear]

That's not weird. I can relate with what you're experiencing.

Twice that I got pregnant, I craved for DH's scent that I made sure there's a shirt he has worn w/in arms length when I want to sniff them

[IntoTheMystic]

I googled it for you. It can be considered a form of pica. Talk to your doctor. It could be "normal", or you may be deficient in iron or other nutrients in your diet (or so they say). I am not a doctor, and don't pretend to be one on HCW, but doctors have heard everything before, and they won't think you are weird at all.
What causes pica (cravings for non-food items during pregnancy)? | BabyCenter

[CouponQueen23]

I googled it for you. It can be considered a form of pica. Talk to your doctor. It could be "normal", or you may be deficient in iron or other nutrients in your diet (or so they say). I am not a doctor, and don't pretend to be one on HCW, but doctors have heard everything before, and they won't think you are weird at all.
What causes pica (cravings for non-food items during pregnancy)? | BabyCenter

Thanks for posting the link. I read the article it made me feel better.

I read lots of the replies and I feel better at this point. I do plan to talk to my Dr and I think think I will see about getting my iron levels checked.

I have found that if I chew different flavor gum and change the piece pretty often I am o.k. My next appt to see Dr is Feb 1 st. I won't feel so odd talking to my midwife. She knows me really well she is the one who delivered all 3 of my boys. I feel she knows me well enough and I know her well enough to talk about this comfortably.

[Dengineer]

All I can add is that pregnancy does STRANGE things to a woman. When I was pregnant with my youngest DD all I could think about was having a dish of vanilla ice cream with red wine on it. I thought about it constantly. And chocolate, which I normally LOVE, had no taste at all. No taste AT ALL--it was just like eating a lump of shortening.

So you don't sound like you're weird at all to me! Hope this makes you feel better!

[IntoTheMystic]

All I can add is that pregnancy does STRANGE things to a woman.

Yup. I craved Chinese food with my first son. I literally had shrimp with broccoli every day. And for my second son, I couldn't get enough ummm- "intimacy". (keeping this clean .) You just never know how pregnancy is going to affect you.

[everprincess]

I ate lemons when I was prego with DS. My mom ate bananas with my brother. After she had my brother my dad came into the hospital with a fruit basket that had bananas in it. She told him I'm never eating another banana in my life and she hasn't. I hated smelling cooking food or egg shells when I was prego. I hated the taste of toothpaste too.

[Green is Gold]

My 1st thought was also PICA. With 1st child I ate burnt hot dogs with mustard, baked potatoes, and vanilla frozen yogurt topped with strawberries and kiwi, everyday! Pregnant women are just weird.JK

[CouponQueen23]

Thanks everyone!

[bali1228]

Yeah, a fetus makes you weird lol. I thought Pica too. I know women that craved ice and hair. I'm with Mystic on the um...intimacy craving. Other friends couldn't stand to go near the sink, because the smell of the drains drove them nuts. It's just part of being preggers, but do speak to your Dr. about it, as you never know what you could be missing in your diet that can cause it.