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Woman addicted to eating Sofa.

  • 11-04-2011 10:57pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,593 ✭✭✭✭


    Comfort food: The woman who suffers from a rare disorder that means she cannot stop herself from eating... sofas


    A mother-of-five has been diagnosed with a rare disorder called Pica after seeking medical help for her addiction... to eating sofas.
    Adele Edwards, of Bradenton, Florida, has been eating the foam inside couch cushions for 21 years.
    She sought help when the cravings started getting out of control

    Miss Edwards, 31, said: 'In the last year I’ve eaten seven sofas.
    'I unzip the cushions and snack on the foam inside. And once I start I just can’t stop.
    'But now doctors have told me that if I carry on, my addiction will kill me.'
    Pica is a disorder found most commonly in toddlers and pregnant women who lack certain nutrients, causing them to crave non-nutritive substances like chalk, coins, batteries and even dirt.
    Sometimes it’s caused by stress, and Adele admits her first time happened during a very emotional period in her life, when her parents were on the brink of divorce.

    She said: 'My life was out of control at the time. I didn’t understand my parents breaking up. This was something I could control.'
    When her cousin decided to chew a piece of sofa for fun, something in Adele’s head made her want to try too.
    She said: 'I was 10 years old. I liked the flavour, I liked the way it felt in my mouth. Twenty-one years later, I’ve eaten couch cushions every day since.'
    Today, Miss Edwards is trying therapy and hypnosis to rid herself of the compulsion.
    She has recently been eating pieces of couch cushion 15 times per day and consumes the equivalent of a throw pillow each week.
    If this continues, doctors say Adele could die.
    Miss Edwards said: 'It bothers me how much control it has over me now.

    'It’s hard to try to get people to understand how bad this addiction is.
    'I’m aware of the life risks. Doctors have told me I could get a stomach blockage so bad I’d go septic and my intestines could explode. That scares me.'
    Three years ago, Miss Edwards woke up in the middle of the night in terrible agony.
    Crying, she tried to get up, but collapsed by the side of her bed. She was rushed to hospital, where doctors found a serious blockage in her lower intestine.
    After six days with a tube down her throat trying to clear the impasse, doctors were preparing for major surgery to remove the obstruction.
    Thankfully for Miss Edwards, enhanced doses of laxatives were able to pass the stubborn ball of cushion through her body.
    'It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced,' she said.
    'I’m scared to go back to the hospital for a blockage again.'
    The blockage was the size of a grapefruit, and made of pure sofa.

    Like many addicts, Miss Edwards didn't get hooked overnight.
    She started by chewing the cushion foam before spitting it out. But it wasn’t long until she began to swallow each small piece of cushion she put in her mouth.
    Today, Adele’s habit includes added levels of disgust.
    'I unzipper the cushion cover and tear off a piece about the size of half a pencil,' she said.
    'Then I take it outside and rub it in dirt. The dirt makes it crunchier. Then I chew on it and swallow it.'
    Her gastroenterologist, Dr. Christopher Olenec of the Digestive Health Center in Sarasota, Florida – the man who diagnosed Miss Edwards with Pica – was alarmed when Adele told him of her new habit with the dirt.
    'The question became, "did she have a deficiency in her iron? And was that what was driving her to ingest the seat cushions?"
    In fact she did. Miss Edwards’s blood contains half the amount of iron of a normal woman. For most, an easy solution would be regular consumption of iron supplements. But Miss Edwards has always struggled to combat her addiction with regular treatment.
    'I’ve taken the iron supplements and they seem to actually work,' she says.

    But what does Miss Edwards’s family think of her repulsive habit?
    'They know about it, but I never do it in front of them,' she said.
    'My fiancé helps me monitor how much I eat.
    'He makes sure I’m cutting down little by little.'
    But Miss Edwards knows a more serious approach to quitting is necessary.
    She and her family have recently moved into her sister’s home, where she faces a crossroads ahead.
    Having left her couches behind, Adele has stockpiled enough cushion to tide her over for a matter of weeks.
    But when her supply runs out, will she begin to eat her sister’s couch?
    Miss Edwards, who is in discussions to enter a therapy center in California for people with similar strange addictions, believes this is the time for her to be serious about quitting.
    'I’ve been doing this almost my whole life, 21 years. It’s consumed me. It’s putting my life and family at risk. I’m trying to stop this.'

    ________

    Must be Sofrastrating for her...


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭danniemcq


    if only it was carpet...

    and she was hot!


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Music Moderators, Politics Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 22,360 CMod ✭✭✭✭Dravokivich


    At least she doesn't have to worry about getting fibre in her diet...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,481 ✭✭✭Fremen


    I love the internet soooooo much.


  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 35,125 Mod ✭✭✭✭AlmightyCushion


    I hope to fúck I never meet her.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 8,542 ✭✭✭Captain Darling


    Sofa king retarded.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,864 ✭✭✭Daegerty


    Sofa king retarded.

    Until you ask him about sofas, he's on the ball when it comes to anything to do with sofas


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 907 ✭✭✭Den_M


    A mother-of-five has been diagnosed with a rare disorder called Pica after seeking medical help for her addiction... to eating sofas.

    Pica pica?!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 17,689 ✭✭✭✭OutlawPete


    I think that woman used to be my puppy.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 590 ✭✭✭SparkyTech


    Lets hope she never sets foot into DFS and their never ending sofa sale :D


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,564 ✭✭✭✭whiskeyman


    I bet she has couch potatoes for dinner...


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,775 ✭✭✭✭kfallon


    Can't take her to Harvey Norman for fear of her literally having foam at the mouth!


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 35,738 Mod ✭✭✭✭pickarooney


    There's a mutant strain fo this which causes the sufferer to nosh down on Scouse footballers.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 152 ✭✭HooterSnout


    Thankfully for Miss Edwards, enhanced doses of laxatives were able to pass the stubborn ball of cushion through her body.

    So.... she had less cushion for the pushin'.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,457 ✭✭✭giggsy664


    Now that's some suite tooth


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    So much to settee, so little time.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,775 ✭✭✭✭kfallon


    I wonder if she tried to give up suites for Lent!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,775 ✭✭✭✭kfallon


    Be fooking expensive taking her out to dinner!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,163 ✭✭✭✭danniemcq


    giggsy664 wrote: »
    Now that's some suite tooth

    Terrible, ... i love it!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 757 ✭✭✭Apanachi


    Are the ads on Boards randomly generated according to keywords in the topic, because I had to laugh at the ad in between the posts, I found it somewhat apt.


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 35,945 Mod ✭✭✭✭dr.bollocko


    Spam and posts quoting it removed because its simpler than editing each post individually.
    God I hate spammers. Spammer scum.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,674 ✭✭✭Dangerous Man


    Sofa so good.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,912 ✭✭✭HellFireClub


    I'd say she is full of sh*t...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 46,938 ✭✭✭✭Nodin


    Comfort food: The woman who suffers from a rare disorder that means she cannot stop herself from eating... sofas


    A mother-of-five has been diagnosed with a rare disorder called Pica after seeking medical help for her addiction... to eating sofas.
    Adele Edwards, of Bradenton, Florida, has been eating the foam inside couch cushions for 21 years.
    She sought help when the cravings started getting out of control
    .........................


    And its not Amanda Brunker. jaysus.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,257 ✭✭✭Squiggle


    Knew a woman who was addicted to cooking sock.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,659 ✭✭✭Devil08


    Im sure shes COMFORTABLE with her diet..

    but this is the strangest story ive heard on boards SOFAr!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,004 ✭✭✭jimthemental


    I'm very impressed. She can turn a couch into a stool! Magic!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,815 ✭✭✭imitation


    I like the way shes in a couple of photos of her eating sofas. Nothing says awesome journalism like goading somebody incredibly bad for you for a few shots.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 6,084 ✭✭✭oppenheimer1


    Pica isn't that rare of a condition. Those with learning difficulties often suffer from it as well as those with mineral deficiencies.

    Kenyan women often eat stones during pregnancy for example.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,175 ✭✭✭hoodwinked


    I'd say she is full of sh*t...


    probably more foam and stuffing then sh*t!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,214 ✭✭✭Cypher_sounds


    Brings a whole new meaning to a Couch Potato.


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