19-year-old has compulsion that doctors say could kill her
Tempestt Henderson, from Florida, eats up to five bars of soap a week - and washing powder too.
"I remember the first time I dipped my fingers into the washing powder," she says.
"I dabbed the powder onto my tongue and it tasted so sweet, and salty… it just felt so right. I was hooked straight away."
The nursing student says she knew eating soap was dangerous, but ignored the warning labels on the box in favour of licking the deadly powder daily, from the minute she woke up in the morning.
Soon she had moved onto licking the bubbles of soap in the shower, too, a habit that was getting her through up to five bars of soap a week.
'In the shower, I like to lather up a green bar of soap, and lick the bubbles. And as the soap disintegrates, I pop a tiny amount of the soap into my mouth and suck it. It's heavenly."
Dr Barton Blinder says that eating soap in these quantities could seriously affect Tempestt's health.
"With soap, the worry is the problems associated with ingesting toxic chemicals, which are typically alkaline but there are other toxic substances in soap. These can damage someone's metabolism and cause digestive problems. With soap, you're also concerned about the acid-base balance of the blood."
The addiction started when she was away at college and had broken up with a boyfriend.
She is now receiving psychological treatment and has moved back home with her mother.
Ref: Daily Mail
'I am addicted to eating soap'
19-year-old has compulsion that doctors say could kill her
Tempestt Henderson, from Florida, eats up to five bars of soap a week - and washing powder too.
"I remember the first time I dipped my fingers into the washing powder," she says.
"I dabbed the powder onto my tongue and it tasted so sweet, and salty… it just felt so right. I was hooked straight away."
The nursing student says she knew eating soap was dangerous, but ignored the warning labels on the box in favour of licking the deadly powder daily, from the minute she woke up in the morning.
Soon she had moved onto licking the bubbles of soap in the shower, too, a habit that was getting her through up to five bars of soap a week.
'In the shower, I like to lather up a green bar of soap, and lick the bubbles. And as the soap disintegrates, I pop a tiny amount of the soap into my mouth and suck it. It's heavenly."
Dr Barton Blinder says that eating soap in these quantities could seriously affect Tempestt's health.
"With soap, the worry is the problems associated with ingesting toxic chemicals, which are typically alkaline but there are other toxic substances in soap. These can damage someone's metabolism and cause digestive problems. With soap, you're also concerned about the acid-base balance of the blood."
The addiction started when she was away at college and had broken up with a boyfriend.
She is now receiving psychological treatment and has moved back home with her mother.
Ref: Daily Mail
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos