Hmmmm, yummy: Woman eats 4,000 washing-up sponges.

The disorder has also caused her to eat more than 100 bars of soap.

Miss Trebilcock, a dental nurse from Mylor, Cornwall, told The Sun: “One day I will beat this and be able to have a shower or   do the washing up without feeling hungry.

“I have been very particular about the type of sponges and soaps I’d eat and how I’d prepare them.

“If I went out for the day I’d carry a small plastic bag of cut-up pieces of sponge with some tomato and BBQ sauce in Tupperware. I was never without a   ‘snack’.”

Other sufferers eat metal, coal, sand, chalk and sometime even lightbulbs and furniture.

Miss Trebilcock, who weighs just 8st, has endured stomach cramps, constipation and diarrhoea as a result of her disorder.She also eats “normal food” and is   trying to curb her cravings with Floral Gum sweets.

She added to the newspaper: “I am making progress and speak to other sufferers of pica on internet forums, which helps.”