Doctor warns she must stop as she is

A mother-of-two has revealed she is addicted to drinking air freshener and will spray it into her mouth or gulp it down from a cup over crushed ice.

Evelyn, 27, from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, says she can't resist the taste of 'Fresh Linen' air freshener and will consume it morning, noon and night.

The sales manager has come clean about her obsession on the new series of My Strange Addiction, returning to TLC on Thursday evenings.

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Evelyn said she 'loves' the taste of 'Clean Linen' air freshener and sprays it into her mouth all day every day. She appeared on the new series of My Strange Addiction, returning to TLC on Thursday evenings

The mother, pictured with her sons ages eight and two and fiancé Ricky, said she doesn't let her children see her drinking air freshener as she doesn't want to set a bad example

She said: 'I am addicted to drinking air freshener. What I love about drinking it is the taste. There is a million air fresheners out there but the one I like is Fresh Linen.

I have tried other scents but I don't like them. None of them taste like they smell. Cinnamon is not cinnamon, apple crisp is like dirt.

'I have to have Fresh Linen, I literally crave it. In the last three years there isn't a day I haven't had it.'

Evelyn, who works as a sales manager at a furniture store, said she will hide aerosols around the shop and will always ensure she has it by her desk or the cash register so she can get a hit whenever she needs one.

She usually goes through 20 cans a week and prefers it served cold.

She explained: 'There are only two ways I have it, straight of the can which has to be extremely cold, I make my tongue into a bowl so it will catch it. Or it has to go into a cup of crushed ice so I just spray it over the ice and eat it from there.

'There is a feeling when I eat it - a sense of completion, like I have found it and that craving is gone, it's okay now.'

Water provides the liquid base for most air fresheners but they also contain ingredients not intended for human consumption including sodium phosphate and steartrimonium chloride.

Evelyn will spray air freshener into a cup of crushed ice so she can drink it at work

The furniture store worker will drink air freshener throughout the day and says she's addicted to it

In order for it to be propelled from an aerosol, it contains propane and isobutane, which are usually used as fuel in items such as camping stoves.

Evelyn said she initially discovered her taste for air freshener by accident.

'I was walking through my hallway after going to get a cup of crushed ice and one of those automatic sprayers sprayed as I walked past, it dusted the rim of my glass and it was a flavour I liked,' she explained.

She added that the fragrance has associations with her childhood and so her addiction became stronger after her mother died.

'The smell reminds me of being nine or ten before church when my mum was cooking and cleaning at the same time. I began to use it more heavily when my mother passed away. It was kind of my escape to have it there,' she said.

Evelyn said she initially discovered her taste for air freshener by accident when an automatic spray hit her glass of crushed ice when she walked by

Ricky said he can't understand why his fiancée likes the taste and wants her to kick the habit for her health. 'I am pretty sure it is unhealthy because when you look at it it says "flammable",' he said.

Evelyn's fiancé, Ricky, admits he thinks she is crazy for enjoying the taste of it.

'I don't understand, I am pretty sure it is unhealthy because when you look at it it says "flammable"', he said.

He admitted he has tried tasting it on her insistence and thought 'it tastes like a bar of soap, it's nasty, it's disgusting'.

He said he would like to help her overcome her addiction 'but like everyone with a habit, you can't expect them break the habit very quickly'.

Evelyn said she hides her addiction from their sons, aged eight and two, and she would give it up if they ever followed her example.

'I try not to let them see me use it as I don't want them to obtain the habit and I know it is not good for me,' she said.

At her family's request, she eventually saw a doctor to find out just how much damage she is potentially doing to her health.

She is told by Dr Robert McMahon that she should stop drinking it immediately or she could face an early grave.

He told her: 'Are you aware what is in this? You might think it hasn't killed you yet and you're right it hasn't killed you - yet.

Dr Robert McMahon tells her she must stop drinking air freshener as it could cause lung and respiratory problems and eventually kill her

'I am concerned this could affect your physical health and lead to all kinds of problems down the road like respiratory problems, lung problems, you don't need that and your kids need you. You need to change and change means stop.'

He added: 'I was shocked to hear she is spraying it directly into her mouth. It does have the potential to cause all kind of problems to all systems in her body.

'She needs to make a choice whether she will continue with this addiction or continue being a mother because this is not going to end well. She is risking a lot.'

The doctor's warning was the wake up call Evelyn needed and she said she would try and give it up.

'Hearing that I could die from this hit me really hard, I have to try and stop,' she said.