I quit smoking over three years ago, but I still chew the nicotine gum (but not that nasty Nicorette stuff). During this cycle, I have had headaches start about 7 to 10 minutes after starting to chew a piece of the gum. It typically only happens in the middle of the afternoon or in the evening.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or, as usual, is it just me?

Yes, I know I should not be chewing the gum at all, but the doctor has reluctantly agreed to the compromise in the interest of cleaner lungs and a blood pressure averaging 120/60 which ain't bad for a person my age.

Signed, CH BOF.

My first major CH's occurred during a time that I had stopped smoking and was on nicotine gum. Maybe there's a correlation here.

Anyway, from a non-CH perspective, keep chewing the gum - chewing it for the next 10 years will still do far less damage to you than relapsing. Some people take several years to wean themselves off nicotine gum completely.

jon019 wrote on May 23^rd, 2010 at 12:08am:

jon its like some kinda hobby isn't it? like guys talking about old muscle cars or somethin lol
yeah i think repetitive  chewing is a trigger.
ya know another alternative is the e-cigarette. get your nic fix with out the smoke or the repetitive chew.
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theres a lady driver at con-way that uses them and she says they're very satisfying. she went from 2 packs a day down to 1/2 a pack. after the initial start up cost in about a month you'll save a couple bucks. especially @ 2 packs a day

Spoke with the doctor yesterday afternoon. He said it was it was highly likely that the initial flood of nicotine that comes with chewing a piece of gum could contribute to a CH onset whereas a chewing action for 5 to 7 minutes was a less likely contribution. That the problems start later in the day might be due to the fact that I had been chewing gum all day long.

Finally, he said no one had ever asked him that before so he admitted he was just making an educated guess. His best recommendation was to stop chewing nictotine gum in the evening and see if that solves the problem.

Old joke: Doc, it hurts when I do this... You all know the punchline.