There are too many reasons not to smoke, so many that quitting eventually becomes every smoker’s ultimate dream. Coming up with the decision to quit the bad habit is easy; it is walking away from nicotine that is the real challenge. The promise of an easier withdrawal process makes nicotine chewing gum an irresistible option, and its simplicity is a bonus. But is there is more here than meets the eye.
While this nicotine chewing gum seems to be a useful smoking cessation aid, there are growing accounts of alarming short-and long-term side effects. These range from addiction and odd dreams to dreadful hair loss, skin dryness, stomach ulcers and a long list of other health problems. So, just before chewing the gum, hear out what users have to say about their harrowing experiences.
Nicotine Gum Addiction: The Most Disturbing Side Effect to Watch Out For
The gum lets you forget you are not smoking because it keeps your mouth busy and withdrawal symptoms are less painful. Its unguided use over 12 weeks, however, is enough to make you develop dependence to it. It can be a good component of a nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), but it must be done under the guidance of an expert therapist. This is important because the nicotine chewing gum is addictive. As an ex-smoker, you want to quit the habit but not become a nicotine chewing gum addict or to suffer other side effects.
For instance, a 67-year old woman smoking for 3 decades confessed to have successfully kicked the habit only to become a nicotine gum dependent. She thought for a while that the gums will soon take her to recovery from her nicotine addiction, but it didn’t happen that way. Instead, she just shifted from smoking to chewing nicotine. Just like any addictive substance, it hooked her until it became the most important thing in her life.
The Bizarre Dreams: Keep it Off from Your Bedtime Routine
Somehow chewing the nicotine gum can curb your pangs from smoking, but brace up yourself for yet another experience you may not like: vivid dreams and nightmares. For some, the experience is worrisome. It can lead to sleep deprivation, which is not at all good by any measure, triggering a plethora of other health problems. Some smokers, though, love nicotine dreams being so vivid and awe-inspiring.
Why the vivid dreams after chewing nicotine gum before bedtime? According to the “Naked Scientist,” nicotine can speed up neurotransmission. Smoking, or when you are quitting, its substitutes such as chewing nicotine gum or using nicotine patch before bedtime can increase the activity of the brain cells while you are in slumber. Any of these can make you more susceptible and /or suggestible to those dreams.
Other Side Effects: What’s in it for you!
There are other reported health complications arising from short- and long-term use of this NRT aid such as:
- Patchy thinning of tresses. Several women from different age groups (20s to 60s) reported hair loss following long-term use of the nicotine gum. Thy also report tingling scalp and pins and needles in extremities.
- Vision problems. A 44-year old musician reported health problems that started developing with gum use for three years at 20 gums a day. The musician’s left eye vision declined along with various dental problems.
- Effects on skin. A 58-year old chewer claims his skin became horribly dry leading to acne outbreaks and unsightly scars, rash and redness. Interestingly, the dermatologists could not determine what’s causing these skin problems. A 38-year old female chewer also suffered from acne. After cutting down her gum, her skin conditions improved within 24 hours and cleared in a few days.
- Nausea and stomach pains. A 25-year old entrepreneur experienced nausea and discomforts – belching, bloating, ulcers, heart burn, acid reflux, and fecal impaction. He claims to use the gum while smoking. The high nicotine content in the gum and cigarette made his body respond to it by vomiting. This is a common body reaction when toxins are detected in the bloodstream just like alcohol.
- Deteriorated oral/dental health. Nicotine gum chewers reported dental and oral problems that include damaged teeth, gum diseases, jaw-joint pain and damage, bad breath and diminished sense of taste among other things.
- Addictive symptoms. It is common for those who have developed dependence to nicotine to manifest sleep disruption, anxiety, irritability, panic attacks, ringing in the ears, as well as fast heartbeat and raised blood pressure.
- Poor health and lack of energy. People who have grown dependence to gums usually show depression, lack of motivation, exhaustion, poor libido, achy joints and muscles, and general malaise due to poor immune system. This makes the chewer more vulnerable to disorders such as bronchitis, insulin intolerance and diabetes, cancer, bacterial/viral infections and more.
Nicotine chewing gum looks so simple and easy for a challenging problem like quitting smoking. It seems all is not well behind its long-term use; take time to check out the “horror stories” about it before hitching on the bandwagon. Check out e-cigarettes that equally promise potential without the side effects of the gum.