Nicotine gum for a light smoker shortly before his first marathon?

April 11, 2010 7:13 AM

Light smoking, nicotine gum, and marathon training: I smoke 3 cigarettes a day, and am very set in this habit so it's hard to cut back. I'm training for a marathon that is soon. I want to use nicotine gum to cut back on my cigarette smoking ahead of the race. Is it okay to combine the gum + cigarettes at very low doses? What else should I know?

1. Is it okay to smoke one or two cigarettes and have one piece of gum a day? (Say, smoking at noon and 6, then gum at midnight.) The package directions say don't use gum while smoking, but seem to apply to heavier smokers. Anybody know if there's a reason why gum and cig's must stay absolutely separate? If they can be safely combined at very low doses, is there some time interval that should pass between cig and gum?

2. Is it okay to go from one piece of gum and two cig's a day, to three pieces of gum and no cig's, for a few days right before the race?

3. Other tips/experiences/scientific sources about nicotine gum, especially as related to light smoking and/or running?

I'm a man is my early 30s and in good health. I've been at this level of smoking for 10+ years, and a regular runner of shorter distances (5 miles) for years. The marathon will be in a few weeks. On my longer runs (15+ miles) my lungs are getting tired sooner than I'd like, which is what has me thinking about trying sterner measures to cut back the smoking.

Obviously, I know about the general downsides of cigarettes and why it's a better idea to quit entirely, but as we all know it's hard to do, and for the moment my question is only about this pre-race situation and info about nicotine gum.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I can tell you that a couple of cigs plus some gum is not going to cause you nicotine toxicity problems (unless you chew several pieces at once), though it will raise your blood pressure and heart rate and increase your chances of having a heart attack or stroke - but the cigs alone would do that as well.

Anyway, I was in a similar position as you - I am an amateur cycling enthusiast and I was also a moderate social smoker. I know what you mean by feeling like you are in "good health," but let me promise that even the small amount you are smoking has am impact on you. I could pretty easily ride 20 or 30 miles in a day while smoking, I thought that I just had to work harder to compensate. This is wrong - you will be amazed at the difference cutting out the cigarettes will make. I almost fainted after a ride the other day because my lungs were working more efficiently than normal and I was hyperventilating when I got off the bike.

Have you considered electronic cigarettes? That is what I used - I almost completely stopped smoking cigarettes over night. Try it for a few days before a marathon, I bet you will feel so good during the race that you will WANT to quit after that.
posted by I_am_jesus at 7:44 AM on April 11, 2010

You'll be fine in terms of not having nicotine overdose. Something to consider, though, is that the lowest-level nicotine gum is 2mg nicotine per piece. Each cigarette, when smoked, delivers roughly 1 mg nicotine (the cigarette contains more nicotine, and levels vary, but that's about how much reaches your system). To make sure you don't increase your nicotine addiction, I would chew 1/2 piece of the lowest-level gum in place of each cigarette.
posted by Houstonian at 8:36 AM on April 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

I disagree with Houstonian's assessment of nicotine bioavailability. Blood nicotine levels from "chewing" gum is much lower than smoking (even) a "light" cigarette. The biokinetics is also much faster from smoking than having a piece of gum under your lip.

The contraindication on smoking + gum is smoking while chewing gum. Still, though, nicotine toxicity risk is negligible; you'd feel nauseous long before any damage is done. The main thing is that gum is usually used to stop smoking - hence the warning.

The gum isn't nearly as "satisfying" as smoking. But it can help get over the "itchiness" of withdrawl. For a little while.

I really want to try electric cigarettes but cartridges are unavailable in Canada. I've heard lots of good things about them, in terms of nicotine delivery.
posted by porpoise at 8:54 AM on April 11, 2010

If you're in the US your doctor can prescribe you the Nicotrol inhaler which helped me quit and which you could use as a more satisfying in between times nicotine snack. It's a little plastic tube that takes nicotine cartridges which you suck on just like a cigarette. As a bonus, the dose you get is directly related to how much you inhale so you're way more in control than you are with gum.
posted by merocet at 9:22 AM on April 11, 2010

I'm pro-Houstonian and anti-Porpoise, at least for this particular purpose. Maybe it's the way I smoked, how I held my fingers over the filter, or how much I smoked a day (8-10 cigarettes, in my case), but I felt like 2mg gum that I left unattended in my mouth would deliver a much stronger dose of nicotine that I was used to: I'd get a little flushed and tingly, etc. My solution wasn't to cut the pieces in half, but to spit them out reasonably promptly after starting to chew them (I also am a hands-smoker, which meant I needed to spend a lot of time fumbling with those absurd blister packs, and sticking things in my mouth, so more weaker pieces were better). I'm pretty sure that while I quit (and the gum did allow me to quit: I'm almost a year and a half out, with two slip-ups), I was taking in more nicotine, rather than less. That was ok, though, because the gum is trivially easy to give up. It's good to overdo it rather than underdo it if that keeps you from smoking, but don't feel like you have to keep chewing the piece after the craving has passed.

Tangentially, if you're only smoking three cigarettes a day, you can quit. You really can. You're incredibly lucky that your habit hasn't increased in size, and that makes it much more likely that you'll quit successfully. Imagine never having to think about it or worry about it again -- you'd be surprised how freeing it is to realize you've spent an entire day without once really thinking about smoking.
posted by Valet at 9:25 AM on April 11, 2010

why not switch to unlit cigars? you just mouth it and occasionally chew on it. very satisfying, no smoking involved whatsoever.
posted by toodleydoodley at 9:29 AM on April 11, 2010

OP, yes, you can probably handle the amount of smoking + gum you're talking about. Yes, electronic cigarettes are (for many, but not all) satisfying enough to set aside regular cigarettes. Not as satisfying as a full-flavoured one, but more like a light or ultra light (if you get a good model & liquid--some are worse than worthless). As yet there are no demonstrated health-downsides apart from the nicotine. You can also consider Snus.

porpoise: I really want to try electric cigarettes but cartridges are unavailable in Canada.

You can get them in Canada, but perhaps not in a regular shop. You can ask here for a good domestic or US-based supplier for mail order. I order from here for the lowest possible cost, but shipping from China takes awhile. MeMail me if you have any questions.
posted by K.P. at 10:08 AM on April 11, 2010 [1 favorite]

At least with the gum you won't be giving your bloodstream a carbon monoxide load right when it most needs that room to carry oxygen. However, the nicotine in the gum is still a poison, and your body will be setting aside energy reserves to process that poison out of your bloodstream. Right when you need all those energy reserves to be on deck.

You don't say if you're running competitively or not. The energy loss from dealing with the poison could easily make the difference between coming in first place or 20th.

Trust me, coming from someone with a 20-year pack-a-day habit who quit about six months ago, quitting's not as hard as you've tricked yourself into thinking it is.
posted by ErikaB at 12:16 PM on April 11, 2010

Anonymous, please consider reading The Easy Way To Stop Smoking by Allen Carr.

I have your lived your life story to a "T" and as much as you may think those 3 cigarettes aren't affecting your physical health they are in the following: the nicotine addiction is dragging you down mentally from being able to work out higher.

I ran a marathon while still being a smoker like you and I don't think I enjoyed it as much my workouts since because I saw it as a struggle and something grim in part because I couldn't mentally free myself as I can now that I don't smoke.

Your expreiences are your own, but I can promise you that if you simply open the book you'll run the most amazing run of your life come marathon day.
posted by fantasticninety at 12:23 PM on April 11, 2010

I just noticed ErikaB beat me to the punch on The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. Sorry for the relatively similar double post as hers.
posted by fantasticninety at 12:24 PM on April 11, 2010

On my longer runs (15+ miles) my lungs are getting tired sooner than I'd like, which is what has me thinking about trying sterner measures to cut back the smoking.

I smoked at your level, and noticing this is what finally got me to quit. Especially for sprint workouts, but for distance as well, the difference has been surprising and significant. As others have said, you don't really have a physical addiction at 3 a day and quitting is all about identifying personal psychological and social factors that lead to your smoking desire and counteracting them.
posted by Kwine at 12:29 PM on April 11, 2010

Seconding Houstonian that as a 3 cigarettes/day smoker, you might find the gum a bit powerful. I have the sense from reading the package inserts that it's calibrated for heavier smokers who need more nicotine than you usually take in. So lots of nicotine means a tingly mouth and feeling lightheaded and nauseous. Cutting the pieces in half helps.
posted by Joad at 2:45 PM on April 11, 2010