Why does chewing gum melt or sort of fall apart in my mouth if I've been crying?

[Briny_Deep]

Some interesting speculation, and maybe info, here:

Does passionate kissing cause your chewing gum to disintegrate?

And a single comment on that column here, with speculation about stress-induced ketones in the saliva:

Gum Disintegration

I have had this happen to me under stressful situations before, but never connected it to stress. I used to chew gum in class to help stay awake (I’m narcoleptic) and during particularly stressful exams it would basically dissolve. Last night, at a marriage counseling session, the gum I was chewing disintegrated near the end of the session. Afterwards, I realized that the strange taste in my mouth that accompanied this event reminded me of the metallic taste I get sometimes when I am in ket…