I quit smoking after years of trying and failing. I tried when I went whitewater rafting for 5 days in the Grand Canyon: failed, just bummed everyone else's smokes and we all clambered out of the canyon on the 5th day jonesing like fools and lit up like fiends at the first convenience store. I tried when I went to England, figuring a 13 hour flight was sure to put me on the right path: bad idea, even the fucking dogs smoke in England. Finally I just got sick of not being in control of myself and I asked God to just get me past the first month. I tried the patch and it worked pretty well, but I was allergic to them. Wherever I'd place them I'd get this massive red welt that itched like crazy. I would move them around from arm to arm and even started putting them on my chest, which you aren't supposed to do. I tried the gum, but the gum isn't really gum, you chew it up like gum, but then you're supposed to put it between your gum and cheek and it burns and tastes fucking nasty. I went and bought the nastiest green apple cigarillo to help with the physical craving (nothing helped the mental, but fighting them both at once, alone, is a bitch). I would put the cigarillo in my mouth and fake puff on it when the urge was bad. Around 15 days in, I became super fucking despondent because for those entire 15 days there literally wasn't a second where I wasn't thinking about smoking, and the thought entered my mind: what if I'm gonna be like this forever? I also went through bad withdrawal symptoms: night sweats, ultra-detailed gory nightmares, nausea, you name it. I'd read somewhere that nicotine addiction is worse than heroin and after I quit I'd say that's accurate.
However, at some point, I made it 30 days, and around the 32nd day, I realized that for the tiniest stretch of time that day I wasn't thinking about smoking, and I realized I would be okay. That stretch of time became longer and longer until it became a full day, and at some point, I was off them. I'm still a smoker and addict though -- always will be; I could light up right now and be perfectly happy. Instead of being an ex-smoker I'm a smoker who no longer smokes. I see people on TV or in public sometimes and I watch them take a drag sometimes and I remember that nice familiar pinch in the throat and lungs and I'll even find myself taking an imaginary drag and exhaling with them. Some things hook you and never truly let go, you just learn to deal and manage. I remember the first time I opened a pack of cigarettes and I thinking, "Jesus, there's fucking 20 of them in here, I'll never smoke that many." But 1 became 2 and 2 became 4 and soon you're hooked and the worst part is you never remember when your body and mind betrayed you, only that it happened.
Godspeed to you, and good luck. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. I would like to tell you it will be easy, but it likely won't. But you CAN do it. I'm proof of it. If I can quit, anyone can.
