I avoided the whole mess by going cold turkey. There are so many sites all over the net (www.whyquit.com is the first one that comes to mind) to provide you with the support you need to get through the withdrawal period. I hate to tell you, but you're going to go through withdrawal with or without the NRT. At least with cold turkey you're getting all the nicotine out of you at once instead of delaying it by 1-3 months. I can't tell you how much money I wasted on NRT products. Cold turkey was the only thing that really worked. Think about it, people were quitting smoking long before NRT's came along. If cold turkey were impossible, quitting rates should have SKYROCKETED with the advent of NRT's. Guess what--they didn't. At the very least, give the idea some consideration. Blessings, Amy 10 months+ free of cigs and nicotine