Well first, you have to not tie your entire quit to the belief the NRT is the only thing that's keeping you from smoking. If you can't get to that place, you need to learn more about quitting. As smokers, the nicotine makes us need another smoke but once you've not used nicotine for 72 hours, it's pretty much out of your system. It's the memories of the ritual we did so many times, that familiarity, that you are missing, even more than the drug, that becomes the tugging to smoke.
I could recommend a three day rafting trip with no nicotine available. If you don't hit your head on a rock and drown, you will be through the worst of it. 🙂
My first two weeks were spent playing guitar 10 hours a day at a friends house. I had my patch for the nicotine and the dopamine from playing.
I didn't turn nicotine into a big part of quitting. In my second week I stopped using the 21mg patch when I forgot to put one on two days in a row. (I didn't place my quit in it's hands, I held it's hand until I forgot I needed it.)
I joined a quit smoking site that night and just stayed on interacting, asking questions and learning. I was so busy, I didn't even notice I had gone from the 21mg patch to nothing.
Others may look at the instructions and set an approximate date to let them go.
My honest recommendation would be to listen to your body and not your addict and when you are ready to get off nicotine, plan to be real busy and distracted.
and try not to fall into the rapids.:-)
