Stay with it, Denise - you can beat this bastard!
I never tried patches - I have plenty of friends who have and who said it kept the edge off. The itching / aching thing is normal, from what I understand, and if it has stopped both itching and aching by now you are probably OK to continue. If you are at all concerned there is an NHS service to help you (Phone: 0800 169 0 169 / Web:
www.gosmokefree.nhs.uk). A friend of mine in London used the NHS Smokefree program to quit and it really worked for her, ymmv of course.
The main thing that helped me when I quit was telling myself that I was just not having a cigarette
yet. Not just taking it day by day, but minute by minute, too. Distraction is another good thing -
do not count the minutes / hours / days since your last cigarette.
And finally, and again ymmv, part of my addiction was oral fixation - I needed to find something else to do with my mouth - I chewed gum, sucked polo mints, ate popcorn, etc. (helps to try to keep it no fat or low fat).
I've been off them over 7 years now :smile:
(aw shit - I just said don't count then I went and counted
)
Best of luck!