As a teen I was anti-smoking, so it was ironic that I picked up the habit as a fluke at age 20 and spent the next 14 years trying to get rid of it. I did acupuncture a couple of times, Nicorette prescriptions twice (this was back when you needed a prescription), hypnosis, Smokers Anonymous, all to no avail. I think I was looking for something that would make it easy. I had to face the fact that it was going to be a bear even with aides of various sorts.
Finally on my umpteenth try I managed to get off cigarettes by trying Nicorette again (and, in a pinch, chewing tobacco), eventually using them for about six months. A co-worker then sagely pointed out that I was still addicted to nicotine but just getting it in a different form. Quitting Nicorette proved at least as hard as quitting cigarettes had been. But it was probably helpful to split apart the oral habit and the physical addiction and deal with them separately.
That was about 14 years ago now. I dreamt on and off about smoking for about five years. Even now about once a year I'll have a dream that I relapsed and was smoking; I'm always extremely grateful when I wake up and realize it was just a dream.
If you've tried to quit but have gone back, don't give up and assume you're a hopeless case. I thought I was, but I did it, eventually.
