Oh, yeah. I tried several times to quit too. Once when I quit cigarettes, I picked up some Copenhagen. I went back to smoking after a few weeks - that stuff is easier on the lungs, but YUCK !I quit the week before my mid-term exams my Senior year in College. I had one HECK of a time concentrating on studying for exams and BOMBED them all too. I talked to the professors after I got them back and told them why I had done so (untypically) poor on the tests. I did bounce back after that and did fine for the semester though.
What drove me to quit was my heart and lungs. They were both screaming for me to quit. I could be sitting in my recliner in my apartment reading/studying and my heart would be RACING at 90+ beats/minute. Just sitting in the chair reading ! - can you believe it ? Scary. My lungs were really in poor shape too.
Right about this same time of day (noonish) 21 years ago today, I went to the Six Flags Mall to get a birthday card for an old girlfriend. There was a Motorhome in the Mall. The Seventh Day Adventists were giving free blood pressure checks. I decided I'd stop in. I filled out the paperwork and checkmarked the box to get info/tips on how to quit smoking. My blood pressure was high too.
So I took my info home and read it. Their tips and literature inspired me to give it a try using their little tricks to help me out. They suggested substitutions. When I wanted a cig, they said go for a glass of orange or tomato juice instead. Substitute a GOOD thing instead. Or eat a piece of fruit: apple, orange, whatever. Keep chewing gum in my pocket instead of cigarettes and go for that. The hand to mouth with the juice or gum would help psychologically, too. Also, the fruit and juices would help my body to flush out the nicotine they said.
So that is what I did to help myself quit. It DID help too because I was able to quit and stay quit using the things they suggested.
[Ya'll see my post #36 too, btw]