Go cold turkey.

Maybe it's because I'm a non-smoker, but the gum is absolutely vile. It has the texture of a softer Turkish chewing gum (you won't know what they're like unless you've tried them... it's hard and tasteless. Heh heh, that what she said!), and it burns the back of your throat a little. That said, trying the gum was like my first "pull" on a cigarette - disgusting. I tried the gum because my mum was trying it, and said it was gross. So I did, and couldn't handle it for longer than a few minutes, and promptly brushed my teeth. So yeah, I recommend staying as far from the gum as humanly possible.

Patches... ahaha. Yeah, I tried those too despite being a non-smoker. Mum was using them, and left one of hers on one night when she went to sleep, and had some crazy dreams. So I put a weaker one on to see what happens, and well... yeah. Crazy dreams. Otherwise, they did nothing for me.

I wouldn't waste my money on either. It's almost as expensive as buying the cigarettes anyway, if not more. Sure, it's only short term, but I'd rather have the money in my pocket and spend it on doing something to take my mind off the cravings, rather than feed them with chewy shit and plastic sheets of crazy-dream-inducing shit.

If you take the patches route, just take them off when you go to bed.