I smoked for 5 years and was at about a pack and a half before I quit (22 days ago). I did it cold turkey and have no regrets at all.
I'd say lose the patch and go cold turkey man. Check out
http://www.whyquit.com It'll have everything you need to quit there. Being on the patch/gums pretty much makes you addicted to those instead of cigs, and you'll be in withdrawal for the rest of your life. You need to completely flush out all nicotine from your body (which will take 72 hours). After that, things get a lot easier.. but you will still have cranky moments, and still thinking about smoking.
My timeline so far pretty much went like this..
Day 1 - Annoying but not too bad
Day 2 - Worse, grumpy
Day 3 - All I could think about was smoking.. the worst day ever
Day 4 - Grumpy.. thought about smoking all day
Day 5 - Getting a little better.. only think about smoking for half the day..
And this continued for about 2 weeks.
I'd say after about day 10 or so.. you only think about smoking maybe 3 times a day. And the episodes only last 3 minutes, but they feel like the longest 3 minutes of your life.
I know 22 days isn't super long as a quitter, but I have no intention of going back. I've quit several times and failed, but I think this one has finally stuck. I hardly even think about smoking now.. the only time I do is when people are around me doing it, I see it on TV/movies (ain't it funny how much more you notice it when you're trying to quit?). or when I get a new "trigger" (something you'll learn about if you follow the advice on whyquit.com)
All I can say is good luck man.. it's hard, but worth it. I got my sense of smell and taste back and I love it.. my breathing is already starting to improve.. I'm less grumpy.. I don't have to go outside in sh!tty weather.. I'm not a SLAVE anymore.
-Scars