Kudos to you for battling this addiction. I finished the patch two weeks ago, and that stress-trigger is a tough one, but I remind myself of this: stress is like any other feeling; it moderates and passes. Reacting to it by taking or using something doesn't actually "fix" the stress, it just makes your mind think it does. What I find keeps me off the nicotine is to acknowledge stress or any emotion I feel, accept it, and sure enough I feel better about it almost immediately.

One thing I've also learned is that smoking itself caused me a lot of stress....everything in my routine revolved around it, I spent money I really couldn't afford to waste on butts, which made me worry about finances more. I also was worried about how 12+ years of smoking was affecting my body. At age 30 I have seen some of those outward signs (wrinkles starting, parts of my teeth starting to discolor/gray). By dropping all of that baggage, my overall stress level is better, even when I feel overwhelmed temporarily by something at work or whatever.