All I can say to you if cut down, half the ammount you smoke a day for a couple of days until your body gets used to this, after that half it again and again, you'll stop but you can't stop straight away.
To each his own, but the tapering off method just made me want to smoke more. I was like an alcoholic trying to quit drinking by just having one drink each night instead of 10 (which is not likely to be possible). The gum worked fine for me. However, "cold turkey" is the method with the highest success rate.