Welcome to our community!
The important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This easy and entertaining read provided a world of good information about nicotine addiction, most of which I was not aware. I credit it in large part with my success at quitting. You can search for it online or at your local library.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go to the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit whyquit.com, quitsmoking.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. Here is a video to inform you further about nicotine addiction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpWMgPHn0Lo&feature=youtu.be.
I don't know if you would be interested in doing this, but, depending on the amount of nicotine you are getting, it might be easier to stop them and use a patch with the mg of nicotine you are currently getting, then reduce the strength of the patches over time to withdraw gradually from the drug. Or you can start subbing a mint of a similar flavor in between the lozenges to begin, increasing the number of them over time and reducing the number of lozenges that way.
It will be informative if you do the tracking and separation exercises recommended here on the site. As you track each lozenge used, note its importance, and what you might do instead. Put each one off just a little to prove that you don't NEED it just because you think you do.
The idea is to change up your routines so the associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand in a place different from when you used. . Maybe switch to tea for a bit. If you always had that first one with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Keep a cold bottle of water with you from which to sip. Don't let that thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of using nicotine if you need some fresh ideas:
https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Youngatheart.7.4.12-blog/2013/02/25/100-things-to-do-instea...
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a lozenge" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
