I smoked regular cigarettes for more than fifteen years, and during that time made repeated attempts to quit. Initially I didn’t have access to NRT, so during those attempts it was arduous and just about certain to fail. For NRT, I tried both patches and gum, and neither of them were particularly satisfactory. The patches actually gave me a rash. That didn’t work well either. Eventually I tried NRT lozenges, and they had the best success of all. I was able to stay off cigarettes for several years with them. However, I missed a few important elements of smoking. I like to puff over coffee, for instance, or after a meal; and I’m one of those people who likes both the sensation of inhaling, and the effects of a smoky exhale, particularly through my nostrils. While I was using lozenges I became interested in e-cigarettes, but the first version I bought was poorly made with abysmal quality control. That didn’t last long. After a lengthy hiatus (two or more years), I decided to try Blu brand e-cigs. They provided me with a lot of what I missed about smoking, which helped ensure I wouldn’t go back to regular cigarettes while providing me with pleasures I’d been deprived of for a long time. The problems arose when Blu ran into some shipping, availability, and customer-service problems. This motivated me to explore other options, specifically the larger batteries and clearomizer tips conventionally associated with ‘vaping’. That’s proved to be extremely satisfactory to me. I can mix my own flavors now, and the amount of vapor produced on a single draw is analogous to the smoke created with a conventional cigarette. I don’t know how long I’ll be ‘vaping’, but I’m sure that as long as it – or something like it – is around, I’ll be able to stay right off of cigarettes while continuing to enjoy the other elements of smoking.