I started smoking 1 year after my father quit when I was 19 years old (I’m now 44). As with my father, I immediately became addicted to smoking and found that I didn’t have the willpower to stop. I forced myself to quit smoking for 1 year in my mid 30s but started up again the moment I picked up another cigarette. The first time I successfully quit smoking I used the patch and was able to force myself through the 10 week regimen. It was a major challenge as it was an instant drop – especially the final drop from 7mg to 0. When I met my wife, she advised me that I couldn’t continue to smoke if we were going to continue our relationship. I tried patches, gum, mints, pills … basically anything available to act as a nicotine replacement – and none of these items would work for me. I’d psych myself up the night before to finally quit smoking and then last maybe 2 hours in the morning before rushing out to buy a pack of cigarettes. There were times when I would wake up in the middle of the night during a quit day to head to the store to get that ‘1 last cigarette’ that would keep me smoking for another week until I set another failing quit attempt. My wife and I couldn’t afford for me to continue smoking but it seemed that it was never possible to quit again. My wife was extremely patient with me (despite her allergies) and I could not find any way to give up smoking. My recent health checkup indicated that my lungs were already starting to show signs of fibroids but even this was not enough to get me to quit smoking. Finally, my wife mentioned e-cigarettes to me again and after a week or 2 we went to a store and bought one. It was just a small starter kit, but from the moment I picked it up, I went from a 20-40 cigarette/day smoker to zero. I’ve quit smoking and I won’t go back to it. I started with a 12 mg solution and have already dropped down to 6 mg in 1 month. I became an immediate convert to e-cigs. I never cough anymore and I had been waking up and coughing for over 10 years. I find that my stamina has increased to the point where I can walk up 4 flights of stairs without getting winded while I would be struggling for breath just 2 months ago. My weight is starting to decrease slowly and my wife is thrilled that I no longer perpetually smell like smoke. This has been a fantastic lifestyle change for me and I would hate to be in a situation where I couldn’t vape – I don’t want to go back to smoking but without the availability of e-cigs, I likely would end up returning to smoking. I used to hate smoking (despite continuing to do so) and now look forward to finding a new flavour at a lower nicotine level to try. I like the fact that I can control the amount of nicotine that enters my system and also can control how often the doses happen. I much prefer this kind of self-regulation when quitting as it empowers me far more than using candies or gum did. Overall, this has been an incredible change in my life and I’m thrilled that I was able to finally quit in such a painless and final manner. Roy D