I’ve been smoking for over 30+ years. I started as a pre-teen (smoking randomly and sporadically) and by the time I was in my teens I was addicted. I gradually increased my daily habit to a pack/pack and a half a day….somtimes more depending on the social situation. I’ve wanted to quit for at least 25 of those years, but the method by which to quit always eluded me……. until I found eCigs. In my 20’s I tried all kinds of cessation methods: tried quitting cold turkey – ha! Cold Turkey lasted until I got around someone from whom I could bum a cigarette (sometimes only half a day). C.T. was seriously stressful and difficult. I tried cutting down gradually, which always ended up with me smoking just as much or more than before I quit. I tried substituting a straw (cut to the length of a cigarette)for a cigarette which I would hold and draw on, which never lasted more than a few days. I was hypnotized many times – – it worked everytime, but did not last. The longest hypnotism lasted was five agonizing weeks. It was a struggle to resist the temptation even after being hypnotized and all while practicing daily at-home-hypnotism by playing the tapes you can buy that reiterate your session. My longest and most successful quits were my two pregnancies. Quitting was difficult but not tortuous because I had a real reason to quit. Although I don’t recommend that method simply for the purposes of quitting. And to the men, sorry. I tried Zyban three or four different times, but I never quit for more than two or three months. I tried Chantix three times and quit for several months the first two times, but got tired of not being able to drink even the slightest amount of alcohol while on the drug. I mean, come on – – it was hard enough giving up cigarettes. To have to completely give up alcohol too was too much to give up at the same time. Smoking, for me, was not just a physical dependence on nicotine, but it was also an integral part of how I socialized. So for me my addiction was/is 70% psychological and 30% physical. My third attempt to quit using Chantix resulted in a (for lack of a better term) psychotic experience. Yep, it was so bad that, that is the best way I can describe what happened to me. I was paranoid, depressed, maniacal and finally ended up having a hysterical episode of crying and basically incoherent ranting of which I remember little. My friends made me contact my Dr. the next day. I was instructed to titrate the dosage by slowly decreasing the dosage over a period of three days. It is easy to see why I am not a fan of any pharmaceutical cessation method. The side effects of the drugs outweighed the benefits of quitting. Ya, I know… by smoking I put all kinds of dangerous chemicals in my body by smoking, but I was not willing to take prescribed drugs to quit. That would not make sense to non-smokers nor to anyone who has never suffered from and struggled with an addiction. I don’t know how to explain it. I am sure my case (among smokers) is not unusual. I liked how smoking made me feel; I didn’t like how the drugs made me feel. I have to be honest here though. As an intelligent person I realize that all the positive feelings I got from smoking (holding the cigarette, drawing on the cigarette, inhaling, feeling the smoke enter my lungs and exhaling the smoke)were purely psychological. I freely admit that I totally ignored the actual negative physical effects smoking had on my body. Among them: diminished taste and smell, more frequent colds/upper respiratory ailments, sporadic scratchy throat and raspy voice (sometimes when I really smoked like crazy I would lose 80% of my voice), tight chest and sore lungs when breathing (especially upon waking after a night of smoking alot), enlarged facial pores (they aren’t hideous, but I believe that my skin would be nicer if not for smoking), my once, much commented on, brilliant, white teeth are stained, diminished lung capacity, the toll it was taking on my heart, the fact that I was inviting cancer and the list goes on. Add to the physical effects the effect on my enviroment and etc… My hair, clothes, car and home reeked of cigarette smoke. Being very self conscious of my aroma, I can’t tell you how much money I wasted/overspent on perfumes, toothpaste, mouthwash, gum, mints, deodorizers, candles and Fabreeze to masque the odor. Remember that I mentioned my diminished sense of smell???? Wasted Money is a good term for all I spent trying to cover up the smell because you can’t hide that odor – – not among non-smokers. …But what would I know I couldn’t smell! I imagine if I could smell, I would have been reminded of a French Wh*@*$# (one whose perfume is overwhelming and practially gags others) who must have bathed in an ashtray! Smoking can really screw up a person’s ability to attract the opposite sex too! I consider myself good looking. Others consider me good looking. But by smoking, I believe I eliminated at least 40%, if not more, of my opportunities to connect with/attract the opposite sex. What non-smoker wants to date a smoke stack? Men who were originally interested in me, lost interest because they didn’t want to date me based on my smoking…. and I didn’t want to quit. Smokers are social pariahs in a sense. We are relegated to the front porch, the deck, the parking lot, the rare 2′ X 4′ painted squares every 6 to eight blocks apart on the board walk (Definately not on the beach) and etc… when we want to smoke. We smokers clearly make a spectacle of ourselves when we slink away to cater to our nasty habit at parties, events and at work. In inclement weather and in the winter that becomes even more taxing when you have to stand outside, either getting wet or shivering in the cold. Nevermind how bad your hair looks by the time you go back in (well at least for women). Its either suffer the weather or don’t smoke and suffer for want of a nicotine fix. For all those reasons and more, I had finally had enough. Well sort of. I always wanted to quit for all the reasons I mentioned. I just never found a good cessation method. By a happy accident I found the way that, so far , has been the best method – eCigarettes. Scratch that, not so far. I finally found the method that I KNOW works for me. I know I can quit using eCigs. My little electronic miracle – no, BIG miracle. A girlfriend laid her eCig on the counter at a social function and I asked what it was. It was a eGo-T (if I may use the brand name)…if not, it was a battery with a small cylinder tank that was sort of conical at the top that you fill with juice or vapors (flavored/nicotine oil PG VG)so you understand the type of product I started with. She offered to let me try it. It was different, but I thought, Why not give it a shot? That was more than a month ago. I started out slowly. I had to get used to the different feeling of holding an eCig compared to actually holding and smoking a cigarette. It was NOT hard and within a week it didn’t feel weird; it was the new normal. I had a lot to learn though. I started with one like hers – -a small battery that didn’t last more than three hours. I was forced to smoke cigarettes while charging the battery. I really wanted to totally quit and from my limited use of the e-cig, I knew that I could totally give up cigarettes if I could just have my e-cig available at all times. So I went online and shopped for a second e-cig. I quickly learned that the size and the mah’s of the batteries varied. In very basic terms the bigger the battery (the more mah’s) the longer your charge would last and the longer you could smoke on one charge. I purchased a 1100 mah eGo Twist and a 1300 mah Vision Twist based on my research and what some of the experts recommended for mid-level beginners. (twists are variable rate – you can decide how much vapor/the volume of vapor you get when you draw/take a puff by turning a dial on the battery) As time passed I graduated from a clearomizer to a tank that holds more juice (an atomizer – Protan II Kanger). I just received my Twists three days ago. I’ve vaped (??? I guess that is the past tense verb for vaping) for the past three days without smoking a cigarette! Even better I don’t miss cigarettes! SERIOUSLY…NOT ONE LITTLE BIT! Woo Hoo…. I’m starting to think that I can finally be free of this disgusting, stinky, ugly, costly habit that is smoking cigarettes. The best part is that this attempt to quit IS NOT STRESSFUL OR DIFFICULT AT ALL. The juice comes with varying mg.s of nicotine and flavor. I purchased seven 30 ml bottles of 12 mg nicotine juice online for a great price and free shipping if you spend $50, so I will have juice for quite a while – I’m guessing 1 1/2 to 2 months. My plan is to step down to 6 mg… maybe three bottles, which should last me at least a month. And finally, I will vape zero nicotine content juice. Yep, they make just the juice with flavor for folks like me who are as addicted to the act of smoking as they are to the nicotine. Zero nicotine juice is also for folks aren’t smokers who simply enjoy vaping. I just started totally vaping with no reliance on cigarettes, so I am not sure how long even one 30 ml bottle will last. Forgive me if my estimate is off, but I’m guessing I can get at least a month an a half out of my current juice supply. I’ve only been vaping for a short time and as time goes on I learn more and more. I love vaping more and more. I don’t stink. I can do it indoors around non-smokers and children. I save tons of money compared to what it costs to buy cigarettes. Vaping start up costs and the e-cig equipment is relatively inexpensive. I was able to purchase two 1100 mah twist batteries, a clearomizer, a tank, an extra USB/wall charger, a car charger and the juice all for around less than $150. I didn’t have to spend that much money. I could have simply bought one starter kit Starter kits range in price from $30 to $70. Regardless, $150 is minimal, for two e-cigs and enough juice to last at least a month and a half, compared to paying $231 for my pack-a-day habit for the same amount of time. (1 pack @ $5.50 X 7 days = $38.50 X 6 weeks [1 1/2months] = $231) For the first time EVER I can see myself as a non-smoker! You can’t imagine my excitement. I don’t miss cigarettes. Quitting is so easy with my eCig. I can be around smokers and I don’t stress out because I want a cigarette. Gone is my strong desire to just bum one. You cigarette addicts know EXACTLY what I mean! When I used other methods to quit I would be in a conversations with others who were smoking. I couldn’t concentrate on what they were saying. All that would go through my head was this back and forth argument with my smoker self and my non-smoker self. The conversation would go like this: SMOKER ME – Oh I neeeed one. It smells soooo good. I miss the taste and feel of smoking. Just bum one. One won’t hurt. You need to just get it out of your system and then you can focus on what they are saying. You’ll feel better. Smoke it you shouldn’t have to feel so out of sorts and you’ll be back to your normal self. You can smoke just one as a reward because you won’t smoke another today. Tomorrow you can go without a single cigarette. Smoking just one is better than smoking a whole pack. NON-SMOKER ME – Don’t smoke it. You will have failed. Loser. You’ll never quit. You know you can’t smoke just one. You are going to be upset with yourself. I don’t want one. SMOKER ME: I just want one. NON-SMOKER ME – No I don’t. SMOKER ME: Yes I do. The real me: Oh, can I just bum one please? GRRRR Gone is the anxiety and all the other bad stuff that comes with quitting through other methods. When I quit before (even with the drugs) I was never really myself. I couldn’t focus nor concentrate. I couldn’t perform my normal tasks at work without having to put in extra effort to avoid stupid mistakes. I was forgetful. My appetite was through the roof (for those of you who are worried about gaining weight when you quit). I just can’t say enough about how well eCigs and vaping work for me. All I know is that I have a new lease on life. I look forward to improved health and adding years back to my life. To being FREE! Ahhh the freedom that once seemed unattainable is now within my reach. For once I will not struggle through the past tortures of quitting. For once I do not have to go through a tough battle only to lose it and be back where I started – a battle for nothing. I know that this is my miracle method. So that’s my story, long but true. I bet most smokers could tell my story. For all of you who’ve tried everything else and failed, you MUST try this. You won’t be sorry. Finally, a piece of advice that I wish I would have been given. As a beginner, don’t rely solely on the internet and YouTube and etc… for your information. Use those tools, but go to a reputable smoke shop or vapor shop. You can Bing vapor shops in your area. After making beginners’ mistakes and wasting money by buying eCigs on the internet I finally went to a shop. The owner’s advice was invaluable and was what finally set me on the right path to successfully vaping full time and thus, quitting smoking for good. See my story below that I posted on an ebay board. I don’t know if this is the correct place to post my comments, but I just wanted to share some advice for buyers of electronic cigarettes. This is not a bash the buyer post. My apologies if I am in the wrong place. In a nutshell I did not receive the products that were advertised. Twice now when purchasing eGo products that were advertised as eGo products, I received knock-offs. The clearomizer tank and extra DCT tanks were faulty. Being new to vaping (smoking vapors with an electronic cig.), I ventured to a smoke shop/vapor shop for help. I figured I was doing something wrong and wanted better advice than YouTube video instructions. Upon inspection by an eGo dealer, I learned that both purchased items were knock-offs. That explained the faulty clearomizer. The DCT tank (I realized – if you get really nit picky) was not advertised under a brand name, so I’ll take the hit on that one. Shame on me I guess. I did do my homework and did read the description and etc… My only mistake was that I did not specifically ask if the product was a knock-off or it was authentic. Admittedly, I am new to the world of eGo and e-cig products of any kind. You live and you learn :smileyhappy: I did contact both sellers and offered a fair resolution: a request for a 50% refund and I offered to return the faulty clearmizers and DCT tanks today. I await their replies. I take full responsibility and am glad for the relatively inexpensive lesson. I just wanted to share this information with other less-than-informed buyers of (supposedly) brand name e-cig products. Don’t get me wrong, I am not implying that the sellers purposely misrepresented their products. Every transaction with every seller I’ve encountered in my many years on ebay has been very positive. I prefer to believe that they too are/were as uniformed as I. My intent is not to criticize, but to educate potential buyers. I almost forgot the most important information. Authentic eGo batteries have the eGo etchings on the bottom of the battery and the clearomizers and tanks also have specific identifying markings. As well, other brands are marked for authenticity in the same way. So be sure to ask the seller if the product is authentic or a knock-off before buying. That way if you receive a fake, you will have the right to a refund based on product being sold not as advertised.