I started smoking at age 13. Beginning in my twenties, I tried several methods for quitting. They included Wellbutrin (which made me not want to smoke, but also gave me side effects like panic attacks); nicotine patches (did not help at all); and just quitting cold turkey. The longest I managed to quit smoking was one year, and that was cold turkey; however, I would still smoke if I was around people who were smoking so I hadn’t really quit, I was just not smoking regularly. Eventually I started smoking regularly again. 3 years ago, at age 35, I heard about e-cigs and decided to give them a try. I did a lot of research about them, and spoke to people (via online forums) who were using them successfully to either cut down on smoking, or quit entirely. I figured it was worth a shot. Haven’t touched a cigarette since. Haven’t wanted to, haven’t tried it just to see if I still like it, haven’t been bothered being around other people who are smoking. You could not pay me to smoke a cigarette. I started with a higher level of nicotine liquid (36mg) and a smaller e-cig, and eventually went down to lower nicotine e-liquid (maybe 10-20mg? It varies.) and a higher-powered e-cig (I use a battery mod). I’m not sure low much the nicotine level even matters, at least for me, as I never notice any type of craving like I did with cigarettes. I don’t feel dependent on the e-cig in the same way – I don’t feel like I’m a prisoner to using it. What I found interesting is that I experienced the same health improvements when I switched to the e-cig as I did when I quit cigarettes cold turkey: throat and sinuses clearing, sense of taste improved, no more coughing, etc. For me, e-cigs are the only thing that has ever worked. I’m extremely thankful for them.