Hi there. I have a story I would like to share with you, if you would care to read it. The story is about a young girl, who was developing breathing problems rarely seen in people under the age of 65, and how she completely turned those issues around with a simple switch. Of course, this story is about me, and my decision to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. I had started smoking when I was about 12. Iƒ??d like to toss the blame on to others, but the truth is, it was simply a bad decision on my part, one that held the risk of killing me before I turned 23. I smoked about a pack a day of whatever cigarettes I could get my hands on. I didnƒ??t care about the brand, I only cared that it was cheap. But that was after I was old enough to buy them myself. Before that, I would steal them from my family (everyone in my immediate family was a smoker with the exception of my father). I sacrificed going out to eat, or buying adequate groceries, or whatever else, to keep nicotine in my system. I began developing a whooping cough about when I was 17, and it progressively got worse as time went on. By the time I was 22, I was warned that my lungs were in the same shape as someone who had smoked for over 40 years, and that if I continued on this path, I would develop lung cancer before I was 30. Of course, by this time, I was completely hooked. I couldnƒ??t stop, no matter how hard I tried. I tried the gum, I tried the patch, I tried the pills. None of it worked, not for more than a few days. I would switch what I was using, and it seemed like it was going to work. But like always, I went back to cigarettes. I hated myself. I felt like if I were just a stronger person, then it wouldnƒ??t be a problem. I was depressed to the point of considering suicide, and I only felt better when I was smoking. But smoking was what was making me feel that way. I stayed locked in this loop of self-hatred for about a year. When I was at my breaking point, a friend of mine suggested that I try electronic cigarettes. At first, I was skeptical. I couldnƒ??t believe that it would work when nothing else did, and it was a lot more expensive to start with than the gum or the patches. My friend let me borrow one of their batteries, and I bought a pack of cartomizers for the first time. I made a deal with myself that will probably sound terrible to you. I decided that if I could drop cigarettes with these, I would live. If I couldnƒ??t, I would kill myself. It seems very melodramatic to me now, but at the time, I was dead serious. That moment was more than three years ago now. Suffice to say, I am definitely still here. Electronic cigarettes were my savior that day. It was satisfying in a way that the gum and the patches could never be. I felt like I was still smoking, but I wasnƒ??t. Within a couple months, the cough I had had since I was 17 began to disappear, and within the first six months of the switch, was completely gone. I could breathe again, I could taste things again, and I could smell things again. It was like I was a completely new person. After a year of being on electronic cigarettes, I went in for another MRI of my lungs. The doctors were astounded, because my lungs were almost back to normal, as if I hadnƒ??t smoked at all. Itƒ??s been three years since I have touched a ƒ??realƒ?? cigarette. Now, the smell of them is gross to me. I can tell when someone is a smoker because of the lingering smell. My health continues to improve. I still use e-cigs. I donƒ??t know if I can ever fully put them down. But I have lowered my nicotine level to almost imperceptible amounts (I started at 24%, and now I am at .6%, which is the lowest amount of nicotine available in the liquid I use). If youƒ??re having an issue with quitting smoking with the ƒ??traditionalƒ?? methods, before you give up, please try e-cigs. Itƒ??s a completely different experience, and soon you wonƒ??t even care if it the liquid tastes like tobacco, branching out into the wide variety of flavors available for e-liquid.