My first attempt to quit smoking was in March 1971. I remember because it was my 21st birthday. I made it two weeks cold turkey. From that point on I would try to quit at least once a year even though the last attempt ended in failure. When the nicotine gum came on the market I tried that. Pills, same story. Patches, same story. On and on and on I would try almost anything. Nothing worked for me for more than a month. In 2000 I had a heart attack and was forced to face the reality that my smoking had to stop. I left the hospital tobacco free. I was grateful to be alive and since I was restricted from driving a car for six weeks I was stuck and unable to buy cigarettes. That lasted three months until the day I had to take my wife to the emergency room and I smelled smoke coming from a cigarette in the parking lot of the hospital. I think that memory more than anything else told me that a cigarette was just what I needed to relieve the stress. I bummed one cigarette that day and in no time I was back up to a pack a day. In 2006 I was diagnosed with COPD. Back to the gum and patches, etc. Same old story nothing worked long term because the least amount of stress would send me right back to a cigarette. It was such an easy fix and as close as a 7-11. If a heart attack and COPD would not scare me into quitting permanently I don??t know what could. Because of cigarettes I now have a fleet of doctors. All of them were telling me what I already knew, QUIT SMOKING. Since I tried almost every prescription and method they prescribed and had no success I was on my last legs and resigned to the fact that I was facing a miserable existence for the rest of my life. That was my life before April 2010. After forty years of trying I did find a way to quit smoking for good. I found out about Electronic Cigarettes and vapor. I did my research and concluded that at that point in my life I had nothing to lose so why not give it a try. It worked. I got the same stress relief and sensation of ??smoking? so there was no panic about quitting. That is what it really took to get me off the cigarettes for good. For me it has been a miracle. ALL of my doctors are very supportive and the medical tests I have undergone since I started using an e-cig are showing remarkable results. My lungs no longer feel ??heavy?? with congestion and my pulmonologist is very pleased with my progress. My breath tests have gotten better and I have more stamina than I have had for decades. Best of all I have a new outlook on life.
