I started smoking when I was 15 and by 17, I was a pack-a-day smoker. I first tried to quit smoking when I was about 21 where I tried the gum and right away fell off. A while later I tried the patch and it drove me right back to smoking analogs. As I was actively in the work force with a career, it became more potent that I quit all together. When my children were born it was a must. While struggling to quit cold turkey I was introduce to Chanex which turned out to be worse than smoking, at least in my case. Finally almost 2 years ago I was introduced to e-cigarettes. This was a cigarette look-a-like and took for a short while. This did not last long and I went back to smoking. A few months later I found a better type of e-cigarette that didn’t look like a cigarette but served the purpose of an alternative to smoking. With other avenues toward a smoke free life proven to not be effective, I found myself making the purchase. I started with a standard ego 510 with a clear-o and within a few months, I had stopped purchasing cigarettes. I started with high nicotine levels intentionally with hopes that the e-cigarette will over power my desire for a real cigarette. By the time I gave up completely on the real cigarettes, I began to slowly decrease my e-cigarette nicotine levels. I have explored the world of e-cigarettes and mods which has taken my e-cigarette use to different levels. I have now been cigarette free for 1-1/2 years and bounce from 6 to 12 in my nicotine levels. My overall health has dramatically improved. I am currently training for a full marathon (26.2 miles) a year from now with two half marathons already completed. All in all, that first purchase of my ego standard battery, was the best thing I have ever done for myself. With the hardware included, this smoking alternative averages me about $7.00 a week versus the $60.00 a week in traditional cigarettes. If you are a cigarette smoker, I highly suggest switching if you cannot stop completely on your own.