Electronic Cigarettes Helped My Husband and I Quit Smoking I started smoking around the age of 19. I started out at 3 cigarettes a day. By the time I quit, I was up to a little over a half a pack a day. Using Nicotine Gum I was able to quit for a year (about 5 years after I started – around the age of 21 to 23), but two family emergencies happened and I was so stressed out I started up again. After that, over several years I tried the patch (for a few weeks), nicotine gum (several times with limited success – but this helped more than the others – usually a couple months at a time), and wellbutrin (didnt help), but none helped me quit for good. The patch didnt help for many reasons (a few weeks at most – and I usually would end up buying cigarettes and smoking a cigarette or two a day along with this), wellbutrin didnt help at all (still smoked using this), and nicotine gum had its drawbacks as well but I would say it worked the best out of these for me (sometimes ended up smoking cigarettes while using this). All of these except for wellbutrin I tried to completely stop smoking cigarettes to give them an honest try. And for different reasons, I would eventually end up breaking down and buying a pack of cigarettes and smoking a cigarette here and there. I was able to go the longest without buying cigarettes with the nicotine gum. And when I realized I was still having to smoke with the patch and the gum, I would stop using the product because I realized I was putting more nicotine in my body, not less. Now I am 38. I no longer smoke cigarettes, and have been completely cigarette and tobacco free for 2 years (as of June 15, 2011). On June 15, 2011 I tried my first starter kit of electronic cigarettes with nicotine liquid (I started at high nicotine concentration). The transition was so seamless! I threw away my last cigarettes that day. I tried to smoke a cigarette about a month later to see if I would still want it and it was awful. I didnt even smoke more than 1/4 of the cigarette! I didnt want it! When I get stressed out, I dont feel the need to go out and buy some cigarettes. I do still have cravings, but they have no strength over me and go away after a few seconds (not minutes). In my opinion, whether I quit smoking the electronic cigarette or not is not as important as it is to be free from cigarettes and tobacco! But I have now switched from high concentration to medium concentration of nicotine and am confident that eventually I will go to low and no concentration. Then I can either continue using the ecigarette or quit altogether. I can breathe better and my clothing doesnt stink – neither does my house. I no longer have any smokers cough! I am saving money too. Electronic cigarettes are not crazy expensive like cigarettes are. My family is also very grateful for many reasons. The only drawbacks I have ever noticed physically are only when I continuously vape for long periods without stopping (when I overdo it) – then occasionally I get light headed. But that is rare because with electronic cigarettes you have to let them cool periodically. There is a HUGE difference in trying to quit with other smoking cessation techniques compared to electronic cigarettes. With electronic cigarettes you have the hand to mouth addiction covered as well. No other smoking cessation techniques offer this important characteristic. Nicotine gum is the closest, but really doesn’t give the same satisfaction. You can step down from high to medium to low to no nicotine with the eliquid also. There are big differences that for me were the reason I was able to quit with ecigarettes and not with other techniques. I didnt have to mentally prepare, I just switched. I didnt have to use willpower 20 or more times a day to stay smoke free! And with the stresses in daily life, that is very important. Yes it doesnt taste the same as a cigarette, but aside from that, you get the hand to mouth motion, the vapor acts much like smoke but without the over 2000 carcinogens and ingredients that are harmful to our health like tar, formaldehyde and cyanide. And you get the level of nicotine you need to keep those cravings at bay. With electronic cigarettes I did not feel the need to also continue smoking one or more cigarettes a day like I did with the other cessation techniques. Also the electronic cigarette provides a substitute that helps you get past the period after you quit smoking when you are most vulnerable to cravings and to returning to smoking – you dont get those powerful cravings! I believe it is partly my fault for getting my husband started on cigarettes, but he was also able to quit smoking on the same day I did. He has actually stopped vaping the electronic cigarette as well for weeks at a time, and I think now he could take it or leave it and remain a non-smoker. I no longer get bronchitis like I did when I was smoking either – sometimes as much as once or twice in a year! There are just so many benefits. And having the choice of brand of ecigarette and also the choices of flavor and concentration of nicotine are all important to the success I had. If required, I will personally fight for our right to continue having this independence and this choice of freedom from or bondage to cigarettes! As far as the electronic cigarette products I used goes: I started out (June 15, 2011) using an automatic penstyle, but this used a lot of liquid, was messy and the batteries were crap. Nice only while it worked. Very inconsistent. I used the penstyle for the first few months – about 5 months. After much frustration with the penstyle, I switched to the manual Super Mega 510 which is a long version of the 510. The manual 510 batteries are definitely better! Manual as opposed to automatic last much longer – are more dependable. As they lose their charge they do become less consistent tho. They last for months where the penstyle automatic batteries sometimes didnt even last a week! I have used the 510 for the longest time – probably for 1 1/2 years. Occasionally I used a USB pass through battery which seemed to be stronger than the manual batteries – sometimes too strong. It would burn through my atomizers more quickly so they wouldnt last as long, but gave a fuller vape. Good because they last long and they are least expensive. Too bad, but my supplier is no longer carrying the Super Mega 510 – she went to a shorter version of the 510 atomizer which I used for 2 months – probably May to June of 2013. I recently switched to the Encore Tank eGo (manual of course!) which holds 2.4 ml of liquid (more convenient!) – they dont drip liquid like the 510 or the penstyle – the penstyle is the most messy tho I believe. I dont have a USB pass through for this one yet tho – I have used pass throughs for the other types of ecigarette I used when I am at home at my computer and when I am charging my manual batteries. The Tank eGo gives a pretty good vape and I think its my new favorite.