I am a 55 year old woman and started smoking at the age of 16. Even in my 30’s and pregnant with my daughter, I continued to smoke. I have had all kinds of respitory issues and continued to smoke. I tried patches, chantix, zyban, hypnosis, and zyban, and still continued to smoke. Chantix and Zyban had some frightning side affects and can be psychologically dangerous. I took smoking cessation classes, listened to my doctor about quitting and the harm I was causing my body, and I continued to smoke. My daughter wrote me a letter begging me to quit, and I continued to smoke. I never was successful at quitting for more than a day. The idea of quitting created so much anxiety, I smoked more. I was convinced I would die while lighting up. I was convinced I would be on oxygen and continue to smoke. I had no hope and felt quite the failure. $14.00 a day on 2 packs of cigarettes was where I was at. It will be a year tomorrow that I have been smoke free. I tried my first electronic cigarette about 10 days before I stopped smoking. Initially I wanted to try it as a method of cutting down and to be able to ‘smoke’ in non-smoking situations. I had heard about electronic cigarette from a friend of a friend and bought the Blu at a local Walgreens. To my delight, it was satisfying, different then smoking but still satisfying. A thought on that first day was wow – maybe I can really quit! I started reading internet forums such as ECF and got tons of advice and support. I ordered some different supplies, finished my last pack of cigarettes, and on May 24, 2012 quit them for good. I started at 24 mg of nicotine and have reduced it to 12 over time. I feel wonderful. It was not a piece of cake to make the switch, but it was not impossible. Electronic cigaretees were the single thing that gave me hope and the possibility. Quitting smoking can easily be one of the hardest additions to overcome and I could have not done it any other way. I tried. I am proud, happy, and have converted several other people to using electronic cigarettes and quit smoking. A few lives saved. No more stink, no more cough, no more being winded. Nothing short of a miricle.