I began smoking around the age of 15 or 16(about 20-21 years). Early on i began smoking almost a pack a day. I first started with what was available to me, menthol full flavor Salems i believe. Shortly after that i switch to what then became available which was Marlboro Lights. Once i was old enough to purchase my own cigarettes, and was out of high school, i went quickly from around 1 pack per day up to 2-4 packs per day. As they were still pretty inexpensive at the time, perhaps $0.90-$1.00 a pack. However over all i would say i have had an average of around 1 to 1 and a half packs per day for my 20+ years smoking. During the past 5 or so years i have also taken up smoking ‘pipe tobacco cigars’ like the Black&Mild brand with the plastic tips. These i would use in the home only at my computer, where with cigarettes i only used outside. This was due to my wife mostly, who said she could tolerate me using them in the house to a point, but not regular cigarettes. While working an over night stock position for Christmas i was unable to leave the building to have cigarette breaks. During this time i decided to try the Blu brand of E-Cigarettes. I purchased one of their ‘packs’ that had 2 batteries, a charging case, and a variety of flavors. The flavors they had were very limiting, and over all using the product was more out of a need to get my ‘fix’, and i only used them when i was unable to smoke a real cigarette. After leaving this job i soon stopped using the Blu product, and have not used it since. A month or so ago my friend and i began talking about trying some of the more higher end e-cigarette products. He started a week or so before i had, and almost instantly stopped smoking real cigarettes. once i was able to purchase the batteries, some atomizer tanks, and a variety of liquids i did so. On a sunday i purchased what so far was to be my last pack of cigarettes. I had smoked a few out of the pack that night, and then some the next day waiting for the mail to arrive. Once i recieved my first battery, an eGo Twist-C 1000mAh, i put it and the KangerTech tank together and filled it up. The rest of that day i did not have another cigarette, nor did i crave one. The next day i awoke and still did not crave a real cigarette provided i was using the e-cigarette. Two days after i first started using my new custom e-cigarette, i had a bad night of sleep with only about an hour of sleep, and an overall stressful day. During that day i finished the pack of cigarettes i purchased the Sunday before. Since that time though i have no had a desire to smoke another cigarette. I have spent some time trying various flavors and styles of e-cigarette liquids, but have come to like a select few. It is part of what keeps me using the e-cigs. Along with the health benefits to myself and my family, and cost to use them compared to real ones. As of right now my best calculations put the maintainence cost of using my e-cigarettes around $10-$20 per month. Where with smoking real cigarettes it was well over $250 each month. I am still in the early day of using these, however during my first month or 2 i am already feeling much better mentally and physically. There have been no adverse effects of using e-cigs. My lungs are still cleaning/healing them selves to what they can, so i do have a lot of phelgm and some couging/horseness on occasion. I am taking Vitamin A and drinking plenty of water to help with that though. My taste and smell are of course both doing quite well since i stopped smoking. So far there have been no down sides to using e-cigs. My wife and children are all very happy i no longer smoke. My wallet is certainly happy i no longer smoke. I feel better now, and i feel better about my future. I do not yet know if i will be able to some day quit nicotine products entirely, but i do know i never want to go back to smoking real cigaretts. In the past i have tried many other means to help me quit, including patchs and gum, and just plain cold turkey. All of those i was only ever able to go at most about 20-24 hours without a cigarette. Being diagnosed with aspergers, and part of my symptoms including some issues with over all habbits/routines and a difficulty changing them in any way, it was always hard to quit any thing i did on a day to day basis. In most cases i would use a switch to something else that could satisfy the habbit. In short i needed to replace one addiction with another. With smoking i have finally found the new addiction i can replace it with, and that is e-cigarettes.