I started smoking when I was 16. For a couple of decades I never thought about quitting, but after I turned 40 I decided I no longer wanted to poison myself. I never had any health problems being a 1-pack a day smoker, nevertheless I was well aware of the risks involved, therefore I decided to quit. My first attempt was trying prescription remedies and I started taking Chantix upon my doctor’s recommendation. It was not easy but between will and medicine I remained smoke-free for the three months of therapy. Immediately upon cessation, however, for the first time in my life I experienced what depression really means. I understood immediately the cause (withdrawal from Chantix) and took action. The natural remedy would have been to go back on Chantix, but in my opinion this would only have postponed another crisis. I went back to cigarettes. After a few months, I decided once again I wanted to quit and this time I was more determinate. The first step I took was to use tobacco-less (clover-type) cigarettes, the rationale being to quit tobacco addition first, by preserving the physical habit of smoking, and quit that at a later stage. Clearly, also this approach failed. I did not give up and I started doing research. This is how a came across the concept of e-cigarettes. I am an electronic engineer, so the idea of toying with electrical devices and change my smoking habits attracted me right away. Plus, the concept of maintaining the addictive part only and eliminating the harmful substances really won me over. It is just logical! I started with n-joy devices, but I found out they were too problematic, so I quickly transitioned to more advanced devices (the so-called mods). Well, the toying worked. I switched immediately to e-cigarettes only and I never went back to cigarettes. Not even once. As I said, I never had health issues while being a smoker, so I never really seen a dramatic improvement in my health. What I can say is that after a few months (about 6) of use, the reaction I got from my doctor after looking at my chest x-ray was your lungs look like those of a non-smoker; I consider you a non-smoker. This made me really happy. Five years later, I am still using e-cigarettes, my annual full physicals look the same, my health is very good, my sense of smell has improved, but I have to be at least 100 feet away from smokers as cigarette smoke really bothers me now. I am 45 years old, I have been free from cigarettes for five years and I am never going back to them.