I believe that hearing from others that have chosen a harm reduction like Vaping to get off analogs is always worth hearing…. so I’m telling about my vaping journey. My Name is Diane. I’m 56 and started smoking analogs when I was 15 years old. Bought my first carton of analogs when I was 18. I was a nervous smoker. Always in my hand, always at the ready if I needed a puff. Later in my life when the smoking restrictions came into play I was even more anxious to get my puffs when and where I legally could. Oddly, I liked smoking though I was always aware that enjoyment was tied into a harmful addiction. I had family and friends that quit analogs and started up again. Gum, patches and cold turkey. Close to home, my older brothers lived this merry-go-round right along with their spouses. Seeing this happen repeatedly over the decades I resolved to not go that route. When they picked up analogs again after sincere attempts in quitting it was rough times at their homes. Since I liked smoking any attempts to quit were going to be a failed attempt on my part so I never did. Not quite 3 years ago I read the for the first time about Electric Cigarettes. It seemed lame to me. How could something mimic a real cigarette so what was the point in this?? If it tasted like garbage or not even close to a cigarette it wasn’t going to work for me so I lost interest in even reading more about them if I saw a piece about it in the news. Several months after this time I was sitting in a communal sitting area outside where I live (we residents that smoked tended to park ourselves there on nice days). One of the older residents (she is 82) was smoking an analog. I thought she was until I noticed it wasn’t a real cigarette. I asked her if it was an Electric Cigarette. She said it was and offered it to me to try. It was a ‘looks like a cigarette’ disposable. I was so shocked. It really tasted like analog. It was not like smoking my own brand of course but it really did taste like a cigarette. That was my epiphany. After that moment I was into some soul searching time. Was this it? Would this apparatus allow me to do something I never had the strength to try? To quit smoking? No burning smoke going in my lungs but I could sort of do the ‘smoke a cigarette’ thing when I felt nervous. I’ll say that I sat on these thoughts for a few weeks, I started reading on my computer about Electric Cigarettes though I wasn’t really sure if I could afford the initial money outlay. As many do, I paid more than I should have but I ordered a kit with extra batteries. My biggest worry was being without something in my hand to ‘smoke’ when I wanted to. It was a 808 kit/ extra batteries and I have never regretted that money spent on it. October 1st, 2011 was my first vape day. I have never smoked another analog. I was a almost 40 years smoking one to two pack a day smoker, then I wasn’t. My first kit and cartos were 18 mg. Today, I vape 12mg and at night I usually will vape at 6mg. These level nics sets well with me. What was amazing to me after the first year was that I noticed I was not driven to vape like I had been when I was smoking analogs. When I first started vaping if I went anywhere my purse was loaded with vaping gear. Batteries and cartos, juice( It was the equivalent of when I used to have several packs of cigs on me just in case I was waylaid, stranded, I would be covered). I remember noticing I was leaving my abode not worrying about having on my all my vape gear. The day I am always thankful for is when I realized I was going away for a few hours and just didn’t want to bother loading up my gear. I didn’t vape when I was out really though it was with me so I wouldn’t be nervous if I needed to vape. Nowadays, I vape because I enjoy a good vape and want to relax. It not about feeling frantic for a quick nic fix. That does not factor in my vaping experience. My health has improved through my journey. At the time I quit analogsI had a cough that would erupt at any time. Not often but when it did I had no control of it, it had to run its course and it was harsh. My lung capacity was noticeably less than it had been my entire life. I was aware in the last few years I was on analogs that I was finally seeing the onset of health issues from smoking. Though I still could not face trying the harm reductions tools that I familiar with hearing about over the years I was worried. The older we get what we are thankful for…the list seems to gets bigger. I’m grateful for Electric Cigarettes every single day of my life. My lung capacity is very much improved and I haven’t had a cough erupt in my chest since a few months into vaping journey.