I smoked heavily for 12 years, around 2 packs a day since I turned 18. I tried every option to quit on numerous occasions. Patches were an utter failure. Chantix caused crazy side effects and I had to discontinue. Gum didn’t work at all. Support groups and online tools allowed me to see exactly how bad it was, but didn’t help at all. E-cigarettes worked. Period. I bought a small starter kit to see if it would help in October of 2012. By November, I had bought several more advanced pieces, a selection of juice flavors and strengths, and had cut my cigarette consumption down to a pack a week. By Christmas, I had stopped buying cigarettes altogether and had leveled my nicotine consumption out on the ecigarettes. Even with the ecigarettes, there were withdrawal symptoms from the cigarettes, and my nicotine consumption was spiky for the first couple of months. However, I now had a replacement that allowed me to account for the ups and downs of withdrawal from addiction to far more than just nicotine. Without them, I doubt that I would have ever quit. Since then, my breathing has improved, my stamina has improved, my blood pressure has dropped, I’ve gotten less moody, my allergies have improved, and I no longer stink like an ashtray. Coworkers and friends have noticed and praised the changes, and I’ve managed to convert a couple of lifelong smokers to ecigarettes. It has been an improvement in all of our lives, and the lives of those around us.