I started smoking at the age of 13. I'm 37 now. If I recall correctly I smoked my first cig at the age of 11 sneaking around with a friend...friggin' ridiculous. Of course it started out at just a few a day, then i graduated to a pack a day, till finally on my days off from work, it was nothing for me to smoke 2 to 2 1/2 packs a day.
I work as an RN in a cardiac catheterization lab. I help people every day who have damaged their vessels from smoking. I hated the hypocrisy of me, a smoker, telling them how important it was to quit smoking upon discharge. Hell if anybody knows better it should be me right???
I've only tired to quit twice in all these years. I loved smoking. Those damn cigs were like my best friend. I spent more time with them than anyone who meant anything to me. First time I tried to quit I went cold turkey and it was horrible, I mean painful, literally. I can remember the first three days not even wanting to get out of bed. I was a raving witch too. A guy friend of mine at the time smoked Swisher Sweets with the little wooden tips, yeah next thing you know I was smoking them, so I said to myself, "Seriously I might as well go back to cigs; they have to be healthier than those cigars." LMAO
Second time I tried to quit was 2008 and I used Chantix. It works; it worked very well for me until I started getting migraines. So I only took them for about 6 weeks. I stayed away from cigs after that by controlling my environment and the people I would be around for 9 months, until my husband threw me a birthday party and everyone was smoking and I was drinking and poof 9 months down the drain.
Then my son started nagging me daily to quit. He saw the Smoking Everywhere e-cig at the mall and said, "Mom if I buy you one of those for Christmas will you use it and quit smoking." I'm thinking, I can still get my fix, feel like I'm smoking and not have all the side effects of the real thing??? Hells Yells I said.
Of course I researched the heck out of every type of e-cig there is and found V4L. I didn't let my son buy it though
. It's been 8 days since my last cig and I honestly haven't missed it at all and I've even been to a Christmas party and drank and sat around with the smokers and puffed away on my little e-cig happily.
I wish everyone in this forum the best of luck in their quest to quit analogs too