E-cigs pretty much did the opposite for me as many of you.
Before I started using e-cigs, I smoked maybe 1-3 cigarettes a day. Mostly at the university. Heavier smoking happened during finals week. Then for a little while I started just using nasal snuff tobacco - you pretty much just snort it, although very gently so as to make sure it stays in your nose and doesn't go back into your throat. I find it less disgusting than dipping, and it was stealthy, so I could do it at the university without going outside. It also has pretty much the lowest instance of cancer of any way to ingest tobacco (not meaning nicotine, just tobacco plant matter itself).
I didn't smoke or use snuff much, and ended up having long unintended breaks from both forms, other than at parties and such.
Then, I tried out e-cigs.
I loved the method so much, and the fact you could do it anywhere pretty much, that I would just vape all day long. I boosted my nicotine tolerance to turbo-levels. At one point I power smoked an unfiltered lucky strike at a gig and not feel a nicotine buzz. Before e-cigs, I would have had to smoke lucky strikes slowly, and would feel a massive buzz.
I'm done using nicotine except for rare occasions - pretty much just at parties, or when out drinking. 0-3 cigarettes per month. I managed to quit habitual nicotine use a year ago or so.
I used cigarettes to quit using nicotine. With the e-cigs, I had a much harder time controlling myself, both from knowing that it's less harmful than tobacco, and from how easy it was to use them - and how clean it feels compared to smoking. It was super hard trying to quit e-cigs for me. I did not want to be a slave to nicotine, and suffer long term consequences of sustained heavy nicotine use.
My e-cig died, and I just didn't buy a new one. My girlfriend smokes, so I just bummed smokes from her for a little while. Then, I'd just share a half one with her when I smoked. Eventually I just stopped smoking because I didn't like how it made my lungs and body feel. An occasional cig is ok, but I refuse to buy any form of nicotine anymore.
I like having smoking as a super-rare treat. Now, I actually feel something from the nicotine. When my nicotine tolerance was really high, I felt nothing really. It just made me feel like crap if I wasn't using it enough.
