imo, no it has not been used long enough to know what the real long term effects may be. I have asthma so I would not use it any way. People here mostly say it doesnt cause lows but I heard of low events elsehwere in petite insulin sensitive people with like me. I don’t eat high carb and I have digestive issues. I’m pretty sure it would cause lows for me just like novolog etc. does.
Thanks meee. Can you not use Novolog at all? I am 5’1” 106 lbs and have no trouble with it as long as I don’t use very much. I have very low insulin resistance. Maybe you are really tiny?
I don’t have asthma, but I am still somewhat worried about inhaling something.
I wouldn’t use it before meals, but very occasionally I forget to give a pre meal shot and thought it might be handy to use then.
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I have to be on insulin and novolog is the best one for me but I still have very fluctuating bg. for instance I went out for a walk last week and my bg dropped from 170 to 99 going down in 20 minutes with a tiny correction. This is what I deal with every day unfortunately, bg crashing badly frequently. Now it is high and wont come down. It was 200 when I woke up- took a correction and increased basal and it went up 40 points while I slept more, another correction at 1 hour and it is finally starting to drop.
I am petite but not tiny, I have gained weight because instead of eating like a bird I added in one tiny snack meal per day. I am not overweight, but I am very sensitive and can crash like you would not believe. It may be due to my thyroid and digestive issues. I must be one of the few who gains weight from thyroid meds, I guess the insulin fat thing is finally kicking in too because I have those thyroid fat pads.
I guess you can try it and see if it works for you. Just keep in mind that no matter what anyone says we don’t know the full longterm effects since lung damage and diseases can take many years to show up. Asbestos cancers and mesothelioma can take 20 years to show up as can smoking related lung cancers. If you only use it occasionally it will prolly be ok. I hope it helps you.
So sorry that you woke up with a 200 bg. If I am over 100 when I get up my day is doomed to higher readings. I hate beginning a day like that. Hope you are doing ok now,
The other day about an hour after breakfast I tested 170. I was getting on the exercise bike and figured it would go down, but an hour later I was at 43. Very frustrating. That is when a CGM would come in handy.
Everyday is a new challenge in the life of a person with diabetes.
I definitely agree about it taking years to know if a newish med is causing harm in the long run.
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You’re right, it can cause lows for anyone, but it’s less likely because it’s in and out of your system so quickly. I only use it for a meal-time bolus when I’m having a much higher carb meal than I’m accustomed. It’s much better for me than taking a lot of Humalog, I don’t have to worry about a crash several hours later because Humalog is still in my system. Afrezza is in and out in less than 90 minutes. Very predictable.
On the other hand, you can take too much, just like any other insulin. It’s in and out of your system quickly, but while it’s there its doing the same thing as any other insulin. I used an 8u cartridge for what I thought would be a more problematic meal than turned out to be the case. My blood sugar dropped below 50 fast because Afrezza works so quickly. I learned my lesson and now use 4u exclusively and just take another dose only when I see it’s not enough. I do the same thing for corrections, where I use Afrezza the most. No problems since.
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I was very insulin sensitive when I started using Afrezza but a bad cold at the end of 2017 radically changed my insulin needs. I went from needing maybe 30 units of Afrezza a day to 3 times that on a bad day. So now I use all three different cartridge strengths.
I do occasionally get lows in the high 40s but I can handle those without any help and I don’t feel like I am in any danger. On humalog I’ve had seizures and had 911 called and been stumbling around unable to see to treat myself. My life changed so much for the better with Afrezza and I hesitated to try it because I thought "Oh, there’s no way I could make being unable to alter my dose work ". I still say it is the best diabetes related decision I’ve ever made.
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I started using Afrezza a little over a month ago and absolutely love it. I am insulin sensitive and use smaller doses of injectable but have been able to use 4’s and double up sometimes. I also wanted to add that I have been doing the DIY on YouTube to split 8u’s into 4 2u’s. It is very easy and has been really successful for when I only need a small dose. Also saves money.
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I will get these as well. There are a lot of moving parts in diabetes. Most of my lows come from basal problems. When my basal is perfect, Afrezza levels off before lows nearly every time I dose. However, if my Afrezza dose was way too high or I exercise right after dosing, I will drop low. When dosing with Humalog, there were many more instances when I might end up low, and dosing way too much or exercise were certainly issues with Humalog. The hypo risks are just overall lower with Afrezza.
As a woman, my basal needs change a bit through my monthly cycle, so I’m adjusting my basal rates every 1-2 weeks. Right now basal is a much bigger challenge for me than meals/corrections. Afrezza essentially solved that problem for me.
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Thanks it was another crap day in my life with diabetes. 
Wow 170 to 40 sucks I get that alot too so I basically do nothing most of the time with iob for 2-3 hours and have to monitor even normal activity carefully. Yep we must be our own best defense against all the possible effects of treatments etc.
I already have problems with fast drops so I would prolly not want something so fast. Leaving sooner could be better though, but not if your food metabolizes later.
This is my experience also! Started with using it for stubborn highs in conjunction with Tslim. Now I use it for most meal boluses which also helps with better Basal absorption at the site. It’s a whole new “animal” so it takes the usual trial and error period like everything with T1.
It was a struggle getting it mainly due to the lack of knowledge of provider and insurance companies. But through perseverance and fantastic support and help from MannKind and their rep who basically educated everyone along the way I succeeded. Medicare approved it as a Tier 4 at $700+ month copay. That’s with a supplemental. I applied for the cash pay program and now pay $150/mo for a supply that will last about 2 months. So $75/mo is doable for me because it is worth it!
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Update: I ended up w/ upper respiratory infection. Shortly after starting I got junky lungs, coughing up stuff. Now back on just insulin via pump. FYI - I even had trouble inhaling it without coughing. To double check, I tried it again just last week and same results with only a few inhalations. Not sure if others have had this issues - but, I did.
I had some expired afrezza and figured I’d use it up…ended up with pneumonia and missed 3 days of work… the last time I missed any work was 10 years ago, so I don’t normally have debilitating sicknesses. I don’t work with the public, so I stopped using the expired affrezza…I still have some in the fridge though…hard to throw it out… at the time, my insurance covered afrezza, but it was either afrezza or insulin…not both, so i stopped…I think it was a nice break. But like most people in the trials, a year was enough for me…