I’ve been using Afrezza for about two years now with no problems. However, over the past couple weeks I got bronchitis that started as some sinus problems. I went to the PCP this week and I’m on some antibiotics because the cough has not gone away. Other than the cough with congestion, I feel perfectly fine. I realized, however, that while I have had the cough, I have not decreased the amount of Afrezza I’m taking and I take a good amount since it is my main insulin.
I’m starting to wonder if doing this much Afrezza with this bronchitis is just making my cough worse. For now, I’ve swapped back to novolog for ‘fast’ acting. Anyone have experience with this? I’m going to call my endo on Monday.
I used afrezza for about a year 2017-2018 and stopped after I had pneumonia. I also went to the general practitioner for a chronic cough and he laughed at my afrezza usage and pulled out the side effects flyer which includes coughing and possible bronchitis. My lung tests dropped a little, but they were still in normal range, however, I never used it if I was sick… it just seemed to make me sick longer
I’ve never had any side effects with Afrezza or decreased lung capacity. My pcp really didn’t think I have pneumonia because I exhibited no symptoms except cough+congestion.
@roger5 Was it determined that Afrezza was the cause of your pneumonia?
That was my general practitioner’s opinion “absolutely” were his words… I also switched jobs, and with different insurance or Cigna, they said n.o. spells nuh-uh. But I only miss it occasionally… especially when I’m on a long drive and my blood sugar slowly rises, or when I have to take s 2nd or 3rd correction bolus, but my lungs feel better and I have more room is in my refrigerator
I’ve been using Afrezza for about 2 years as well. I’ve not had any problems with pneumonia though.
I swim rigorously a few times a week for about 30 minutes each time. I also regularly do long hikes. My lungs feel very healthy.
I haven’t really noticed any difference in my lung capacity or sickness. I do tend to drink water before using Afrezza if my throat feels dry. Also, Afrezza doesn’t work super well at replacing insufficient basal insulin, so if I’m noticing a basal problem then I’ll treat with Humalog instead. I use Afrezza (+Lantus) the rest of the time though.
I think Afrezza is a miracle drug and I wish I could give it to everyone with Type 1. It makes me sad that people can’t have access to it easily. I can’t believe how much easier my life has become between the G6 and Afrezza.
I’ve been using Afrezza for three years, until recently just for corrections. I generally won’t take it if I have a cold, flu, etc. Not sure if that’s necessary or not. I didn’t ask my doctor. I Just felt that with my lungs fighting off an infection it was the prudent thing to do.
Now, for the last 5 months I’ve been using Afrezza on a regular basis as my meal-time fast acting insulin. It’s a fantastic product! It helps lower my average BG, increase my TIR and reduce my standard deviation.
I dialed back using it as much recently because I have slight lung congestion and a productive cough a day or so after use. The more I use in a given day the more pronounced the problem. When I inhale deeply during delivery the problem is more pronounced than with shallower breaths. There seems to be a sweet spot where inhaling just deeply enough delivers the insulin into my blood without causing lung congestion. But sometimes I get it wrong and don’t inhale deeply enough to deliver a full dose. Very frustrating
Anyone else have this experience? I see my endo in April and will take it up with him. I run regularly and have seen no impact.
My personal experience is that I need to angle the inhaler slightly downward (only slightly!) in order to get the full dose of powder. I generally do a long full exhale and then inhale deeply over several seconds - until well after the powder should be gone.
Gary Scheiner recommended inhaling the Afrezza slowly (unlike me) after a full exhale. It might be helpful to read his review.
“Sipping some water beforehand and exhaling fully before inhaling really helps.”
I am not experiencing the lung congestion, and it does sound like it would be a good idea to talk with your doctor about that.
Thanks @katers87. Your technique is close to my own until the congestion issues appeared. I also agree with most everything in the review.
I’ll obviously discuss with my endo, but was hoping someone else here experienced something similar and was able to overcome it. Would give me something to discuss with my endo.
Until I find a solution it’s back to corrections-only.
