Thanks for the link, Denise. It's interesting to see how the outside world is viewing our trial of Afrezza. They seem pleasantly surprised that we are experimenting using Afrezza in ways not anticipated in the clinical trials.
They don't seem to appreciate that we do that with all the tools we use to treat diabetes. Look at all the techniques we use with rapid acting analog insulins: pumps, MDI, pre-boluses, super-boluses, low carb high fat, and strategic and tactical exercising. The rest of the world has no idea the efforts we make to try to live a normal life!
The investors of MNKD reading this thread are looking in the wrong area. Type 1 Diabetes only makes up 10% of total world-wide diabetics. 90% are Type 2 and type 2's take much higher doses of insulin from what I heard with their cell intolerance to insulin. So majority of the money for MannKind and Sanofi would be made from Type 2 Diabetics. They should be more interested in following a thread on Type 2 Diabetics experience with Afrezza, as that's where the money will be made. Also, Type 1 Diabetes will be biologically cured in 5 years where no cure is on the brink for Type 2. So the future profit of Afrezza will be all in Type 2 Diabetics embracing Afrezza. Being a Type 1 Diabetic myself, I don't know how Afrezza will affect Type 2's condition and whether they will embrace this. I invest in stocks as well... but waiting to see if there's any hype among Type 2 Diabetics before investing in MNKD. From a non-financial perspective however, I can't wait for this to make it's way up to Canada for my personal health.
And what Terry has observed is the biggest reason I love this website and appreciate so much what Iāve learned here (and I feel like Iāve barely scratched the surface). I have several close friends and relatives who are diabetic or pre-D. And, I simply had no useful understanding of what that meant. This blog and this site has been mind-blowing. Thank you so very much for sharing your insights.
Speaking of insights MikePā¦
Any noteworthy comments about your continued use? Any anecdotes? Dog eaten a whistle yet?
I donāt know if you have a dog, but one of the things I wondered was what do you do if the whistle gets lost or damaged?
so glad to see my term "whistle" catching on. My daughter asks me about my "eye-abetes whistle" all the time... thats how she pronounces it. I love it... finally a subject I can joke about it and take lightheartedly.
Each box comes with two whistles as you call them. You are told to discard them after 15 days of use. I am type and I only use Afrezza 2 maybe 3 times a day. After a month I will have left over cartridges and no whistle. Checking on a whistle only package. Good luck. I have a cat and he hasnāt gotten a hold of mine yet.
Pat appears to be very close to diagnosis and on the border of Pre-diabetes. He is doing very well with what looks like a low dose for a person with Type 2. I'm still waiting for some classic Type 2s to report their results--the people with A1cs of 9% or 10% whose fasting blood sugar is near 200 mg/dl and who, when they take Lantus, take 100 units.
Since the doses they will need are not yet commercially available, it will be another couple months until we learn how well Afrezza works for them.
Since they are indeed the company's stated target market, and since the company will need to sell a lot of Afrezza to Type 2s to justify the money invested in the product, the success with Type 2s should be a concern for Type 1s, too, since, as we saw with Exubera, if an insulin product that works for some Type 1s doesn't catch on with Type 2s the companies may quickly abandon it and move on to more profitable endeavors.
No issues with the whistle yet :) As mentioned by @Itellthetruth each box comes with 2. Btw - did you check with your Endo for extra whistles Truth?
As for my continued use, things are pretty status quo (i know so boring). I think the biggest thing for me is the fact that my high Blood Sugar warning on my Dex is set at 130 and if I see it go over that I'm worried about correcting and I do it with 4u of Afrezza and it comes down quickly. It's also interesting because I don't worry about insulin on board anymore. I always let my Omnipod calculate that, but also worried about stacking, hypos etc. at the same time.
Very, very valid concern of mine Jenny. Given my experience thus far with Afrezza I would be extremely upset if I was forced to go back to Humalog for my boluses.
Exubera was not the same thing- it was less convenient and less effective than other injected bolus that were available. It had no appeal, to anyone. Type 2s can and will do just fine with multiple cartridges, there may never be larger cartridges, they will just need to spend a few extra seconds loading another one
Look at all the techniques we use with rapid acting analog insulins: pumps, MDI, pre-boluses, super-boluses, low carb high fat, and strategic and tactical exercising. The rest of the world has no idea the efforts we make to try to live a normal life!
Gawd, ain't that the truth! Can I get a witness!
It's probably the one thing that excites about Afrezza the most -- being freed from the chains that D shackles us all with. Ironically, the tighter and better the control you try to achieve, the heavier and more omnipresent are those chains.
Non-diabetics have no idea what it takes to "live well" as a diabetic.
Well Jenny, I don't fit your description exactly above, but I am a T2 with IR (IC 1:4), treating with insulin by choice (don't want to take the various beta cell stimulants, diet/exercise too restrictive to enjoy the life I want to enjoy).
I'll be starting Afrezza -- and reporting back here, of course -- in a few weeks (assuming my Spirometry goes well morning of 4/8).
I certainly am not a "typical" T2, however, even in eating habits. I LCHF relative to the general population. 30-50g carb is a typical meal for me, so bolus will be 8-12 units.
I will be recording carb and insulin events in my CGM for the first few weeks to get some hard data on quantities, timing, and BG response. I'll share all the data, of course!
I'd counter-balance this with the fact of the success of analog insulins.
Keep in mind that something around 40% of all T2's eventually become insulin-dependent. I'd say that, if the benefits and advantages we are seeing with early adopters holds generally, Afrezza has a lot of promise to replace or augment insulin usage by the entire insulin-using population, which is mostly T2s, odd as that seems. Also, those advantages again have a lot of promise in getting more T2s on insulin earlier, controlling their disease better, because the ease of use, and superior social compatability.
