Inhaled insulin- what do you think?

Manny was a little curious, and so am I- what do you think about inhaled insulin? I like it, personally!
How about you?
Tom

I love the whole idea of it - I just wonder how effective it is.

Well, so far it has been pretty effective- my blood sugars have been the same as the injected.

Thomas:
Is there like a fast- and long-acting inhaled insulin?

I love it! It’s extremely exciting!

I don’t my bs falls to fast anyway. My Dr ask me if I wanted to try that about a year ago and I told him I would deal with the highs and lows that really scared me. For others it may do great, but I just don’t wan to try it.

So far as I know, there is only a fast acting insulin- I have to supplement it with determir at night.

Here’s some news about Exubera that Scott Strumello posted on his blog today:
>>> Exubera Manufacturer Cuts Jobs Due to Poor Sales

Is it harder to measure how much insulin you are taking? That was one of my concerns? And do you have to take a lot more insulin?

I know that Inhaled insulin causes decreased lung capacity, and in the long term use causes lung fibrosis. My brother is ironically a medical analyst and has done most of research in area of diabetes. He also said you wind up taking sometimes up to 200% larger amount of insulin than injected because it is sporadically absorbed. I do know that is a great alternative for those who won’t take insulin at meals times any other way.

I think that absorbancy depends on many factors, some of which can be corrected for. The novo nordisk unit tries to make the particles smaller. I am not sure about the long term use- how much is long term? Would you be able to list your sources?

I just want people to know- there is exubera, which just came on the market, and so far, that is the only inhaled one so far actually approved by the FDA ( I think). I am in a clinical trial with novo nordisk, who are developing their own inhaled insulin delivery system. I am not sure of the differences between the two.

My brother found out about the lung fibrosis from an insider at Aventis, but he said the pulmonary fibrosis should be on public record with the FDA investigation. It listed at least 2 cases, he said, but his friend had a lot more to say about it. Lung function also seems to be a long term problem. I’m not sure about how long it took to develop problems. I’ll ask him next time I talk to him.

Hi, I trialled Exubera for 6mths and found it was not right for me, I’ve uploaded a dairy I was asked to write if it is of any use to those interested ? Regards
Steve
9207-exubera1.doc (154 KB)

Nice to find a site for this very new aspect of diabetes care. I have been on clinical trial for Exubera over 4 years. I’ll include more info when I have more time. My A1c’s have ranged between 5.7 to 6.9 over that time. I have found it acts fairly similarly to injected insulin, except that when I exercise its effect is almost instantaneous. I had to learn that running within 2 hours of taking a dose…well blood sugar could drop 100 points in a VERY short time. But over time I have reduced my real lows to only a few per month.

My lung function tests have shown a decline in one area and unchanged or improved in 2 others, but a pulmonologist exam was not definitive to change anything. He said it could be more of a clinical effect than a real performance change, but we’re keeping an eye on it. In the meantime over the course of the trial I have progressed from running 5-10K to regularly doing half and full marathons. He thought that spoke volumes.

The convenience factor over injections is nothing short of spectacular. Now Pfizer is getting out of the business - bummer! I have my quarterly exam this Friday and hope to hear more.

Dave

Hey my father is also having diabetes but instead of inhaling insulin he is taking herbal treatments, and really these treatments are very effective.

Exubera trial is over as of mid-April, probably never to return. So it’s back to mealtime injections, which are going OK so far but I sure miss the convenience of inhaled. Lots of hypo episodes, but getting fewer all the time. My doc’s recommended dose based on my weight had to be almost cut in half, due to my exercise level.

Big differences, though, in terms of running and exercise. So far my running has improved fairly dramatically even in a month, so I’m happy about that.

Your father’s experience is interesting, Jenny, but he must be a Type 2 right? Type 1’s like me have nothing for herbal treatments to work on. But if he’s doing well, that’s great! Tell him hello from me.

Dave

Has anything more come out about why Exubera was dropped?

About Oct 2007 the line was, “The decision to stop marketing Exubera resulted from the drug not meeting the needs of prescribing physicians or the expectations of Pfizer and its customers.” At face value that seems to say that the doctors didn’t like prescribing it, the patients were not happy with the results, and the company wasn’t making enough money off it. Sounds like overkill to me; any of those 3 reasons could have been enough. Too bad it didn’t contribute to global warming too or they could have just claimed Green reasons for pulling it. It seems like such a huge investment in time and money to develop a useful product that just died.