Thank you, I read his article. I asked my Diabetes Educator for Afrezza and this was her reply:
"We very rarely prescribe Afrezza in our clinic; the reason is that the dosage is not precise enough to be utilized safely in most Type 1 diabetes patients. If the patient has asthma or another lung condition, this medication is not recommended.
The company support for patient training or other issues, is not in the Sacramento area, but located in Southern California.
With regards to your insurance covering the product, Afrezza has a website, https://www.afrezza.com/, and I think you can contact a representative for more information on coverage. I do know they offer a discount card."
I still intend to press for the prescription so I can try it.
This has been asked and answered many times here. I understand the confusion in the patient community but am less sympathetic when a medical professional is involved.
The Afrezza dose size is not equivalent to liquid glucose. It has a much faster onset and peak and a much shorter duration than a rapid acting analog insulin. I’ve used Afrezza for over two years now, mostly for corrections. It is very forgiving with regard to its labeled dose and rarely drives me hypo. The best thing any person with diabetes can do is to try it themselves with safety measures in place and see what they think.
Unfortunately, doctors are the gatekeepers for this and other medications. It seems many of them judged Afreeza too quickly on the first layer of analysis they heard.
For me, a 4-unit dose of Afrezza acts more like a two-unit dose of liquid insulin with its tail cut off at about 2.5 hours. It’s great for night-time corrections and the ability to confidently go back to sleep without a nagging fear of a hypo while I sleep. It’s amazing that way. If I could no longer get Afrezza, I would sorely miss it.
Janet - if you really are interested in afrezza and are in CA just call VDex VDexdiabetes.com and see what they say. IMO what your diabetes educator told you is just sad. It sounds like the educator needs a good education.
The state of California does not require a prescription for human insulin which is what afrezza is. So, in theory you really should not need a prescription for it. However, I would give the VDex guys a call,
The FDA requires a pulmonary test for the doctor to write the prescription. To get insurance coverage you will need a prescription. Its my understanding that VDex has a pretty good handle on getting coverage since they specialize in afrezza. Best wishes.
Since Afrezza acts very quickly, I find it very useful to have a CGM. That way, it can be a bolus+correction as you go. When I started Afrezza before having a CGM, it helped some but was still confusing about what was going on. I’ve been using it as my only bolus for ~1 year now.
It amazes me how little this disbetes educator knows about Afrezza. You should tell them to get educated about it before making such a statement. It’s a shame so little is known about it, yet with just a little due diligence you can learn so easily. Good luck to you, maybe you’ll be the one to educate them.
Janet - Vanc raises a good point. If you go with VDex they provide something. For T2s its the Libre Pro but I am not sure about the T1s. They will also help put you 24/7 BG profile together.
If you stay with your current Endo and you don’t want to spend a lot of money for a Dexcom, I would go on ebay or you favorite website and buy the consumer version of the Libre sensors there. They usually run about $80 a sensor and last for two weeks. If you have an android phone you can download for free several different reader apps. Otherwise you can buy a reader on Ebay for about $100 but it will be in mmols.
Hi I currently have Dexcom under prescription. Nice to hear VDex can help me with Afrezza and whatever a 24/7 BG profile is, I think I need that. It amazes me how little my Diabetes Educator and Endo have taught me.
Mitchell - thanks for posting. It seems to be a recurring and growing theme frrom afrezza users that they are now getting control over meal time sugars which they never had before.
I just read this conversation thread and when I got to the bottom and noticed there were no more posts from janet353, I was very disappointed. Was she ever able to try Afrezza? If so, how was/is the experience?
I’m not @janet353 but I have been on Afrezza as my only fast acting insulin for almost a year and it is incredible. In the first 3 months it got my A1c down into the 6’s for the first time in my life and any lows I do have are mild (60’s or so).
I also use Afrezza, but less frequently now that the price went up. My insurance doesn’t cover it. It was reasonable out of pocket cost using the discount card for past 2 years. So won’t be using anymore once current supply runs out.
