I’ve read a few posts that suggested that one advantage of some of the older insulins is that they had C-peptides in them. People have proposed that C-peptides may protect against certain complications. However, C-peptides were not included in the newer analog insulins.
I’m curious about if Afrezza has C-peptides in it. Does anyone know? Thanks!
I’m pretty sure it doesn’t but i can’t be sure on that. @Sam or @Pianoplayer7008 might know more, though.
No it doesn’t…
I wasn’t aware that older insulins did either. Are we talking about super old school like pork insulin? I agree that lack of c-peptide is a piece of the puzzle with vascular damage even in well controlled diabetics
Yeah, I think the older animal insulins had them.
I was just wondering if Afrezza may have been different in this way. I’ve been using Afrezza a lot lately, and I used it on my trip almost exclusively. I felt like my energy levels were really high- despite walking 20,000+ steps most days. I actually found it a bit confusing and was trying to think of reasons why I have more energy. I only recently started my exercise regimen again. While I live a fairly active lifestyle, I felt like I had waaaaay more energy than I have had on past vacations and significantly more energy than the fairly healthy friend I was traveling with 
I left her at the hotel a few times to go see the sights…
I guess I was trying to think of reasons why I might feel healthier and more energetic, and the addition of Afrezza came to mind. I don’t think my control is THAT much better though, so I don’t know what other characteristics of Afrezza may be helping… or maybe it’s something totally different.
Labs for me show no improvement in c pep (in fact, a slight decline, as I expected). I did see improvement with my A1c though - I think it’s because I use Afrezza a lot, and for corrections, so I don’t spend as much time in a higher BG range as I did before waiting for Novolog to bring it down.
I’ve never had my c-peptides tested. I bet they’re close to zero though because I’ve had it for so long. Is there a benefit to getting it tested?
Do you ever split your Afrezza dose @pianoplayer7008? This has been discussed multiple times in the past, but I’ve been hesitant to give it a try because I’d have to use the split doses within a few days. I really wish Afrezza would just come out with a 2 unit dose. As I complain, I also need to state that Afrezza is amazing, and I’m beginning to wonder how I ever managed without it.
Hmm, I guess that makes me “old-school”. 
I took pig insulin for quite a few years, but any extra energy I had was due to being 30 plus years younger, I’m afraid. I have seen this written (that pig insulin contained c-peptide), but think it is one of those internet diabetes myths. I read that c-peptide would have been considered an impurity, and would have been removed from the animal insulin concoction, so any c-peptide left would have been in trace amounts (sorry, I don’t have a link, this is just a recollection). And its not like people back then weren’t getting complications (the reverse actually).
I think it is true that increasing exercise increases the amount of energy you have (up to a point). Wonderful stuff.
No… it’s essentially meaningless, except for at initial diagnosis when blood sugars are highly elevated if they’re trying to determine whether insulin resistance or deficiency
I had my C-peptide tested, along with antibody testing just to have a record. May be used by Medicare for approving insulin pump usage.
c-peptide and antibody testing were used many years into my diabetes to confirm that I had been mis-diagnosed as T2 initially. I had enough (but low) insulin production for years to keep them from recognizing T1.
I had diabetes for 47 years before I was tested. The new idiot endo wanted to be sure.
No, I don’t split my dose. I’m usually never using it for anything I need a smaller dose for, and just don’t want to bother with it.
I can’t imagine what my reaction would’ve been to that.
Like mm2 mentioned it does have some relevance in Medicare bean counter world
“Essentially meaningless” might have been too strong a phrase… “more likely to be misinterpreted than meaningful” might be more accurate
There will always be people trying to take advantage and game the system. Without the means to filter out the bad apples, they would siphon off significant funds which are then unavailable for the intended purpose.
Well at least you no longer have to wonder about it, right?
The idea that a lack of C-peptide itself might cause some of the long term complications of type-1 diabetes has been out there fore a log time. Years ago there were a couple of clinical trials where they gave people with type-1 diabetes C-peptide to see if they had fewer long term complications. None of these trials were successful, so I think the idea is pretty dead by now.
Joshua