I’m unsure if this is the best place for me to share my Afrezza experience and the G6…
Afrezza 4 units last no more than one hour for me (from G6 and fingersticks)
I seem to be the worst inhaler ever. I’ve inhaled and seen white cloud around me. This occurs even with the 4 unit (not all the time, but often enough for me to notice)
I take multiple inhales of 8 unit, and the very occasional 12. The 8’s and 12’s seem to be effective for longer than 1 hour. I will have a better feel using the G6.
The 4 unit Afrezza stops lowering BG after 34 minutes.
It is fast and amazing, but doesn’t do anything after 34 minutes. Most of the time, I still have protein/fat in my body around 3 hours after the food. So I’ve found myself inhaling another 4 unit or 1 unit of Novolog.
The freedom and spontaneity that comes with Afrezza and the CGM is liberating. However, I have found it necessary to take follow up doses of Afrezza for meals.
When I use Afrezza (primarily for high BG excursions), I take a sip of water first and have learned to inhale steadily and at a kind of medium rate. This has really helped with the coughing problem.
I may be truly uncoordinated, lol. It’s about being able to consistently inhale the Afrezza. I have noticed that in some containers the powder seem clumpier than others. I have felt some powders on my tongue as I inhaled.
I’ve found that it helps to breathe out deeply before inhaling deeply at a moderate pace- not too slow or fast. If I don’t breathe out deeply then I can’t inhale as deeply. You could experiment with tipping the inhaler up a little bit if you feel like you’re getting it on your tongue. You may have already tried that…
I’ve heard that some people loosen the powder by lightly hitting the cartridge thereby moving the powder around before inserting the cartridge into the inhaler.
The amount of time Afrezza works is dependent on a few factors for me. I think I get closer to an hour from a 4 unit cartridge, but the timing varies. I think an 8 unit cartridge is more potent or absorbs better than 2 of the 4 unit cartridges. As with all insulins, Afrezza works better when I’m regularly active and taking sufficient basal. If I take Afrezza toward the beginning of my meal rather than the end then the insulin is also more effective- I think that’s just because I need less insulin for x carbs when I’m 80 than when I’m 140 which is true for others insulins too.
This is my experience as well… unless you’re just eating a very simple meal like a bowl of cereal or plate of fruit or something you’re likely going to need to extend its action by some means… it wasn’t like that at first but in hindsight think I must have still had a little more honeymoon activity than I do now
Still amazing stuff, just to be able to use it for corrections opens up a tremendous amount of options for what you’re able to eat and still have some good control—- both of which are important quality-of-life considerations
This is something unusual that I have noticed with Afrezza:
On the days that I use only Afrezza, I have observed that it seems to be ok to use extra Afrezza and not experience lows. In other words, there does not seem to be an Afrezza overdose concern. I have used 8 unit instead of 4 unit and the 8’s did not cause hypoglycemia, as I would have anticipated (I was ready with fast carbs- but didn’t need them).
Has anyone had this similar experience using Afrezza only?
Oh yeah that’s a standard well known phenomenon. Essentially because it’s regular human insulin absorbing directly in the bloodstream through the lungs it is believed that the liver is able to shed the excess to some extent… which is how it works with natural endogenous insulin… a healthy pancreas doesn’t excrete the perfect amount of insulin… it just dumps a load of it then the excess gets derailed by the liver… I probably sound like an idiot to anyone who knows anything about physiology but that’s the general gist of the concept
Yes, it’s one of my favorite things about Afrezza. Lows still can occur for me if I end up taking way more than needed, but even when they do, there still seems to be much less urgency. The insulin just seems to taper off at some point. It’s a very different experience than lows from other insulins.
Do you mean lows like 60’s to 70’s or 40’s to 50’s?
Afrezza has brought me down to 80’s, but not lower. Novolog has led to a few occasion below 60’s.
I don’t like the tail of liquid insulin mixing with Afrezza.
Afrezza only is clean and simple. The drawback is the need for repeated inhales if using Afrezza only. Afterall, we all eat meals with protein, fats, fiber which takes more than 1 hour to digest. Correcting with Afrezza after 2+ hours seem ok and safe.
I have dropped into the 40s/50s when I took too much Afrezza. But I start to level off well above that point, so there’s not the same urgency as if I mis-estimated a Humalog/Novolog dose. Humalog doesn’t taper off at all. The only reason I stop dropping with Humalog is if I’ve treated a low or the insulin has run it’s course. With Afrezza, it will taper off as I start to drop low- before I would expect it to have finished running it’s course.
Such lows are not a common occurrence. I’ve been using Afrezza for over 2 years now.
If you see a white cloud around after inhaling you are inadvertently blowing into the device to dislodge the Afrezza into the air.
Follow the advice about breathing out deep and slow to moderate and likewise inhale with a sharp intake followed by as a long an inhalation as you can.
As far as tasting it on your tongue, make sure the device is right side up and hold it so it points down towards the floor. This will move your airstream along the roof of your mouth directly into your lungs.