Hi! The Afresa insulin actually comes in two different amounts: 1 mg and 3 mg. The 1 mg dose is equivalent to 3 units of insulin, and the 3 mg dose is equivalent to 8 units of insulin. The powdered insulin comes in prefilled cartridges that you put into the inhaler. I only use the 3 mg dose if my blood sugar is high or if I need more insulin to cover the meal I'm eating. I use the 1 mg dose most of the time to cover snacks or meals.
For example: I need about 6 units of insulin to cover my breakfast, so I inhale 2 of the 1 mg dose cartridges since that equals 6 units of insulin. To be honest, most of the time it's just an estimation game of how much insulin you'll need to inhale to cover your meals or blood sugar level. Afresa is intended to be used to replace short-acting insulin. I have to inject a 24-hour insulin to keep my blood sugars in check (like basal insulin with the pump). It's super easy to use Afresa and it works really quickly to lower my blood sugar or cover meals. I hope this information helps, but let me know if you have any more questions!! :)
That was one of my first questions before I started using it! It actually has no smell at all...the insulin is in a powder form and has no taste and it really just feels like you're inhaling air...
I don't think I would use it. I don't know what the current dosing availability is, but with my pump could bolus as little as 0.1 units. And sometimes that's all I needed. I checked out the inhaled insulin quite a number of years ago (yes, I know my info is outdated) and the dosing came in 3 and 8 unit equivalent. My endo asked the rep what do you do if you need 5 units. He was told that the patient would have to take either 3 or 6 and to compensate with food consumption. Talk about a step back - eating to the insulin. I've had a bad attitude about this product ever since although I suspect they have more of the bugs worked out now.
Yep, you're right it's definitely tricky when you need an exact amount of insulin, and you only have those two dosing options available. It took me a little while to get used to that-I have to estimate sometimes how much I need to inhale. I'm so used to it now since I've been using the inhaler since 2007 that I've almost forgotten how the pump works when I wore that for 5 years! Hopefully, the technology will get better and better and then there will be a cure!
Acid: It is compared to RHI, since it is RHI, in an inhalable form. It is not a new insulin, but a new application method. Yes, it would be great if compared to humalog, novalog, or apidra, but then again, time on those is also a YMMV as we all know.
I wouldn't use it. I prefer having very specific doses of insulin and it sounds like there's a lot of estimation with inhaled insulin. I love my pump and until there is a true cure or a treatment that is obviously better I wouldn't want to compromise my lifestyle/A1C to avoid multiple injections. And the last time I used Lantus it was an absolute disaster, lol. It's an interesting concept, but I'd be afraid to inhale a drug that is still being tested. But everyone is different and has their own preferences.