Week 13-More new users, and I can report to you consistent, positive results for everyone in our Type 1 and Type 2 Groups on Afrezza.

Not sure how many noticed the video posted of Eric Fenar attending the MannKind Annual Shareholders Meeting in Danbury, CT at the factory. He was there with his adorable daughter Layla and proudly showing Al Mann the doctors office printout of his A1C in which he finally achieved a Lifetime Personal Best of 6.3 in over 22 years as a diabetic because of Afrezza. What did Al Mann say to this? You simply have to watch his reply here! Ok, for those of you who prefer the “spoiler alert”–Al replied—-“That’s not good enough” to which Eric said, “It will be in the 5’s soon”, and Al then quickly replied “You betcha!”.  Coming from the smiling 89 year-old founder, you could see the sincerity in his demeanor and understand why he put a billion dollars of his own money to advance this miracle drug for all diabetics. There is no question in my mind it will succeed.

It seems to me that word of Afrezza is spreading. Traffic on my website is up, emails are getting harder to answer, and Sanofi seems to be more engaged with doctors and insurance companies to make things easier. When the ads begin in the 3rd Quarter, I expect a steady  climb in new prescriptions and greater acceptance by doctors and insurance companies–why? Because Afrezza works, and it performs better than anything else on the market! We’ve proven it here week after week with almost non-diabetic numbers and record low A1C’s that none of us could achieve on injectable insulin. You will notice this week, once again, every one in the Type 1 Group is in “normal” non-diabetic blood sugar range and in the next month, we expect a few more people to achieve A1C’s in the 5’s.

This week I had a really good conversation with Ann. In the written “interview” that appeared in my Afrezzauser blog several weeks ago Ann explained that she was using a small pump bolus along with her Afrezza dose. This pump bolus eliminated the multiple followups that she needed since starting Afrezza. Here are her own words–

“Well, I thought you should know that for the past 3 weeks, I have been using Afrezza as my only bolus insulin. I am only using my pump now for basal and for small corrections (the ones that a 2U afrezza would be good for!). I seem to have nailed down a pretty good routine: I inhale right when I begin eating, and then again 30 minutes into the meal, whether or not my Dexcom indicates a rising blood sugar. This has kept me from very large spikes, although I do still spike on occasion (rarely above 180 and never for very long). At times, I may need a third inhale 1 hr after eating (especially if there were lots of carbs and/or fat in the meal.)

I also take more 8U boluses than I used to. The label 8U used to scare me. I mean, 8U of injectible insulin would kill me unless I was eating a feast! But now I realize two things: 1) The dosing of Afrezza simply can’t be compared to the dosing of injectables. They are completely different insulins with completely different action curves; and 2) The 8U dose is very quickly out of my system, so as long as I’ve had a reasonable amount of carbs (for me, that would be 60 carbs or more), then I don’t have to be concerned about going low.”

Thank you so much Ann for the update and keeping us all informed! Wishing you continued success like never before!

Here is the Type 1 Chart for this week:

As for the our Type 2 Group–Afrezza really is a nice solution for them. Simple, non-invasive, and almost no work and inconvenience. In fact, if anything Afrezza seems to make it way more compliant as patients are excited to test their blood sugar and see their remarkable results. As many Type 1’s (including me) feel that we definitely would have benefited greatly by being on an insulin therapy sooner–and Afrezza is the obvious answer to that problem.  I believe that newly diagnosed Type 2’s will enjoy a longer and healthier life with the Afrezza option. One example of that is our own Spiro, who recently had his A1C tested after 60 days and it has already dropped to a 6.2 from a 7.1! Way to go Spiro–you are blazing the path for all Type 2’s—-and Afrezza is the only insulin he uses!

Here is the Type 2 Chart for this week:

Please join me in welcoming Hillard Saveth to the Afrezza Users Type 2 Group. Hillard works as a Financial Advisor and is married to a 10th grade English teacher. He has 2 boys and played tennis in college where he majored in Math. His older son Brad who is 26 was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes 12 years ago and started on Afrezza a few months ago. Yes, the very first Father-Son Afrezza Duo! One of my favorite tweets of Hillard was with his son Brad eating Pizza together and using Afrezza. With Afrezza, spending quality time with family and friends and sharing great memories is so simple!

Interestingly, for several years Hillard’s doctor told him that his fasting BG levels were high and that he should change his diet. When he got his first Glucose Meter he was shocked to learn that his meal time BG levels were going up to 260. Two years previously, he developed neuropathy in his feet but no one had put those two facts together.   Because he had been following Afrezza’s development for years, he of course wanted to try it and see for himself if it worked. In fact, he was the person that told his GP about Afrezza and ended up being his doctors inaugural patient taking inhalable insulin. Before starting Afrezza his A1C was 6.4 and after only two months it had already dropped to a 6.1–all without any LOWS–which was his doctors biggest concern.  Both Hillard and Brad are incredibly happy, ecstatic and grateful using Afrezza and being able to enjoy life together as a family like never before. It is with deep thanks to you Hillard for sharing your experiences publicly against Diabetes in order to help other people in their own battle.  Welcome Hillard to our Type 2 Group and thanks for spreading the word, and not being shy about giving other people solutions they never knew existed! Please let Brad know we’ll make space for him in our Type 1 Group if he wishes.

What surprises you most about the Week 13 data?

This week, I find more people are really getting a handle on how Afrezza works and how to “dial it in”. Really, it’s not difficult and the biggest hurdle is realizing it doesn’t have the limitations that injectable insulin has. And for some people that have been on injectables for many years, it is a drastic, but also a very pleasant surprise!  As more people become “field experts”, Afrezza will continue to expand at a faster rate! There is nothing like it and the world will soon find out. Truly a miracle drug.

What is the Afrezza Users “Real Life” Results Group?

It is a group of Afrezza Users who use a Continuous Glucose Monitors (mostly Type 1’s) seeking tighter diabetes control and measuring the time spent in each blood sugar range. Laureen uses “finger prick” measurements throughout her day to measure her blood glucose levels while the rest of us are using CGM’s (continuous glucose monitors). It is NOT a competition between T1’s and T2’s nor among any of us and was only started so people could understand and see the inherent benefit of why Afrezza provides better control and higher patient satisfaction for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics over any our previous regimens. In essence, this is a “real-world” trial of “do your best”, and have good and bad days, but keep track of it all, and let everyone know the results. Well, the results thus far are clearly and unbelievably positive for Afrezza.

Why are you doing this?

There has been so much discussion about the FDA Afrezza Drug trials and why I feel as a participant in the Affinity 1 trial, there were significant “hold backs” as to why we were not able to materially outperform Injectable Insulin because of the protocols on the trials. This is no longer the case!

To Summarize here are just a few of the hold backs why Afrezza didn’t get to show how great it works:

• Afrezza Dosing was only changed approx. every 6 weeks, and not flexible dosing depending on meal
• No CGM’s allowed
• Time in Zone not measured
• Patient quality of life not measured
• Brand new Afrezza users vs. Very experienced Injectable users (what if it was brand new injectable users vs. experienced Afrezza users—would that be fair? No-they would stop the trial right away because it would be a TKO/referee stops contest victory for Afrezza which we are already proving by “real-world” experience.)

What would you like to express to everyone out there considering Afrezza or to any doctors considering prescribing Afrezza for their patients?

My opinion is that Afrezza is a “life-changing” drug. It improved my life and every single person in our “real life” group which gives me hope that diabetics everywhere can be helped by this insulin therapy. I wish the same for you or any other diabetic you know—to enjoy a better, longer and higher quality of life! Please demand to try Afrezza from your doctor, and see for yourself!